Give your input on proposed Folly Beach Shuttle

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) - Leaders with the “Rethink Folly Road” Initiative and Charleston Area Rapid Transit, or CARTA, say they are considering the feasibility of a Folly Beach shuttle and are asking the community to complete a survey to determine if the plan should move forward.

‘Rethink Folly Road’ is a plan to enhance the main thoroughfare on James Island by improving the quality of life of people living nearby, making the area less congested and commercial, and adding green space and different modes of transportation.

The Folly Beach shuttle, or Folly Trolly, has always been an integral part of Rethink Folly Road, according to Katie Zimmerman, the head of the local transportation nonprofit Charleston Moves and a steering committee member for ‘Rethink Folly Road.’

The original plan was for the shuttle to carry people from a park-and-ride location, down its own dedicated lane and to Folly Beach, she says.

As the project has evolved over the past six years, however, Zimmerman says they want to update the beach shuttle plan and figure out how exactly they can go ahead and get started.

“We don’t want to go down the path of investing in a bus that nobody uses and that isn’t efficient for folks,” she says. “I don’t want to waste CARTA’s resources, I don’t want to waste public resources. I want it to be really successful, so we’re really focused on getting information from the public from this survey the best way we can, so that that can kind of help us know how and when to take next steps on this.”

The committee is asking the public to fill out a survey so it can assess what the community wants and needs when it comes to the Folly Trolly.

The survey asks questions about what time of year you go to Folly Beach and what days and times, how much you would be willing to pay and what type of transit vehicle you’d prefer.

“What would it take to leave your car and take transit to Folly Beach?” Zimmerman says. “The survey right now is helping us get a sense of, does it immediately have to be a separate lane for a bus? Could it be something like reversible lanes? Or are there plenty of people who are willing to give it a try, get on a bus in the lane of traffic, take it to the beach, and then maybe we reduce the number of cars on the road so being in a lane of traffic isn’t a big deal.”

Click here to complete the 15-question survey, which will only take about 5-10 minutes to fill out.

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