History
Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority was officially formed in June 1974 as the first RTA in the state of South Carolina. In August 1976, PDRTA began operations serving the six-county Pee Dee region of Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Marion, and Marlboro Counties. PDRTA's first customers in 1976 were a small group of people enrolled in the CETA (currently Workforce Investment) federal job training program. In 1988, PDRTA began transporting inland county residents to the Grand Strand for job opportunities. With the introduction of the Family Independence Act in 1996, PDRTA began a concerted effort to work with local DSS offices to provide transportation to job training, interviews, job fairs, and employment opportunities for FIA clients.

PDRTA Board of Directors
The governing body of the Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority is its Board of Directors. Members of the Board of Directors are appointed by the member counties, municipalities or the Governor as recommended by the Legislative Delegation. Board meetings are held the 3rd Thursday of each month (Jan. – Nov.) at 6PM in the PDRTA Board Room at 313 Stadium Road, Florence. Meetings are open to the public and the media.

Currently serving on the PDRTA Board of Directors:

Jerome Ballard, Lake City
Elaine Barkley, Marion County
Alan L. Berry, Jr., Dillon County
Alphonso Campbell, City of Mullins
Robert Cole, Chesterfield County
Nancy Finklea, City of Dillon
Judy Alexander, City of Darlington
Andrew R. Ingram, City of Cheraw
F. Schipman Johnston, Legislative Appointee
Rev. Bennie King, Florence County
Blake Bondy, Darlington County
Ron Munnerlyn, Bennettsville
*Edward Robinson, City of Florence
Mary Alice Wilson, City of Hartsville

*Chairman

Funding
Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority provides approximately seventy-eight percent of its own financial support through contracts, fares, and advertising revenue. In addition, PDRTA receives state and federal grants and local match dollars from the cities, towns, and counties that it serves.

Services
The variety of services offered by PDRTA might just be the best kept secret in the Pee Dee area. In addition to the fixed route serving the City of Florence, PDRTA also offers a fixed route service for the Hartsville-Darlington-Florence commuter, demand-response transportation, paratransit services, and commuter routes for Pee Dee residents employed on the Grand Strand. Throughout the years, PDRTA has also increased its coordinated contractual services for public and private agencies, businesses, and organizations. Among these are: state, regional, and local public agencies; private, non-profit agencies; and private, for profit agencies. PDRTA is among the top 5 Largest Demand Response Transit Agencies in the United States (ranked by passenger miles traveled.) PDRTA's passengers are comprised of people from all age groups and walks of life. Many passengers are taken to life Saving appointments such as dialysis. Others are transported to work, school, medical appointments, shopping, training, etc.

Operations
PDRTA operates services with 165 vehicles ranging in size from transit, intercity buses, and trolleys to lift-equipped vans and goshens. Last fiscal year, PDRTA transported 641,219 passengers totaling over 5 million vehicle miles. Daily PDRTA transports approximately 2,457 people.

Staff
PDRTA has a staff of approximately 135, three-fourths of whom are vehicle operators. The remainder of the staff consists of dispatchers, coordinators, mechanics, transportation managers, and administrative staff. All vehicle operators are trained according to the highest standards of passenger safety, road safety and customer service expectations. The staff is also representative of the Pee Dee population comprised of Pee Dee residents from all six counties, with a variety of racial, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.