CMRTAbus makes its route past City Hall on Laurel Street. Photo by Natasha Whitling

In addition to three years of service, the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority has many reasons to celebrate. With a 50% increase in passengers per hour and growth of almost 200,000 passengers this year, the CMRTA provided efficient service for more people than ever before.

The CMRTA family, including transit authority chairman Pat Smith and Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, also vice chair of the CMRTA, gathered Monday at the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce to commemorate their transit milestones.

“The CMRTA accomplished the impossible,” said Mayor Coble. “On a limited budget they provide an essential service to this vibrant, growing area – serving more people and improving system efficiency by as much as 50%.”

In about another two years, CMRTA should run out of money, and consequently Columbia, will be out of transit service. In 2002, SCANA transferred the system to the CMRTA with operating subsidies tied till 2008. Even now the eradication of Saturday bus service is considered essential to maintaining solvency. The trolley service has already been cut to zero.

Pat Smith, Springdale Mayor and CMRTA Chairman, meets with the media. Photo by John Temple Ligon In November 2006, a transit subsidy half–cent sales tax increase goes before the voters in Richland and Lexington counties. The opportunity to vote on the sales tax comes up only once every two years, which is when the Midlands votes for a president or a governor. Should the half–cent sales tax proposal suffer a setback, which is expected, the voters can’t reconsider and vote again for another two years, or soon after the SCANA money runs out. All which means the bus system may have to practically shut down with no money to run.

Charleston’s bus system expanded last July upon Charleston County Council’s approval of about $7.5 million in sales tax money. The Charleston voters approved a half–cent sales tax the previous November. Before July, though, the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority suffered woefully inadequate service for 17 months.

The first try for voter approval of a transit subsidy half–cent sales tax failed in Charleston. The second try succeeded, but the language on the ballot was ruled misleading and thereby illegitimate. Evening and weekend service were eliminated in January 2004.

Ten of CARTA’s 17 routes were also taken out in response to the SC Supreme Court’s decision that overturned the results of a 2002 sales tax referendum. The system had to practically shut down while the matter went before the voters for another time.

CARTA ran what little was left of Charleston’s bus service on borrowed money, while CARTA had to stop all service to Mount Pleasant and to James Island.

Finally, last July, upon the decision by Charleston County Council to award CARTA $7.5 million from the anticipated $35 million annual take from the half–cent sales tax, Charleston bus service slowly began to return to its former scale of operation.

The bus service tale is about to be twice told, once again in Columbia. If the half–cent sales tax vote in November fails, there won’t be another vote for two years, when severe cost cutting and route reduction surely should begin.