Asheville seeks input on ART redesign, could reshape bus routes

Asheville riders are being asked to weigh a transit redesign that would trade some direct coverage for more frequent buses on the city’s busiest corridors, with service changes that could shorten some trips and lengthen others.

The city released its ART Draft Network Report on May 18 and began a five-week public input period that includes an online survey, outreach at the ART transit station, and community meetings. City staff briefed Asheville City Council on May 21 as the agency moved a step closer to reshaping a system that now runs 18 routes from the ART Transit Station at 49 Coxe Avenue.

The biggest changes fall along the south side of town. Under the draft, riders headed from downtown Asheville toward Biltmore Village would see 15-minute service on Biltmore Avenue and McDowell, while service south of Biltmore Village on Hendersonville Road would come every 30 minutes. Trips to the airport and Biltmore Park would run hourly. At the same time, the draft would remove service from MAHEC, Beaverdam Road and the Grove Park Inn, a shift that could force some riders to walk farther, transfer more often or find another route altogether.

For riders, the key questions are practical: whether a stop still gets direct service, whether a transfer at the ART Transit Center gets easier, and whether a route that now comes twice an hour slips to once an hour. City materials say the redesign would shorten transfer times, straighten or modify routes, and improve on-time performance. They also say 8% of all residents would be near new 15-minute stops, while 37% would be near stops with service every 30 minutes or less.

The city says the draft was designed to move a little more toward ridership while preserving service in public housing and lower-income neighborhoods. According to the materials, 11% of low-income residents and 10% of residents of color would gain access to 15-minute service. The average resident could reach 9,000 jobs within 45 minutes by walking and transit, a 10% increase over the existing network.

ART’s current service runs from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Sundays and holidays. Standard fare is $1. The redesign grew out of a comprehensive operational analysis that began in March 2025 with Jarrett Walker and Associates, following earlier engagement rounds in spring and fall of 2025. Asheville’s 2018 Transit Master Plan, which updated a 2009 plan, had already noted how growth was changing transit operations, and the broader regional study completed in 2021 by the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization underscored how much the city’s bus network now shapes daily life well beyond downtown.