A website launched on Tuesday aims to lower traffic congestion and inspire effective commuting practices through the tri-county region.
Ride Low Go allows users to punch in daily routes to work or school and browse through transportation options such as driving, carpooling, taking a CARTA bus, biking, or walking as they are sorted from most to least time consuming.
The website is a project of Lowcountry Go, a partnership between the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments, the South Carolina Department of Transportation, and the Federal Highway Administration.
“We know that population and economic growth — paired with limited financial resources — will require new ideas and programs to help alleviate traffic congestion and accommodate growth,” said Council of Governments executive director Ron Mitchum in a statement. “Lowcountry Go marks the first time our region is changing its thinking about how we use our roads. If we want meaningful traffic relief in the coming years, we’ll have to adjust our traveling habits and behaviors.”
Once a user enters his or her daily route, he or she can decide whether to accept a rider (or a driver) and plan a carpool, vanpool, or schoolpool schedule. The program suggests that riders and drivers reach out to potential partners and meet in public before joining any pool, according to the program’s About page.
The website also lists three park-and-ride options in the immediate Charleston area: two near Walmarts on James Island and Mt. Pleasant and one at the Citadel Mall in West Ashley.
A fourth park-and-ride on Morrison Drive is expected to serve the peninsula’s hospitality employees for 21 hours a day when it is finally completed in mid-March, according to CARTA spokesperson Daniel Brock.
“We’re working on getting it cleared out, but there’s some equipment on order right now in terms of lighting and cameras,” he said. “I believe we have shelters in, and we have ordered an attendant booth, so things are progressing on that.”
Despite its user-friendliness, the web app currently does not allow for bridge routes into the peninsula from West Ashley and James Island, which makes for long biking routes and walking routes as lengthy as 15 hours.
“We’re working with the app provider to update any bugs in the system,” Brock clarified.
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