Coast RTA

Coast RTA is a transportation service in Conway, SC, providing public transit for residents and visitors across Horry and Georgetown Counties. The authority operates ten fixed routes and paratransit service for riders with disabilities, using vehicles ranging from nine-passenger to forty-passenger buses, and serves more than 1,900 commuters on a typical day. It holds a rating of 3.70 based on 178 reviews.

The system traces back to July 1980, when Ivory Wilson, Clarence Watkins, and J.R. Taylor began planning bus service to help residents reach employment, shopping, and medical appointments. Service launched in July 1983 as Coastal Rapid Public Transit Authority, starting with six GM buses leased from the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority and averaging 332 daily boardings in the first year, growing to 729 the following year. The organization operated for sixteen years as a private nonprofit under a three-member board before becoming the public nonprofit Waccamaw Regional Transportation Authority in 1999, later increasing its board to eleven members. The authority has done business as Lymo and now as Coast RTA. General Manager and CEO Brian Piascik leads a staff that includes a Chief Financial Officer, Chief Experience Officer, Transportation Manager, Deputy Transportation Manager, Maintenance Manager, Public Information Officer, Human Resource Manager, Grants and Procurement Manager, and Accountant. Local funding comes from Horry County, Georgetown County, the City of Conway, the City of Conway, and North Conway, used to match Federal Transit Administration and SC Department of Transportation allocations.

The office sits on 3rd Avenue, a short distance from 4th Avenue, the Horry County Court House, and the Horry County Police Department Administration building, with Live Oaks park and a local monument also nearby.

With more than four decades of continuous service and an established base of customer feedback, Coast RTA carries a long regional track record for a public transit provider along the Grand Strand.

Services:

• Community Transit Partnerships
• Evacuation Information
• Mass Public Transportation
• Paratransit Services
• Vacation Planner