Commuter groups, organizations dispute transit equity for fairgrounds park-and-ride [Video]

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – Commuter advocacy groups and Lowcountry organizations are disputing transit equity roles in the final plans for a rapid transit hub.

Best Friends for Lowcountry Rapid Transit held a demonstration on Wednesday ahead of a scheduled CARTA board meeting. The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments provided project updates on a park-and-ride facility targeted at a six-acre portion of the Coastal Carolina Fairgrounds.

“We are in the 60% design process. We are making sure we deliver the best transit project we can, a revolutionary project by all standards in South Carolina,” CARTA Chairman Mike Seekings says.

Organizers claim the facility would act as a hub for vulnerable groups in underserved parts of the Lowcountry. Some commuter advocates asked the board to act on the imminent domain, claiming the issue was “not about private property rights, but about future generations of people.”

“The fairgrounds, council governments and our county …