Brian Piascik, Coast RTA general manager and CEO, said the move from Third Avenue in Conway to Robert Grissom Parkway in Myrtle Beach could save the transportation system $300,000 to $400,000 annually.
Coast RTA is fortunate to receive significant local tax funding from: Horry County, Georgetown County, The City of Myrtle Beach, The City of Conway and North Myrtle Beach. The Coast RTA Fixed Route bus system consists of 10 regularly scheduled routes servicing Horry and Georgetown Counties. While government officials say the shuttles make it easy to get around, 99% of local residents drive and the shuttle is not used by a large population of locals.
Out of a population of 350,000 residents in Horry County and 63,921 in Georgetown County, only 1,900 commuters use the organization’s 10 routes across Horry and Georgetown counties every day.
Some have suggested that rather than paying $58 million plus annual operating costs to Coast RTA, local municipalities should instead provide Uber vouchers to locals at tax payer expense.
As most of their service centers are located in Myrtle Beach, moving their operations there actually saves on dead-head mileage. Each vehicle adds 22 miles roundtrip from Conway to Myrtle Beach and back for dead-head mileage, which is non-revenue service.
The CEO says Coast RTA does Twenty-two miles times 20 buses times 362 days a year in dead head miles.
The distance is 159,280 miles annually.
Coast RTA is interested in acquiring 21 acres of Myrtle Beach property zoned light industrial, but within Horry County boundaries. The organization is hoping to annex the property into Myrtle Beach.
Coastal RTA would need 15 acres for its facility, and the remaining land could then be used for stormwater retention.
The deal allows the city to receive 3.5 acres for a new fire station.
The city will contribute to the local match and Coast RTA will handle the land transfer later.
Mark Kruea, city spokesperson, said the idea is still conceptual.
“It’s still very early,” he said.
A $58 million project includes two passenger handling facilities — one in Conway and one in Myrtle Beach. Each facility costs $5 million. New electric buses and charging equipment will cost about $8 million. $25 million to $30 million will be spent on the new operations, maintenance, and administration building along Grissom Parkway. Land purchase and design work will take up the remainder of the budget.
As a small agency, this project represents seven times Coast RTA’s annual budget.
Currently, Coast RTA has secured $7 million for the purchase of the land, which could happen in 2024. Funding for the Myrtle Beach passenger facility has also been secured.
Until the Myrtle Beach facility is built, Coast RTA will remain in the Conway location. After that, the Conway building will be demolished, and the passenger facility will be constructed.
Originally a Ford dealership, the Conway location was purchased by Coast RTA in the early 1980s.
The building has undergone a lot of internal changes, he said.
The Conway office now handles administration, maintenance, passenger handling, and operations.
As buses are about 11.5 feet tall, mechanics cannot work underneath at the Conway location, so maintenance is done outside.
The buses that we purchase have low floors, so there are no steps under them, so getting under the bus is increasingly important.
Operation, administration, and maintenance will move to Grissom Parkway, and a “much nicer” off-street passenger handling facility will be built in Conway.
Currently, there isn’t enough funding for the maintenance facility, he said.
Piascik said the Grissom project could be built in three years or less once Coast RTA secures grant funding.
According to Piascik, the organization must demonstrate a path toward lower emissions in order to receive funding.
The Coast RTA has 41 vehicles, which include diesel and gas. Piascik said about eight will remain diesel.
The Coast RTA is temporarily moving all maintenance operations from its Conway building to a warehouse off Highway 65, but it comes at a cost, Piascik said, adding that the rent will be $20,000 a month.