Horry County to expand bus service in areas near Myrtle Beach. Here’s what we know
Over the course of the next year, Coast Rapid Transit Authority, Horry County’s public transit provider, will significantly expand its service, adding six new buses and a handful of new bus routes.
The expansion will allow the agency to serve areas outside of Myrtle Beach and Conway, where most of its routes are currently focused. The added lines, outlined in a presentation to Horry County Council’s Transportation and Economic Development committee on Thursday, will newly service North Myrtle Beach, Socastee and Aynor and add service to Conway, Carolina Forest and Georgetown. The expansions break down like this:
- A Myrtle Beach-Carolina Forest-North Myrtle Beach route that will begin operation in October.
- A new route in Socastee and an additional local route in Georgetown, beginning operation in April 2021.
- A new shuttle route serving North Myrtle Beach, running from Memorial Day to Labor Day, beginning operation in May 2021.
- An additional route in Conway that will also service Aynor, beginning operation in October 2021.
Final versions of the new routes are still in planning, and members of the public can offer their input on the routes at coastrta.com/survey. The Myrtle Beach-Carolina Forest-North Myrtle Beach route is closest to completion. It will run from downtown Myrtle Beach, along Robert M .Grissom Parkway, turning west onto International Drive for stops in Carolina Forest, then onto U.S. 17 and North Ocean Blvd. making several stops in downtown North Myrtle Beach before heading back the way it came.
Coast RTA is funding the expansion with the injection of cash it received under the federal CARES Act that passed earlier this year in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Totaling $7.1 million, Coast RTA General Manager Brian Piascik said the agency is able to use around $5 million of of the funds over the next five years, adding about $1 million in additional service each year.
“We’re basically getting a $5 million shot in the arm that we’re able to spread out over five years,” Piascik said.
The state has control of the other $2 million, Piascik said. To continue the expansion once the CARES Act money runs out, Piascik said Coast RTA will seek to a pass a voter referendum to approve additional funding for the agency. That referendum could appear on ballots sometime between 2024 and 2028.
Also included in the expansion is funding for three new paratransit vehicles to serve those who use wheelchairs. Coast RTA is also seeking to build a new maintenance facility, somewhere along route 501 between Conway and Myrtle Beach. The agency is budgeting $900,000 next year for planning before it buys land and breaks ground.
Piascik said expanding Coast RTA’s services has long been on his mind since he started in his role five years ago, adding that other regions with the same population of Horry County have transit systems three to four times larger than Coast RTA. Funding from the state in 2019 allowed the agency to expand service in Lorris and Bucksport, and Piascik said he hopes that once residents get used to the expanded service coming in the near future, they’ll want to keep it.
“It’s about being a transit system that’s sized for the region,” Piascik said. “I’m trying to move the agency to a point where we’re right sized for the area we serve.”
Horry County Council will vote on whether to approve Coast RTA’s budget — including the expansions — at Tuesday night’s meeting.
