fbpx

Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority

CARTA connects Charleston-area transit riders to work, school, healthcare, tourist attractions, the airport and more.

Plan Your Trip

CARTA Takes Delivery of Local-Made Hand Sanitizer in Fight Against COVID-19


Local Distillery to Help Keep Public Transit Riders Healthy During Crisis

CHARLESTON (May 11, 2020) The Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) received delivery of a 55-gallon container of hand sanitizer from a downtown Charleston distillery Monday.

Partnering with local spirit maker High Wire Distilling Company, CARTA picked up the drum filled with hand sanitizer, which will be used throughout the CARTA transit system in an effort to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 across the region.

CARTA takes delivery of hand sanitizer“Anything we can do to make it safer for our drivers, to make it safer for our customers, make it more comfortable and convenient for people out there to give them that level of comfort, and to let them use hand sanitizer – which regardless of what’s going on now or what’s going on in the future – will be a great idea,” said Mike Seekings, the CARTA board chairman. “It’s a good way for us to make sure that just one more part of our process of moving people around the community is safer for everybody out there.”

CARTA purchased the hand sanitizer with recently approved federal CARES Act funding, which provides fast and direct economic assistance for American workers and families, small businesses and transit authorities across the nation during the COVID-19 crisis. Using a portion of the funding to acquire the sanitizer was another important step toward providing the safest public transportation environment possible, Seekings said.

Ann Marshall, the co-founder of High Wire Distilling Company, said that the distillery makes its mark producing spirits, but that this opportunity to help CARTA and its transit system riders was a great way to think outside the box with its alcohol production.

“We are traditionally a maker of gin and whiskey right here in downtown Charleston, so when COVID-19 situation hit, we quickly pivoted to making hand sanitizer, and we’ve been making it for the last three weeks,” Marshall said. “Like everyone, we felt a little helpless when this all started, and we wanted to do as much as we could to help the community stay in good health.” 

“CARTA, of course, touches so many people in the Charleston community on a day-to-day basis, so it really made the most sense as the best outlet for us to get the product in the world and to as many people as we could,” Marshall said. “We’ll continue making hand sanitizer as long as there’s a need.”

Seekings echoed those sentiments saying that CARTA will do it’s best to provide a safe riding environment at this pivotal time in history.

“We’re going to get this out to the community, for free, off of our buses,” Seeking said. “We’re excited to partner with local businesses to get out there in the community and provide a product that’s needed, at a time that it’s needed, to those who want to use it.”

View event photos

Plan Your Trip
Transit App

Download “Transit” and travel like a true Charlestonian.

Available in the App Store and on Google Play, “Transit” offers numerous features to help you easily navigate around Charleston.

Bus Route: See vehicle locations in real time, find nearby stops, and receive stop announcements.

Service Alerts: Keep on top of schedule changes, stop relocations and other unexpected surprises.

Favorites: Always take the same bus? Move it to the top of the list by adding it to your favorites.

Timetables: View the full schedule for a route and set alarms to remind you to leave.

Countdowns: Get real-time predictions based on data from the transit agency.

“Go”: Get step-by-step transit directions and notifications about when to leave for your trip and when to get off the bus.

Plan a trip!: Compare trips side by side with your preferred transport modes selected.

View Transit 101

Download TransitApp from Google Play Store
Download TransitApp from Apple Store
TransitApp