Asheville Mass Transit

Asheville Transit provides bus service throughout the City of Asheville and other local areas with 24 bus routes running from 6 a.m.-11:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday.  An overview of system routes is provided below but transit systems maps, individual route maps and schedules are available for downloading and printing at the City's Transportation Department website - the following link is provided for convenience (access to maps and schedules).   Asheville Transit also provides a Transit System Service and Weather Alert page which provides pertinent system status information useful when planning your travel.  And our public transit system is bike friendly, according to the transit website, Asheville Transit’s policy is to support and promote the use of bicycles. Bicycles shall have access to all transit vehicles whenever feasible in order to support more sustainable transportation options. Asheville Transit allows bicycles to travel on buses at no extra charge, and provides the greatest flexibility possible within the constraints of capacity and safety. Asheville Transit also offers a "hop and ride" service for commuters; details are available at the website.

Asheville Transit passengers are also able to ride Trailblazer routes through Transit's contract with Mountain Mobility of Buncombe County.   According to Mountain Mobility's website, there are three Trailblazer routes and these are deviated-fixed routes, which means the bus will be at preset locations according to a schedule but can deviate off the route by one-quarter mile to pick a passenger up from an address if the passenger is unable to get to the nearest street the bus runs on.  Each bus has a bike rack for passengers bringing a bicycle.

The City of Asheville is working to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced by its fleet of vehicles, this fleet includes transit buses.   On May 6th, 2008 the City of Asheville was awarded the The NC Mobile Clean Air Renewable Energy (CARE) award for its public fleet.  As stated in the 2008 award citation, the 2nd annual, "The NC Department of Transportation, NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Air Quality, and the NC Department of Administration State Energy Office have joined together to sponsor these awards to demonstrate the importance of actions taken to improve air quality."

The award recognized The City of Asheville as a leader in the use of alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles in Western North Carolina and fleet manager Chris Dobbins as the driving force in this green fleet initiative. With the help of grant monies, the City constructed the region’s first public compressed natural gas (CNG) refueling station in downtown Asheville and will gradually convert most of their fleet to CNG, a clean burning, low carbon fuel. At the time of the award, the City already operated two CNG pickup trucks and six Honda Civic GXs, a dedicated natural gas vehicle.

According to the The City of Asheville 2008 Highlights and Accomplishments summary:

"The city continues to support the carbon reduction goals set by City Council by purchasing energy efficient vehicles. During 2008, Asheville purchased two Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles, five gas-electric hybrid vehicles, and 30 flex fuel vehicles. Overall, the city owns 76 alternative vehicles including 11 CNG Vehicles, 42 flex fuel vehicles, 15 hybrid vehicles, and eight electric vehicles.

In 2008, nearly 1.5 million passengers were served by the city’s public transportation bus service.  In an effort to partner with large employers in the Asheville area to promote public transportation, Asheville Transit continued its Transit Passport program, which provides bulk discounts for transit services for employees of participating organizations. Buncombe County government, Greenlife, and the Grove Park Inn & Spa all joined the Transit Passport program to encourage employees to ride the bus to work.

Asheville Transit received $2.1 million to acquire five hybrid buses, furthering efforts to develop a green transit fleet. In addition, Asheville Transit received a Federal Transit Administration grant to develop an Environmental Management System."

Asheville's trolley cars are long gone.  Today, Asheville's mass transit system is built upon buses and vans operated by the City and Buncombe County.  When Living in Asheville North Carolina, you have the opportunity to use mass transit - transportation provided by an increasingly green fleet of vehicles.