The Comet Launches Two New Bus Routes

The Comet has launched two new routes in September to connect customers to major Columbia, South Carolina destinations.

Beginning September 1, the Comet Soda Cap Connector was launched, which is a downtown circulator route system dedicated to connecting riders to major Columbia destinations such as The Vista, Five Points, SC State Museum, Public Library, the Main Street Business District, Five Points, the State House, as well as HBCUs.

The service runs from Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. as a pilot. The first six months the transit services are free of charge.

In addition, to the Soda Cap Connector the Comet launched the Blythewood Express, which is a 20-mile express service, that provides a park-and-ride transit option type service for the town of Blythewood, to connect residents to the downtown Columbia corridor.

“It is important to have mobility options that fit the needs of all citizens within Richland County. We are proud to launch this Park-and-Ride Express service for the town of Blythewood, as well as the Soda Cap Connector downtown circulator that connects people to major parts of the city of Columbia. The Richland County Transportation Penny was passed in order for the Comet to implement these types of services, that benefit the community as a whole,” stated The Comet’s Interim Executive Director Ann Dawson August.

August thanked the general public and public officials for their support, Comet Board of Directors, Sam Scheib, Comet’s director of planning and development and the Comet Team for all of their hard work to ensure this project came to fruition.

Surveys will be taken for both services during this pilot period in order to monitor and improve each service for future use.