New transit route launches in Bluffton

BLUFFTON, S.C. (WTOC) - One Lowcountry town has recently started a program to help get people to work easier and maybe help them find a job in the first place.

Beaufort county’s first ever year-round, fixed-route transportation system started Tuesday. It’s called the Bluffton Breeze and it began with one major question.

“How do we get workers great pay, wonderful places to work, a little bit further outside of where they reside and with easy transportation,” Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka asked.

Bluffton, like most towns, is facing a worker shortage. Mayor Sulka hopes this new bus route will help fix that.

“They’re needing the employees on that side that live a little farther away and a lot of those workers don’t want to drive in. So, that’s where the breeze comes in,” Mayor Sulka said.

The shuttle service will be free until 2022, and then it’ll cost a dollar per trip. But Mayor Sulka says many employers will pick up that cost to further entice workers.

“A lot of businesses are paying for their riders to ride. It’s needed in this region,” Mayor Sulka said.

The fleet of buses and shuttles already provides transportation in other ways, but this grant-funded program has a specific route it will take every day for laborers.

Bluffton Breeze released a map on their website of all planned stops the shuttle will make in the Bluffton area.