The true skinny on Coastal Regional Coaches.

What is it, you ask? It is a new (effective August 1st, although first day of operation will be Monday, August 3rd) inter-county, low-cost, coastal Georgia bus service serving nine counties. The counties will be Camden, Glynn, McIntosh, Long, Liberty, Bryan, Chatham, Effingham, and Screven. For service in and between any and all counties, there will be one toll free number to call. That number has not yet been assigned by the phone company, but will be in time for the inaugural service. Here's how it works. You may call and schedule a ride anywhere from several days in advance until the day before you need to go. A bus will pick you up at your home or any other place you designate and take you to the door of your destination. This is true portal to portal service, just like using a taxi. The bus will come back and pick you up at your designated time (i.e, after your doctor's appointment or even days later, if you so desire.) The cost is very reasonable. A round trip within Camden county will cost $3.00 each way for a total of $6.00. Once you leave the county, you will incur a fare of another $3.00 every time you cross a county line, coming and going. A trip from St. Marys to Brunswick and back, for example, would cost $12.00 per passenger. On a trip from St. Marys to Savannah and back, the cost would be $36.00 per passenger. All runs require only one passenger, but the buses initially in use can generally carry 15 passengers. In Camden, the Camden County PSA will go out of the busing business at the close of business on July 31st. Their current bus fleet will transfer to the Coastal Regional Commission (formerly the Regional Development Center (RDC) until July 1 of this year). They will operate the 9 county system. The majority of the funding will come from the federal "5311 Rural Transportation Program." Initially, it will kick off using the buses similar to ours which now exist for intra-county runs in Camden, Long, and Bryan counties. New buses for all nine counties are currently on order and under construction. The new buses will have the same satellite communications and tracking system currently used by long-haul trucking companies. Central dispatch will know GPS co-ordinates of buses at all times. Dispatchers and drivers will be able to communicate via in-bus keyboards and screens. Initially, during the shakedown period, hours of operation will be Monday thru Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 or 6:00 PM, depending upon demand. All new buses will be wheelchair lift equipped. Some of the current buses do as well. They hope to expand the service to 7 days-per-week soon after opening. This service is open to ANY individuals or groups, regardless of age, physical ability, or income. One obvious use is getting folks to doctor's appointments in Brunswick and/or Savannah. However, I was assured by the director of the program, Barbara Hurst, of the CRC, that if groups would like to take trips (Girl Scouts, Red Hat Ladies, senior citizens, etc, going for trips to Savannah, for instance) they are most welcome. As it stands now, with M-F service, a group could travel to Savannah on Friday, get hotel rooms, and be picked up for the return trip on Monday morning. Such a group would be eligible for "transfers" to the Savannah "CAT" (Chatham Area Transit) System of regular city buses with regular schedules and stops throughout Savannah. And yes, DMA, Savannahians could be hauled to St. Marys. Thanks to Ms. Hurst for all of the info, and thanks to Shawnee, our current PSA tranportation director (among other duties) for the PSA for putting me in touch with her.