In October 2017, the City of Asheville began working with the public on a Transit Master Plan, a guiding document for the City’s ART transit system. The plan is designed to provide specific routing recommendations to improve service in the short-term, and serves as a long-term vision plan for future expansion and improvements.
The City consulted the public during meetings in fall and winter 2017 and online through Open City Hall Asheville.
Now a draft plan, informed by that input, is ready for review.
The City and Asheville Redefines Transit (ART) invite the public to review the plan and give their input during a 6:30-8:30 p.m. March 26 meeting at the Public Works Building, Room A109, 161 S. Charlotte St. To help transport people to the meeting, a free shuttle will be provided from the ART Station to the Public Works Building. The shuttle will leave the ART Station every 15 minutes, starting at 6:15 p.m. and ending at 8:45 p.m.
The purpose of the meeting is to gather input from participants on the proposed changes to the ART bus network and to present the initial findings of the draft Transit Master Plan.
At 6:30 p.m., there will be a brief PowerPoint presentation to explain the Transit Master Plan process, as well as show maps of the proposed changes to ART’s North, South, East and West bus routes. After the presentation, participants will be able to view, at their leisure, the proposed changes at four interactive stations and provide comments and/or mark up route maps with additional suggestions. Discussion tables will also be provided for participants to openly discuss the current bus network and proposed changes. Each table will have a facilitator to guide the discussion.
The input will be used to assist the project team, led by Tindale-Oliver & Associates, in working with City staff to develop and prioritize transit service changes and update the 10-year Transit Master Plan. If you cannot attend the meeting, the same presentation will be made to the Transit Committee on March 27 and the Multimodal Transportation Commission on March 28. Everyone is welcome to attend. More information is available at AshevilleNC.gov/TransitMasterPlan.
The goal of the Transit Master Plan is to establish a mobility vision and program of investments that have community consensus, support and approval for more effective and efficient ART public transportation services to meet the needs of Asheville and support our continued growth.
For more information on Asheville’s Transit Master Plan and to get involved, please visit the AshevilleNC.gov/TransitMasterPlan website. The proposed changes to the plan will be made available on the project website one week before the meeting. If you are unable to attend the meeting and would like to provide feedback, you may contact Elias Mathes directly via phone or email.
Contact: Elias Mathes | Transit Planning Manager, City of Asheville
828-232-4522 | EMathes@Ashevillenc.gov