Accomplishments

  There were many accomplishments that we had with the MTRA and working with The Comet.  I have noted a few previously, but some need to be repeated.  As I stated earlier, we had an advantage with our suggestions, because neither the executive director nor the planner were from Columbia.  The key to all of these things was that we saw a need and figured out a way to get it done.  Some were based on surveys of our riders.  There was one thing though that I had to filter out.  If one person wanted a change, it may have been because that person had a vested interest.  However, if more than one person wanted the same change, then we looked at that situation more fully.  You can't please everyone, but we tried to please as many as we could

 Sundays:  I have already mentioned this change, but it was very important to workers and church goers.

 Holidays:  I have already mentioned this change, as well, but we were surprised how many businesses were open on some holidays.

 Libraries:  We wanted to get a bus to every public library in Richland County.  There is now service to every one except Ballentine, which is too far out.

 The Zoo:  Riverbanks Zoo is in the top ten zoos in the country.  The nearest stop to the zoo is across a freeway bridge.  Walking to it would be dicey, especially for those with small children.  We got buses to go to the zoo.  It has since been amended to people calling an hour ahead of time to alert a route's driver to detour to it, but it is still doable.

 Downtown:  We proposed two downtown routes.  One would go North/South, and the other would go East/West.  They would serve Five Points, the State Museum, the Art Museum, Edventure, the Colonial Life Arena, the Convention Center, the State House, downtown shopping, and across the river into Cayce.  At first, it was free to ride.  Now, The Comet charges $1 to ride.  It was designed to help tourists explore downtown, as well as getting State workers to restaurants on their lunch hours.  Parking is at a premium downtown, so a bus was helpful to get around.  There is also a bus that goes to the baseball stadium at Bull Street during the season.

 Sandhills:  I have already mentioned this route and our recognition by Richland County Council.

 Hospitals:  As with libraries, we saw the need to get buses to go to all of the hospitals in Richland and Lexington counties.  One friend worked at Lexington County Hospital.  Her car broke down, and she had to walk 3 1/2 miles to work one morning.  She didn't have to do that anymore.  On average,  400 hospital workers ride the bus each day in Richland and Lexington counties.

 Crosstown:  One of the bus routes that was eliminated in 2010 was the Crosstown route.  It went from Dutch Square Mall to the Midlands Tech campus on Rosewood without coming into town.  One of my board members named Marsha fought hard to get that route put back.  It now goes from St. Andrews Road to Walmart on Garners Ferry.  It is a two-hour roundtrip, but well worth it.

 Midlands Tech:  We found that the several campuses of Midlands Technical College could be served by the buses.  The main campus on Rosewood was easy.  The one in Northeast Columbia required a short detour, but it worked.  The one out by the airport required us to also focus on Vocational Rehab to get that done.  We also worked to get that bus to go by the Columbia Metro Airport.  The Comet was reluctant at first, but we showed how it wouldn't cost much more money and gas to get it there.  It goes there now.  Also, the bus to the Airport campus only ran twice a day originally.  If someone had an early class, they couldn't go to work afterwards.  Now, it goes at least five times a day to accommodate the students.  The last campus is in Batesburg-Leesville in Lexington County.  There is a pilot program to get a bus out there at least once a week.

 Photo Id's:  The Comet wanted to give half-fare rides to those over 65 or having disabilities.  They needed to issue photo id's to the riders who qualified.  They wanted to charge $5 for the first id.  We pointed out that most of those riders live on fixed incomes, so we got those id's issued for free.

 Amazon:  There is an Amazon fulfillment center in Lexington County near Cayce.  We worked with The Comet to get a bus to go by there, because the nearest stop to that place was about 3 miles away with very few sidewalks.  

 We have had other accomplishments with the MTRA, but these are just some of them.  One we have proposed would be one to go down Lake Murray Boulevard, across the dam, and to Walmart on Hwy 378 in Lexington.  It would benefit a whole bunch of people, including recreation at the lake.  Maybe one day.