Lousy bus service is still a major upgrade

The gas prices have spoken -- loudly -- and as gas increases, everything else increases.

So it's no surprise that CARTA, the local bus service here in Charleston, announced plans to hike its rates, with a basic fixed-route ride going from $1.25 to $1.50, effective in October.

Although in some quarters there may be weeping and gnashing of teeth, the increase is really chicken feed. Face it, those big buses burn Diesel fuel, which is right around $4 per gallon last I looked, and a fair bit higher than regular unleaded.

The bus service in Charleston is terrible. Stinks. Unspeakable. That's the bad news. The good news is that it's still a major upgrade over what it once was. A few years ago the service was so bad that routes made no sense, transfers meant sitting for 45 minutes in a neighborhood no sane person would enter unarmed, and the whole system was losing money hand over fist. And while CARTA was fighting for its life (which required a half-cent sales tax increase), it built a fancy "superstop" transit station at Rivers and Cosgrove, with a block building. Talk about misplaced priorities!

But while one local talk-show host gleefully points out CARTA's shortcomings -- and there are many -- I feel compelled to answer.

First things first. Bus services do not make money. They don't. It's against nature.

Some years ago I spoke to Peter Schauer, a mass-transit consultant out of Boonville, Missouri. He was hired to come up with some ideas when the town of Bullhead City, Arizona was losing its bus system. This transit service was 100 percent privately funded, owned by a nearby casino, and even with fares of $2 per ride (in 1994), it was still losing money rapidly.

Schauer laid it out to the city council -- forget about having a bus service that makes money. Forget about just breaking even; that does not happen. You'd more likely find a passenger pigeon nesting on your roof.

Running a bus service goes against all the rules of business. It must be as cheap as possible for the passenger or no one will ride it. And it must be as convenient as possible for the passenger, or there'd be no point in riding it. These two factors make lousy business sense, though, and is a sure ticket for failure. Schauer warned the city that it had been lucky; from now on it will have to subsidize mass transit if any is to be expected.

I've used CARTA quite a bit lately, and have been getting my money's worth. My usual weekly trip is from North Charleston to Folly Beach, and the bus takes me most of the way -- I pedal the final two miles. The bus trip itself is about 20 miles. Not the fastest way to go, especially waiting for the transfer.I don't care what you say, though, you probably can't drive that distance on a buck and a half -- which includes the 25-cent transfer here. No way, not with gas costing what it does right now. And if I took a cab, forget that. A 20-mile trip in a Yellow Cab is $42 in Charleston.

What's even better is that the bus comes with a rack that carries two bicycles. I know the days is coming that I'll need a third bike slot in a hurry -- quite a few folks ride bikes out in these parts, but so far I've been lucky.

Still, the service is not that good. In fact, it's awful. Some routes may have one or two riders at the most, and other buses -- particularly in North Charleston -- are standing room only. Buses break down. The printed schedules often have nothing to do with reality. While some of the drivers are pleasant folks, others apparently went to the Saddam Hussein Memorial Charm School. And, it seems the call-in dispatch center doesn't really want you to call in.

I found this part out Saturday, while coming back from Folly Beach. I knew which route I wanted and knew where the nearest bus stop was, but not when. I didn't have my schedule with me, so I called. The person did answer my question, but acted as if I was interrupting something important (a crucial nail-drying cycle?). After answering, she rather snippily advised me to pick up a schedule when I board the bus. Gee, if I had one of those schedules with me, I wouldn't need to waste my time on the phone call.

Oh well. The service has a long way to go before it can be called reliable. But it gets you there. Even with the proposed rate increase it's still cheaper than driving. It beats walking, and you can haul your bike.