Nonprofit shuttle program will bring workers to jobs in Jasper and Beaufort counties
A new shuttle service launching next month in Jasper County is taking workers where they’re needed.
Antioch Educational Center, a Ridgeland-based nonprofit that for 15 years has helped residents in need throughout Jasper, Hampton and Beaufort counties, is launching a new service called the “Antioch Express” on June 15.
The shuttle system is beginning as a two-year pilot program using two new, 25-passenger buses to transport low-income workers from Ridgeland to their jobs as far away as Hilton Head Island.
The service will provide “safe, reliable, affordable transportation” to work and encourage others to seek jobs located along the 40-plus-mile route, Darryl Owens, project manager at the Antioch Educational Center, said in a news conference Tuesday.
The route is still being “ironed out,” he said, but is slated to begin at the Antioch Educational Center on West Main Street in Ridgeland and travel through southern Beaufort County, ending at Sea Pines on the south end of Hilton Head Island. Several stops are anticipated along the way, depending on the need, including the New River Center in Hardeeville, Tanger Outlets 1 and 2 in Bluffton, Coastal Carolina and Hilton Head hospitals, and the Walmarts in Bluffton and Hilton Head.
“This is a plus-plus, win-win for everyone,” S.C. Rep. Shedron Williams said at the news conference. “This system brings people to the system to work,” which he says will entice more companies to invest in and develop the region, including centers such as RiverPort Commerce Park in Hardeeville.
Funding came from the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry and Women in Philanthropy and will allow riders to take the shuttle for free the first three months. Afterwards, tickets are expected to be $5 a rider per day.
Owens said people in the community are already curious about the commuter system, knocking on the center’s door and asking what the shiny new buses are for. Antioch, he said, is excited to offer the service to people who need it for all kinds of reasons: those who live within walking distance of the route’s starting point, people with car problems or those who cannot afford fuel to drive the longer distance to their job, or people with limited access to transportation because they share a vehicle.
Although other shuttle services are already available in the region, such as the Palmetto Breeze, which transports workers between Colleton and Beaufort counties, Owens said the Antioch Express is “by no means in competition.” The community needed more options at a lower cost, he said, and the Express may reduce time on the road for some.
More details will be released at antiochedc.org as the start date approaches.
This story was originally published May 23, 2021 at 7:30 AM.
