The older gentleman who drove the bus was super nice. During our short trip somehow we got on the subject of investment strageties: real-estate, buying precious metals, TSP, LLCs, ect. This was his third career and slowing building generational wealth and he had his pensions from his two previous careers. What a gem to have so much knowledge and to share it with me! The four star rating is only because the bus was late. But that is only because the bus was having some mechanical issues. If your traveling, the public bus system is great to use. Your smart phone will help you navigate where to walk, what bus stop to wait at and what bus number you should be on. Save money by using the bus. Fares are only $2.00. read more

I am writing to formally report a complaint about a bus driver, operating Route 10 bus number 4511 on Friday, March 20, 2026. Approximately 1500 hours (3:00 pm), the driver approached bus stop at Rivers Ave/Remount NB where my husband and I were awaiting pickup according to the transit app. The driver's behavior was unprofessional, disrespectful, and discriminatory and caused discomfort to my husband and I. My husband is a Retired VA 100 percent disabled U.S. Veteran. "On 20 March at approximately 1500 hours the driver responded rudely and dismissively: "I am not picking up passengers, only dropping off". I approached the entrance with full busfare in hand. I understood her refusing to allow my husband and I on the transit. Respectfully I greeted the driver and entered our fare into the register. She then sarcastically asks my husband to disassemble our small carryon wagon holding a bag of dogfood for our service dogs at home. As we unloaded before entering fully onto the bus the driver raised her voice at me demanding " help him I'm in a hurry, you should have already taken that out". Several passengers sitting near the back began yelling slanders at my husband and I. The driver took No action to maintain control of her passengers conduct. We, my husband and I took our seat at the front right and continued the route in a composed and respectful manner to reach our destination. We feel the said driver's conduct was rude and unprofessional and even Unconstitutional. We are asking for a formal investigation into the driver's conduct; additional driver training on safety and customer service and an apology or compensation for those effected. read more

Carta is the worst bus system in the area never on time , and always late to work 2 to 3 times a week that adds up to 60 - 80 dollars a week I lose out , drivers don't care the getting paid regardless read more

Buses don't show up when they're supposed to. Was waiting on the 9:00 #33 & it just didn't show. I called , and they said they don't know why it didn't show read more

hello i would like to take the time to shoutout and thank the driver who drove the 10 rivers ave bus 3508 for going above and beyond to take us pass his final stop to drop us off to our diestinations to the driver of bus 3508 10 Rivers Ave.. tonight read more

the attitudes of these bus drivers is insane!!!! I mean you can show them respect and they get the nastiest attitude. One got mad cause her buttons wasn't working and a gentleman kindly let her know she calls the man a liar and starts talking crazy then when other people said it too she still saying the same thing!!! they don't show up to all the routes, they drive past people, sometimes they purp drive slow. At this point yall hiring just anybody just to fill a role. and really think yall treat customers like trash cause yall feel as though they "NEED" yall and that yall can. read more

i have been a ride for over 2 years. why do the hus drivers not look around when flying through a stop, I work down at the medical district, is it to much to see around you if someone is running toward the bus, so rude! read more

Carta Rocks . Your choice either take a shuttle van for $15.00 from Charleston Airport to downtown or take Carta for less than $4.00 per person. You get left off at the Visitors center in Charleston where believe it or not ...they have several free tours through the historical district. The carta stop is located on the outside curb at the baggage claim end of the terminal. www.ridecarta.com read more

CARTA - Public Transportation Near Me - North Charleston, South Carolina

They drove right past the CARTA bus stop two days in a row... I was 10 minutes early too and I used the transit app to track the bus.

FREE rides up and down and highlights of downtown Charleston. The only catch is if its full you gotta wait for the next bus. The buses are 15-20 minutes apart. 3 different lines goes to 3 different areas.The free bus takes you to the old market and also to the aquarium. 4 stars for it being FREE for everyone. read more

CARTA - Public Transportation Near Me - North Charleston, South Carolina

The most unreliable bus service ever. They don't show up at all majority of the time. And when they to show up they are always late. Don't attempt to call their costumers service, they will not answered or return your call. That are absolutely useless. read more

Buses are late all the time. Sometimes they come early then leave early. Gotta do better.

