Why MountainTrue Supports Proposed Changes to Asheville’s Bus System

Imagine that your neighborhood was only accessible via drawbridge once an hour between the hours of 6am and 10pm. You would have to plan your life, your work, your childcare, and your errands around that bridge schedule and it would limit what you could do with your day, every day. If that bridge schedule changed to open every half hour instead of every hour, it would dramatically change the way you could manage your life: increasing opportunities for job access, social connection, and more. 

That analogy presents just one benefit of frequent bus service, but it can help people who primarily drive their own car appreciate the value of frequent bus service to those who rely on the system.

To extend that analogy to the decision the City Council will make about our bus system on August 25th, we are proposing removing that bridge access for about 3% of the population, while doubling that bridge access for about 10% of the population. This is not an easy decision to make, nor is it one with a clear answer about which is best for our community.

MountainTrue is calling on our city’s leaders to make transit more effective system-wide by approving the draft network plan while committing to finding solutions for those who will lose access to the service. We can work with partners like Buncombe County to ensure continuity of transportation service through Mountain Mobility. We can partner with employers like Grove Park Inn to support shuttle service for their employees. We can cooperate with health care providers like MAHEC to ensure that patients have transportation from the bus to their front door. 

These are real challenges that demand creative solutions and committed leadership. We do not have to settle for the status quo. We can improve our system without leaving people behind. We have got to improve people’s access to opportunity and also live into our city’s commitment to environmental sustainability by improving the effectiveness of our transit system. Adopting the proposed network plan is just the first step in this work.

At MountainTrue, we believe that the following benefits of the changes proposed by the draft network plan make this challenging trade off worth the very real costs:

• South Asheville desperately needs the increased service this draft network will provide. South Asheville is experiencing the most dramatic and consistent residential growth in our city and we cannot afford to continue ignoring the traffic congestion in that area. As we keep approving affordable apartment developments in South Asheville, we must correspondingly provide those residents with access to the rest of the city via transit. 
• When the city expanded transit coverage in 2018, ridership plummeted because the service didn’t work as well. This drop in ridership preceded COVID. This is a clear indicator that when the service becomes too ineffective, people will find other ways to get where they need to go.
• In the US, transportation is the top barrier to employment, especially for low-income earners. The draft network would provide the average low-income resident with access to 15% more jobs.
• The draft network aligns with the City’s Comprehensive Plan by providing 15 minute frequency to Biltmore Village & the RAD and 30 minute frequency down Hendersonville Road.
• The draft network supports goals in the Affordable Housing Plan by providing 15 minute frequency to residents of city subsidized affordable housing units at 360 Hilliard, 319 Biltmore, 172 Asheland, Maplecrest, and 343 Haywood. 
• The draft network will increase on-time performance, improving reliability of the service for every single rider now and in the future. An unreliable system is not worth much to most people, but increasing reliability can help people keep jobs and make it to appointments which are real benefits.
• The draft network will improve timed transfers meaning people can use the system to move across the city faster and access more opportunities. This is a benefit that will serve all riders, even though you don’t see it on the map.
• The draft network represents a commitment to improving environmental sustainability for the city. Research shows that doubling the frequency of service to an area doubles the frequency of ridership for a variety of reasons. Increasing frequency on our most busy commercial corridors supports our vision for the city’s future where we increase residential development along our transit supported corridors to reduce sprawl.

Over time, our transit service has served fewer people despite costing more to provide. The status quo works for some, but could be improved for many. Please join us in calling on City Council to adopt the draft network plan and continue working towards solutions for those on routes that will lose access to this service. We should not leave them behind, nor should the whole system suffer in perpetuity. We can do better.