Action Alert: Ask Asheville City Council to vote no on the draft network
*Update: this vote has been removed from the agenda On August 25th and postponed to a later date. It’s still an important time to contact City Council!
Asheville City Council will vote on whether or not to move forward with a draft network for transit that increases frequency while cutting some routes. After two rounds of public input, the message is clear: bus riders do not support the draft plan.
TAKE ACTION:
- Email all members of Asheville City Council directly at [email protected]
- Attend the Asheville City Council Meeting on DATE TBD on the 2nd Floor of City Hall
- Make public comment via email ([email protected]) or voicemail (855-925-2801, meeting code 10332) These will continue to be accepted, reviewed by City Council and added to the public record prior to the meeting until 9:00 a.m. on the day of the meeting.
Sample script:
Asheville City Council, Please vote no on approving the draft network as written.
Alternative options to consider:
- Revert back to the Coverage Map which improves time transfers but keeps the coverage.
- Keep the current transit map and work to increase funding to meet goals around increased frequency/ridership
- Adjust the draft network plan to maintain some of the coverage that people were most concerned about. Work together with employers and service providers (like social security, MAHEC, and Grove Park) to ensure that loss of coverage for these areas could serve people another way.
I urge you to vote no and ask staff for an option that does not leave current bus riders without the public transit they rely on in their daily lives.
Thank you, Name
*If you use public transit, share a story about how these changes will affect you!*
Background:
The City of Asheville conducted the Asheville Rides Transit (ART) Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA) to review transit operations. City Staff and consultants briefed the City Council on public input to the draft network at a meeting on July 28, 2026.
After two rounds of engagement surveys (phase 1 and phase 2) engagement summary here) for public input, the voices of riders and the public are clear. Public engagement demonstrated that the public does not support the draft network changes for Asheville’s public transit. The City put a great deal of time, energy and resources into collecting public input and the City Council should listen to that input.
What does the draft network propose?
After the majority of Asheville City Council requested a draft network in favor of ridership, City Staff and consultants from Jarret Walker and Associates provided a draft that proposes removing routes to reallocate resources and increase the frequency of service in other high-traffic areas. People who rely on these routes will be left without service.
The tradeoffs of loss of coverage in favor of frequency are not worth it. The number of people who rely on public transportation that would lose access to jobs, healthcare or other basic services are not worth the increase in service for people who may begin to ride the bus.
Problems with Draft Network Plan:
- West section of Haywood Road being eliminated:
- cuts out a key walkable commercial area,
- cuts access to neighborhoods
- cuts access to the West Asheville Library–a voting location.
- This change would also interrupt access to jobs, grocery stores and services on Haywood Rd for people who live west of Patton (including Deaverview) leaving access to Patton Ave instead which is more dangerous and significantly less walkable.
- Cutting out access to the outlet mall:
- Reduces access to the jobs that are near the outlet mall
- Cuts access to Transformation Village
- Removes the potential of working with the County in the future on an extension of this route that would include the County’s Ferry Road Housing Development
- Cutting the diversions to MAHEC, Grove Park, and the social security offices would make access to jobs, healthcare and services more challenging.
The COA made several things clear:
- Asheville’s system is working AND needs more investment
- The City must work with the County on future transportation needs
- Land use planning in the future needs to center transit