This is the worst bus system ever. How do you have the number 10 leave the superstop knowing the 11 is 2 mins behind an people needing to transfer over to it so now you have to wait another 30 mins for a bus that you should have been on you make it make sense read more

Okay, so let me state this right off; I'm not trying to throw shade at the bus system in Charleston, a city I loved at first sight. I'm not complaining just to make myself feel better. I honestly want to help improve the situation and this review is written with respect. I just moved to Charleston from a major city on the West Coast. I understand that this is a smaller population, with different transportation needs. But people still have to work, sometimes at night. I get off from work at 1130pm, and the buses have stopped running (I take the 33 Ashley River Rd). So I have to Uber home. The drivers don't announce the stops, which is difficult for a newcomer. Finally, I still can't find the location to buy a bus pass. On the upside, the busses are clean and air conditioned, and unlike the busses from my old city, will wait for you if they see you coming instead of rushing off. read more

Some of the worst public transportation I have ever had to use. I don't care that it is "free" - the money comes from somewhere in your taxes, etc. so some way or another you are paying for it. However, it seems to be executed very poorly. I have used public transportation in a dozen or so places, both domestic and international, free and expensive - and this ranks up there with the most unreliable. The only thing you have to be with public transportation is reliable. Be a little dirty, rude, expensive, etc. - but be reliable, since that is your main goal. The free Route 211 DASH bus is supposed to run every 15 minutes or so through the same loop over and over. It somehow missed 2 time slots in a row - which meant it was running 20 minutes behind. So, with it being 2017 - I easily found the local number to inquire if this thing was even running, if there was a breakdown, etc.. The agent I spoke to seemed bewildered - it was impossible to him that they were late, or that the driver was late for his 2nd time before even making his 1st time! I must be mistaken! After a brief hold, he came back and told me he checked in and the bus would be there soon. Wouldn't you know it, not 2 minutes later here comes the driver with an empty bus! So after now being 25 minutes behind, the first thing he does after we get on is turn off the bus and step off to make a phone call, while we sit there continuing to wait - wow! The bus we rode on was fairly clean for public transportation - no issues there. The problem seems to be with the employees, which means the problem is bad management. Either way, don't rely on this to get you somewhere if you have a tour booked at a specific time, dinner reservation, etc. as you will without a doubt be late. read more

I've ridden various CARTA services for years. The #40 bus to and from Mt. Pleasant operates on time and is a reliable ride to and from downtown. It's clean and the new low entry buses, which have lower floors than the older buses in the CARTA fleet are easier to get on and off of. The Express Service is very efficient and popular. I don't ride that often since I live close to the city, but many people do. The Downtown DASH buses are now free, thanks to tourism tax funding from the City. The real advantage of this is that it speeds up operations since people don't hold up things paying. One new trolley type bus has an interactive, location aware computer kiosk on it which informs visitors about what is ahead along the route. Ridership on CARTA increased by 3% last year despite budget cuts and there has been a steady, determined effort to improve service, put in more stop shelters and improve on time performance. read more

CARTA - CARTA Bus Shelter in Mt. Pleasant, SC - Public Transportation Near Me - North Charleston, South Carolina

Carta completely messed my kids Halloween, we waited downtown for over two for the number 10 bus to get home, we didn't make it home before bed time so they would have to wait until after school Tuesday to even think about enjoying their candy and other special treats read more

I was waiting for my bus for 37 minutes and when the bus came they said I needed my school ID. Also during the school year I never had this issue ever. I am just warning everyone do not take the Carta buses they are the most rudest people in the world. I even told the bus driver that waited for the bus for 37 minutes of day. They have had no problem with me and this is first issue ever. I called their supervisor and even the supervisor was rude to me to. I am really disappointed with the service of the Carta bus and the customer service. I really enjoyed taking the Carta bus but now I am really frustrated with Carta. Also another issue that I have with them is my dad has to come on a work day to pick me up because of Carta. NEVER RIDE WITH THEM read more

The CARTA buses are free and they have several routes through the Historical districts. You can ride all day & see the sites. Some of the drivers are more personable than others. Calling out their stops before you reach them and to pull the yellow cord. Some just let you figure it out. read more

I feel bad for anyone who depends on CARTA in any way, shape, or form. CARTA is by far the worst public transportation system I've ever encountered-- the last time I rode on a CARTA bus, I was coming back from the Folly Beach area, and while on Folly Rd, our bus driver just randomly decided to --without saying a word to anyone-- stop the bus, get out, and disappear for about 20 minutes. The old lady in the back ogling her newfound thrift store finds and I were nowhere near where we needed to be and almost even became friends in our frustration.. it was getting bad. So, 20 minutes later, the bus driver comes back, with a bag from Chik Fil A. WHAT? I made an awkward joke about how he shouldve let me know so I could have him grab me something too, and he just sat there and ate his food, while Thrift Lady and I waited for him to finish. I got back about 35-40 minutes past the time I was supposed to get back and ended up being late to the event I was supposed to attend that evening. CARTA, you kind of suck. A lot. Consider my one star for you generous. read more

