Asheville City Council passed revisions to the city’s Homestay ordinance for short-term lodging and approved an extension of the management contract for the Asheville bus system at its Nov. 17 meeting. Outgoing Councilmen Jan Davis, Marc Hunt and Chris Pelly were honored for their service.
At its meeting tonight, Asheville City Council will consider new ordinances — aimed at Occupy Asheville — banning camping on city property; renewing a contract with First Transit to manage the city’s transit system and approval of the Aventine apartment complex just outside the city.
The annual Strive Not to Drive campaign kicked off May 11 with a presentation on upcoming changes to the Asheville Transit System, including new routes and schedules designed to make riding the bus more convenient.
The city of Asheville plans to solicit proposals from new companies to manage its transit system. Starting in June, the Asheville Transit System will implement changes designed to improve its routing and on-time performance. The city will also mount a marketing campaign to increase ridership, changing the name of the system from ATS to ART (Asheville Redefines Transit).
There will be no strike in the Asheville transit system, as the local bus drivers’ union voted today to accept a contract from management company First Transit, according to a source within the union.
Beginning July 1, Asheville Transit System’s infrastructure will be under new management. City Council has hired Cincinnati-based management company First Transit, Inc. to hire and supervise drivers, maintain vehicles, and build bus stops. No driver lay-offs are expected.
