After An Over $1 Million Grant To United Way Of Kershaw County, Transportation Is Expanding Across The County

Author: Walker Lawson, WLTX
Published: 7:09 PM EST January 26, 2023

KERSHAW COUNTY SC — Thanks to a $1 million grant from Santee Wateree RTA, United Way of Kershaw County has found a way to expand no cost ride services across the county. “We have served close to 16,000 rides over the course of our first year,” said United Way’s Vehicle Access Network (VAN) coordinator, Jennifer Jones. Jones said last year they received a grant to start the program, and quickly outgrew it as demand exceeded capacity. That led them to this larger grant, which puts 10 cars and 10 drivers across the county.
Santee Wateree RTA previously had bus routes across Kershaw County with Kershaw Connect, but that has since ended. This new grant will back up this new program. “This grant will allow the Vehicle Access Network to expand and serve more of the under-served communities and population of Kershaw County,” Jones said. Jones said the added service will allow people without transportation to access doctor’s appointments and take care of other important business. Jones said the majority of their calls and riders are coming from Cassatt and Bethune, and now that more drivers are out on the road, they can reach those people more quickly. “Now, I think we run around 65 trips, which is around 121 total trips per day, and what kind of advantage we have as opposed to having a fixed route, we can go door-to-door with the number of vehicles we have,” said Carolina One Transit CEO Corey Sweetenburg. Sweetenburg said their vehicles include a fire extinguisher and first aid kits and their staff is trained at handling the equipment in case of an emergency.
Services are provided from 6am – 6pm seven days a week through reservation. They also add if those hours don’t work accommodations are available.