Thank you so much for securing my coat so that I could go by the Carta Customer service to pick it up. I was so upset that I left it on the bus today after work and was certain I would never see it again. It had my favorite gloves in the pockets too. The customer service phone rep was very kind and gave me all the information necessary to run down my coat. Y'all are awesome! A great big shout out to my bus driver DCThanks for leaving my coat in the lost and found bin back at the main office! You're the best!! read more

On the number 10 route at 1:40 pm I witnessed something that offended me. As the 10 driver was about but had not pulled away a young man clearly running to the bus came in my view. I know the driver saw him. As he is less than 10 feet away he waves slightly effeminately then arrives at the door where the driver looks this poor man in the face and purposely drives off leaving the man standing right in front of the door which offended me to the core as I feel this driver was making a personal statement of his opinion which is not part of his job requirement. It's sad to see people acting out their personal problems in public and I felt I should say something. Wake up man...its a wide , wide ,world read more

As a frequent tourist of cities worldwide, I really appreciate a good public transportation system. Charleston's got it with CARTA! The #4 express bus ($3.50/pp) makes it really simple to get to/from the airport and downtown. From the visitors center at John and Meeting, you can grab a free shuttle on one of 3 routes. Two thumbs up, CARTA! read more

Bus was awesome in Charleston and 100% free. Our first drive t-bone was excellent l, friendly, and super informative. Our other drivers were meh, ok. T-bone set them bar high and the others just didn't even come close. Very East system to navigate and it made it very nice getting around town. read more

This review is based on my experience this evening, July 23, 2013, only as I think CARTA needs to be aware of exactly how put out I am about this situation. As a local I know Charleston is decades behind other similarly sized cities with regard to mass transportation and I've always advocated for improving the system. Given this mindset, since I am now working downtown I decided to at least given CARTA a chance. Tonight as I write this I am shaking my head wondering what winter wonderland I was in to think this was a good idea. I can give the system a benefit of a doubt regarding the first 30 minutes of this fiasco as there was a tree down on Meeting Street near the Firehouse at Wentworth. However, I made it to my bus stop in time for connection and then my connection was late. Being late I can even understand given rushhour traffic. What I CANNOT accept is the fact the #2 Express that runs to Citadel Mall was booking down Meeting Street at least 30 MPH in the left lane without any attempts or consideration of little me sitting at the appropriate stop. This ticks me off!!! To simply tell dispatch you didn't pick anyone up -- you didn't make one move to stop and see if anyone was waiting for you as you were driving entirely too fast and in the wrong lane to pick anyone is beyond the pale -- is beyond the pale. I realize FEW people use this stop, but it is a marked option for this route and as long as it is an authorized stop you should ALWAYS make sure that those waiting are not waiting for you instead of assuming no one uses this stop. Otherwise, CARTA needs to remove this stop as an option. The only reason why this review even deserves one star is dispatch was pleasant and the gentleman driving the 301 was kind enough to wait for me to walk to Mary Street from the Visitors Center so I was not stuck waiting another 20 to 30 minutes for the next bus. CARTA and Charleston County need to wake-up and smell the coffee. Yes, we need mass transit, but as long as behavior like this is tolerated locals will continue to avoid CARTA like the plague it apparently is. I will admit this review is of one day and one driver whom I cannot ID since she (yes I could make out it was a woman driving) didn't bother to pick me up. If I decide to try CARTA again instead of giving the remaining rides I have away I might upgrade my review if something like this doesn't happen again. read more

I don't have high expectations when it comes to public transportation. I just want to get to my destination on time. That's it. With CARTA, consider yourself lucky if you're only five minutes late. The frustrating thing is that it's totally fixable, but nobody seems to care enough to do anything about it. I've been on buses that were still idling at Mary St. 10 minutes after the printed bus schedule in my hand indicated we should've left already. I've sat on a bus outside the Piggly Wiggly while the driver has gone inside to pick up something at the salad bar for lunch. I've had bus drivers drop their mail in a post office box. I've waited for buses that never came or were 25 minutes late with no explanation. Once in utter frustration, I walked home from Sam Rittenberg Blvd. I live downtown. It took me a hour. read more

