Free DASH Downtown Shuttle

Charleston operates a free shuttle bus, the DASH Downtown Shuttle, around the Historic District and lower Charleston peninsula. The service operates daily, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Days.

Three services, connecting at the Meeting Street Visitors Center (where you can also board other CARTA services), shuttle between the city’s most popular tourist attractions. Buses run roughly every 10-45 minutes, depending on the route and time of day.

A map of the three DASH routes with stops and nearby parking facilities marked, plus the schedule for each line, is available here.

Orange Line (Route 210) – Aquarium/College of Charleston

For most tourists, the Orange Line/Route 210 is primarily useful for getting out to the Liberty Square site on the Cooper River, on the eastern shore of the Charleston peninsula, which would otherwise be a 15-20 minute walk from the main Visitors Center.

This area is where the South Carolina Aquarium and Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center are located, and the site from which official boat trips to Fort Sumter, the water taxi to Patriots Point, and other harbor and boat tours depart. The route also passes Marion Square.

During term-time months (September through April), buses on this line run on a more frequent schedule to accommodate the increased volume of passengers traveling to the College of Charleston campus, west of the Visitor Center.

On weekdays September through April, buses run every 10-30 minutes from 6:28am-10:16pm (every 10-15 minutes from approximately 8am-7:30pm); May through August they are roughly every 30 minutes, from 6:28am-7:42pm. On weekends buses run every 20 minutes from 9am-8pm year-round.

Green Line (Route 211) – Meeting/King

For most tourists, this is the most useful of the free DASH shuttle routes for sightseeing, connecting King Street, Broad Street, Riley Waterfront Park, City Market and Meeting Street to the Visitors Center. It can, however, be very crowded during the peak tourist seasons.

The area covered by this route contains many of Charleston’s museums and key historic sights, plus shopping, restaurants, galleries and the other attractions of downtown Charleston.

Route 211 operates daily. On weekdays, services run from 7:16am-9:19pm, with buses every 14-16 minutes from around 9:30am until around 6pm. In the early morning, buses are slightly less frequent; in the evening, they are around 40-45 minutes apart.

On weekends, the service operates 8:16am-9:21pm. Buses run every 14-16 minutes from 10am until around 6:30pm, and thereafter around every 30-45 minutes.

Purple Line (Route 213) – Lockwood/Calhoun

For tourists, the Route 213 service is primarily useful as a shuttle between upper downtown and the Visitor Center and the Ashley River hotels. It also passes by Brittlebank Park, the Joseph P Riley Stadium, and within walking distance of the Citadel campus and historic Hampton Park, and the City Marina.

The service operates daily, every 45 minutes. Monday to Friday, shuttles run from 6:20am-9:15pm; Saturday, 8:20am-9pm; and Sunday, 9:20am-7pm.

Paid CARTA Bus Services

Charleston’s local bus transit network, CARTA, provides public transportation through downtown Charleston and to North Charleston (including the airport, and bus and train stations), West Ashley, Mount Pleasant, James Island and other suburbs.

The system map is available here and information about individual bus routes and schedules is available here.

The bus network consists of several ordinary bus lines and a few express services, the most useful of which to visitors is the XP3 Dorchester Road/Summerville which links the airport to the downtown Charleston Visitors Center (read more about getting to and from the airport by bus).

The ordinary fare is $2, payable in cash (exact change required) on board. One transfer is included for free; you need to ask the driver for a transfer when boarding. Children ages 6 or under ride for free with a paying passenger. The fare on express services (which includes one of the routes to Charleston International Airport) is $3.50 (the fare in this case also applies to children ages 6 and under).

If you plan to use the bus a lot (most people find they don’t need to), various passes are available. The most useful to tourists are:

1-day pass $7, buy on board the bus. Allows unlimited travel on regular (not express) CARTA buses. Express trips are subject to a $1 surcharge.

3-day pass $14, buy online or from one of several vending locations (of which the main Charleston Visitor Center at Meeting Street may be the most convenient) for unlimited regular service bus travel for three consecutive days. Express trips are subject to a $1 surcharge.

10-ticket pass $16, buy online or from one of several vending locations, including the Visitor Center at Meeting Street. Each bus you board requires one ticket, so don’t forget to request a free transfer if you need one, instead of using another ticket. Express trips are subject to a $1 surcharge.

See this page on the CARTA website for more information about fares, vending locations and other available passes.