By Daniel Brock
dbrock@scbiznews.com
Published April 22, 2010

Officials from the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority said the transit agency saw increased ridership and revenue in March, and the agency’s board passed a draft budget for the 2011 fiscal year during its monthly meeting Wednesday.

Ridership in March was up 11.5% year over year, and ridership was nearly 8% higher for all of 2010. Revenue tracked similarly, rising 12% for the month and 8% on the year, according to Christine Wilkinson, CARTA’s transit administrator.

The agency worked in the red during March, posting a $195,000 deficit in its operating budget. That shortfall results from the timing of critical revenues and expenditures, including large amounts of federal aid, board members said.

CARTA often finds itself strapped for cash during the middle of its fiscal year, which runs from October to September, as the agency waits for government funds to be processed. A $5 million line of credit from BB&T, to which the board gave final approval Wednesday, should help mitigate that situation.

Board members also approved a $20 million draft budget for the 2011 fiscal year at the meeting. That document now awaits approval by the board’s eight member governments sometime before October.

The budget carries over a $1.4 million reduction in half-cent county sales tax revenue implemented in 2010. County Council will determine the final amount of sales tax assistance disbursed to various agencies next month.

The sustained reduction is a result of the economy’s continued lag, said board members, who remained optimistic that the agency would still thrive.

“CARTA was able to sustain a similar reduction in our fiscal year 2010 budget without reducing service or implementing a fare increase,” said Howard Chapman, CARTA’s executive director, in his notes on the budget.

Board members said that frugal planning and increased fare box revenues offset the reductions during a time when 84% of transit systems nationally raised prices or cut services.

The board will send out a request for proposal for a new bus operating company after its 5-year contract with Veolia Transportation expires in the 2011 fiscal year. Chapman said he was hopeful that the recently upgraded fleet — about a third of CARTA’s buses are new — would lead to lower maintenance fees in the upcoming contract.

The board said it plans to continue working toward a new intermodal facility in North Charleston and anticipates the launch of the Dorchester Road Express service in the coming months.

The board also voted to combine the Meeting/King and Market/Waterfront DASH routes as a result of low ridership.