The City of Asheville is asking residents to weigh in on a plan to overhaul the city’s bus routes, the latest step in a $300,000 public engagement process that began last year.
The draft bus map would reduce the total number of bus lines while adding more buses to some of the city’s most popular routes.
“That’s what the shift toward ridership is. It means slightly less coverage to provide higher frequency in the strongest places, and that’s what we’ve done here,” public transit consultant Ricky Anguiera said in a presentation to City Council members last week.
Anguiera works for the firm Jarrett Walker and Associates, which the city has hired to help overhaul its bus map.
The city of Asheville’s transportation director, Ashley Haire, said the goal is to improve the city’s bus system while keeping costs at roughly the same level as today.
“This draft network is using the resources that we have currently,” she said. “It’s functionally a cost-neutral revisioning of our network for efficiencies.”
The proposal would cut service to several locations, including the Tanger Outlets in West Asheville; the Social Security Office and Kenilworth Road in East Asheville; the MAHEC campus in South Asheville; and Beaverdam Road and the Omni Grove Park Inn in North Asheville.
Cutting those locations would make it possible to increase the number of buses on other routes, which would reduce wait times to as little as 15 minutes in parts of central and South Asheville.
City Council is expected to view a final version of the plan by the end of August. If the overhaul moves forward, it will begin in July 2027 at the earliest.
In his presentation, Angueira noted that the new network would boost the number of Asheville jobs accessible within a 45-minute public transit commute, particularly for low-income people and residents of color. It would also place 31% of the city’s jobs near bus service that runs every 15 minutes; no city bus route currently reaches that frequency.
Yet several Council members shared concerns over the proposal.
Kim Roney worried that reducing buses along outer parts of the Haywood Road and Charlotte Street corridors would hinder plans for denser development. Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley noted that the changes would cut service for low-income residents of Kenilworth and make it harder for workers to reach the Grove Park Inn.
Haire, Asheville’s transportation director, stressed that the map was still under development and that the city would seek extensive public input before making any changes. She said residents will be able to weigh in through an online survey, conversations with city staff at the downtown bus station, and community meetings.
Members of the public can view the proposed map and weigh in online here.