The trolleys around downtown charleston are awesome, help you take advantage of your day and cut down unnecessary walking, and they run fairly often depending on what color line you are taking. I also rode bus 11 to and from the airport. It takes about an hour, but it's $1.75 and comes on time. Also you get to see the real residents and grittier parts of Charleston to give you an all around perspective on the city. read more

Charleston s public transportation system is n Pratically non existent. If you live in goose creek, summerville, actually anywhere besides downtown, you won't find a bus stop. Let alone they won't travel to you, cause no stops exist. If you don't have a car, well good luck trying to get to your job. Even the taxi cabs here are redicolous and over priced. Charleston is deff for the rich and well off read more

DASH shuttle today over 30 minutes late in 95 degree heat then when it arrives, so crowded you can't board. Useless.

Just had a very scary incident on CARTA. Apparently you are only invited to ride CARTA outside of the Market if your skin color is correct. When we hopped on the bus to head back to our hotel and we were told to move to the back and 'shut up''. We were told that white people weren't welcome to ride their 'free' bus. Ok then...goodbye Charleston. Visitors not welcome here. BEWARE and be safe. read more

Even though the Nash Express Bus was 20 minutes late due to a traffic incident, someone came over and let us know that a traffic light had gone out and the bus was about five minutes late. The bus driver was absolutely fantastic! She apologized to everyone getting on the bus, explaining the situation. Safe as well. Thank you for making the experience as good as possible given the unfortunate traffic light mishap!! Experience from 10/26/15, 8:26 bus from visitor's center, bus number 4001. read more

wait, we have public transportation again? could've fooled me. remember when the busses just stopped running a couple years ago? somehow no one thought that was odd, and then we had to add a half-cent to our sales tax just to bring public trans back (but due to the legal wording, that half cent didn't actually have to be allocated to carta, so once again, carta, it's a crapshoot). although...i'm starting to think maybe we were on to something. after all, when those mega-polluting death-mobiles weren't clogging up the roadway, zipping around traffic was a lot easier. so next time i'm stuck behind some giant belching slow-moving box, i'll console myself with the fact that there are only, like, five of them. i'm sorry. i mean, it would be nice to live in a world where there's reliable, clean public transportation (it's called belgium), but this is charleston, where we think it would be "socialist" if we expected anything back for our tax dollars (that would be called "government interference"). no, we'd rather just throw our tax dollars away (i mean, give them to the government - i mean halliburton) and pretend our president's looking out for us. god, white people are stupid. read more

My Vendetta Against Carta Buses: I was very excited for my 11:00 chiropractor's appointment this morning. I arrived at the bus stop 14 minutes early for a bus that was supposed to arrive at 10:14 and then reach the doctor's office at 10:39. Around 10:25 I called Carta for the first time, as the bud had not arrived. I was placed on hold for a long time. A bus showed up while I was o the phone, so I hung up. Unfortunately it was not my bus, but the driver said my bus would be there soon. A little before 10:40, I called Carta again. I was told that the bus was running "a little late" and would be there soon. The bus finally arrived 30 minutes late. I was angry by this time and sat down immediately. "yagottacar?" THe bus driver said something to me, but I couldn't understand him. "What?" I asked. "You don't say what to me, little girl, you say excuse me!" the driver scolded loudly, "You gotta card?" Embarrassed, I pulled out my Cougar card (which means I get free bussing), showed it to him, and apologized. When I sat down, I had my feet pulled up, in a slight fetal position, as I do when embarrassed or actually pretty often. "Get your feet off the seat! Sit straight forward!" The bus driver yelled. Okay, so far I could see how I was in the fault. My bad. I sat forward. The one other person on the bus got off, saying that it wasn't his stop but he could walk from here. A few stops later, the bus driver gets out of the bus, shuts the doors, and pulls out his phone. By now, I am late for my appointment, though I had called them when the bus was late to say I wouldn't be there on time. The bus driver is still talking 10 minutes later. I try to exit through the front bus doors, but they are locked. Now I am freaking out, it is past 11, I can't get out of the bus and couldn't even see the driver anywhere out the windows. I cancelled my chiropractors appointment, called Carta (was put on hold), and finally got out of the bus through the back doors, which could manually open. The bus driver was slightly behind the bus, still talking on the phone. I walked back to my dorm when I figured out where I was.Maybe the driver was talking to his dying wife or landlord who was about to evict him or something equally important. But that was still the worst bus experience I have ever had. For the bus to arrive late, then the driver to yell at me, then to be stranded on the bus alone for 10 minutes, not sure how to get out? Yeah that sucked. read more