Charleston’s Upper King Street rideshare program set to begin Wednesday

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) — Traveling to or from King Street via Uber or Lyft this weekend? Beginning Wednesday, you’ll need to select a designated pickup or drop-off spot at night.

Charleston’s Rideshare Pilot Program guides all drivers to pick up and drop off travelers at five locations in the area from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. every night.

The five pickup/drop-off locations are:

• King Street S, passenger loading zone
• Woolfe Street E, taxi stand
• Morris Street E, commercial loading zone
• Radcliffe Street E, taxi stand
• John Street E, taxi stand

City leaders say this program is designed to relieve congestion on King St. and nearby side streets by targeting peak traffic areas and maximizing convenience for both drivers and riders. 

To help drivers adjust to the new program, the city has installed signs marking designated zones and directing drivers on the route to find them. In addition, an increased Charleston Police patrol officer presence will be available for help in the area during the transition period. 

“Not only does this help police maintain an orderly flow of traffic on Upper King Street, but this will also support our rideshare providers by offering safe and efficient service to folks who visit this district,” said Meg Thompson, Charleston’s Business and Neighborhood Services Director.  “By designating space for this activity, we’re also keeping this activity contained and not encroaching into the surrounding neighborhoods.”  

The rideshare program was approved by the city council at an April 9th meeting. Charleston City Councilman Mike Seekings said the program was approved for a six-month pilot period.

“When you order up a rideshare, you can pick a location, you’ll get picked up there,” Seekings said after the meeting.  “And when you come to King Street, you can get dropped off at any one of the five locations.”

Seekings, who is also the chair of the Traffic and Transportation Committee, has said in the past that the program is similar to programs in other districts like airports and sporting venues across the country. The Charleston Airport also utilizes a rideshare program. 

Not everyone is in favor of the new program, however. When News 2 initially reported on the program in March, Paul Binion, an Uber driver who represents the South Carolina market for Uber Crew, expressed his concerns about the change. 

“There’s going to be a really, really fast bottleneck happening on some of those side streets because you’re going to end up with five or six Ubers stopping to pick people up, and traffic is going to back up on King Street,” Binion shared.

City leaders responded to the concerns, saying they would monitor the area’s streets to see if traffic congestion improves.