Summary (updated 8/10/25): At its July 28th meeting, the Asheville City Council reviewed the proposed Asheville Rides Transit (ART) network plan. Community feedback was overwhelmingly negative, but staff still recommended the plan be adopted. The proposal could improve frequency, reliability, and access to jobs for many riders, but would obtain those benefits by eliminating direct service to several important destinations and neighborhoods that disproportionately impact marginalized members of our community. Before taking final action, Council should require staff to change the proposed redesign to address community feedback, develop equitable solutions for riders losing essential access, and/or present practical options (like increasing transit funding) to preserve critical connections.

The Facts: At the July 28th presentation, staff said the draft network would:

• Improve schedules and on-time performance.
• Coordinate transfers more effectively at the ART station.
• Provide 15-minute service between downtown, Hillcrest, and the River Arts District.
• Improve frequency in several higher-growth areas.
• End 90-minute routes.
• Increase the number of jobs an average low-income resident can reach by approximately 15%.
• Maintain or improve service to Housing Authority communities.

The proposal would discontinue direct service to:

• The Outlet Mall, Brevard Road, and Transformation Village — approximately 40 average daily riders.
• MAHEC — approximately 11 average daily riders.
• The Social Security office — approximately eight average daily riders.
• West Haywood — approximately 34 average daily riders.
• The Omni Grove Park Inn.

Staff presented alternatives for restoring some service, but each would reduce frequency, create irregular schedules, or weaken service elsewhere.

The Planning, Economic Development and Environment Committee did not recommend any particular modification to the proposed network. It asked staff to bring the proposal to Council for further discussion and recommended that the eventual Council decision include direction to identify additional, sustainable sources of transit funding.

Staff recommended approving the draft network as proposed. The presentation anticipated final Council action on August 25. You can see the presentation here, see the City’s explanation of proposed changes here, read the full report here, and read the full community engagement report here.

Our Assessment: The systemwide benefits to this plan appear meaningful, but those benefits come with concentrated losses that have not been fully resolved. We are also troubled by the stark disconnect between the community feedback the City received on this plan and staff’s recommendation to approve it without modification.

Survey respondents were not merely divided. They rejected the proposal by wide margins:

• Among all respondents, 52% disagreed or strongly disagreed that the draft network would be better for them, while only 25% agreed or strongly agreed.
• Fifty-nine percent disagreed or strongly disagreed that it would be better for people they know, compared with 24% who agreed.
• Fifty-seven percent disagreed or strongly disagreed that it would be better for the region overall, compared with 28% who agreed.
• Among frequent ART riders – the people with the most direct experience of the system — 60% disagreed or strongly disagreed that the proposal would be better for them. Only 27% agreed.

The survey was self-selected and does not necessarily represent every Asheville resident or rider. But 1,350 people participated, including 429 frequent riders. The results are too substantial and too consistently negative to treat as incidental opposition.

Staff’s presentation identified the public’s principal concerns, including the loss of access to Transformation Village, MAHEC, the Social Security office, West Haywood, and other destinations. Yet despite this acknowledgement, staff continued to recommend the draft network as proposed. The presentation does not clearly identify any significant network changes made in response to the overwhelmingly negative feedback.

Frequency, reliability, timed transfers, and increased job access are important equity benefits. But averages can conceal concentrated hardship. A relatively small number of riders may depend upon a particular stop to reach housing, health care, public benefits, or employment. Riders with disabilities, older adults, and people without flexible schedules may have no realistic substitute when bus service disappears.

Before asking Council to approve the network, staff should:

• Clearly identify what, if anything, they changed in response to public feedback.
• Explain why the principal concerns raised by riders were not incorporated into the recommendation.
• Directly engage the riders who would lose service and assess the effects regarding longer walks, terrain, accessibility, safety, and weather.
• Present equitable alternatives for preserving access to essential destinations.
• Explain what additional funding or community partnerships would be required to avoid forcing one group of riders to bear the impact of improving service for another.

If the City is going to conduct extensive public engagement, it should not then proceed with its original recommendation without clearly explaining how that feedback influenced — or failed to influence — the result. Council should use the period before the anticipated August vote to require that explanation and seek modifications that preserve the proposal’s broader benefits without abandoning riders who depend on the connections it would eliminate.

Things to Do (updated 8/10/26): Email City Council before August 25 and ask members not to approve the proposed network until the City explains what it changed in response to public feedback and develops workable solutions for riders losing access to essential destinations.

Email Template: You can send an email to the Asheville City Council by filling out the form below. Our email tool will send an individually addressed email to the recipients, and enable us to track how many emails were sent overall in the campaign. If you prefer to write your own email, you can copy and paste (and adapt) our template text – please cc: or bcc: info@gapavl.org on your individualized email, so we can better track how many emails were sent. 

Important: If you receive a response to your email, please forward it to us at info@gapavl.org so we can reflect that in the report back.

To: AshevilleNCCouncil@ashevillenc.gov

CC: or BCC: info@gapavl.org

Subject: Protect essential transit access while improving Asheville’s bus network

Dear Mayor Manheimer and Asheville City Council members,

I write to you today regarding the proposed Asheville Rides Transit (ART) network redesign, to ask you to address public concerns as they have been presented by the community before it is put to you for a vote on August 25. 

I support efforts to make Asheville’s bus network more frequent, reliable, and useful. The proposed ART network redesign could provide important benefits, including more frequent service on major corridors and improved access to jobs for many residents.

However, those improvements would come with serious losses. The drafted plan eliminates direct service to destinations including ABCCM’s Transformation Village, MAHEC, the Social Security office, West Haywood, and other areas. For riders who rely on public transportation, losing access to housing, health care, public services, and employment is not a minor inconvenience. 

The community response on the final survey also deserves a substantive response. Most respondents—including 60% of frequent ART riders—did not believe the proposed network would be better for them. Although the survey was self-selected, its size and consistently negative results should not be dismissed.

Before approving the final network, please direct staff to:

• Clearly identify what, if anything, they changed in response to public feedback.
• Explain why the principal concerns raised by riders were not incorporated into the recommendation.
• Directly engage the riders who would lose service and assess the effects regarding longer walks, terrain, accessibility, safety, and weather.
• Present equitable alternatives for preserving access to essential destinations.
• Explain what additional funding or community partnerships would be required to avoid forcing one group of riders to bear the impact of improving service for another.

Please do not limit the decision to a choice between keeping the existing system unchanged and adopting the draft as presented. Asheville should pursue better frequency and reliability while protecting riders who would otherwise lose essential bus access.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[Name]

[Neighborhood]

Report Back

Updated 8/3/26: Council received the transit redesign presentation but took no vote. Staff presented the proposed network, the overwhelmingly negative survey results, and options for retaining service to destinations that could lose direct access, including ABCCM’s Transformation Village, MAHEC, the Social Security office, West Haywood, and the Outlet Mall. Councilmembers expressed significant concern about the proposed losses and discussed smaller vehicles, partnerships with major employers and institutions, and additional funding. Staff is expected to return for a decision on August 25, so this issue remains unresolved; the discussion created an opportunity to seek a revised plan before the final vote.