City of Asheville hires new Transit Planning Manager as implementation of Transit Master Plan begins

Press release from the City of Asheville:

The City of Asheville is pleased to announce a new Transit Planning Manager is now on board. The Transit Planning Manager is positioned to guide ART bus improvements, including implementation of the new Transit Master Plan. Eunice Lovi comes to the City of Asheville with more than a decade of transit management experience, most recently from the Broward County Transit system in Plantation, Fla.

Lovi has a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Oregon. Working with transit systems from California to Florida, she has implemented transit initiatives to increase ridership and improve system performance. She has experience administering state and federal transit grants, as well as applying for and earning them.

“The Transportation Department is beyond excited for Eunice to join our team,” said Transportation Director Ken Putnam. “She brings an unparalleled level of experience, energy and dedication to the transit division and we are confident that she will be successful in improving all aspects of our transit system.”

Job #1: Improving bus service

Lovi comes to the City at a time when Asheville is poised to make significant investment in transit for our residents.

The ART Transit Station on Coxe Avenue is undergoing a renovation to make the facility more useful with better signage, waiting area and restrooms. This renovation will incorporate solar panels on the roof of the center to generate renewable energy for its operation.

In July 2018, Asheville City Council adopted an updated Transit Master Plan, crafted with input from riders and residents. In June 2019, City Council approved the Fiscal Year 2019-2020 budget, which includes $1 million in funding towards the first-year recommendations of the Transit Master Plan.  The plan focuses on incorporating ways to provide better on-time service for riders, as well as route expansions.  The first round of improvements will kick-off in January 2020.

Also in June, ART deployed its first-ever zero-emission electric buses on ART Routes S3 and S6 to south Asheville and 170 to Black Mountain. Find more information about the electric buses at this link.

The Transit Master Plan is a 10-year plan designed with phased implementation, financing and staffing. So there will be more improvements to come, under Lovi’s leadership.

 

“It is an exciting time to be in Asheville and I’m looking forward to working with the community to improve our transit service and implement the Transit Master Plan,” Lovi said.

 

About ART bus service

Asheville Redefines Transit provides bus service throughout Asheville and to Black Mountain from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays/holidays. The ART Station is at 49 Coxe Ave.

The City contracts the operations and maintenance of the transit system and buses to a third party, currently RATPDev. The City oversees the contract and works closely with RATPDev staff who run the system.

For more information, visit RideTheArt.com.

 

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3 thoughts on “City of Asheville hires new Transit Planning Manager as implementation of Transit Master Plan begins

  1. Trudy Mowery

    Good to hear. Maybe new leadership will shake things up a bit. Although from what little research I did on her it seems the City Transit Companies she worked with have the same inherent problems as ART. That of underfunding, burgeoning ride share and artificially low gas prices. Sadly these issue coupled with many citizens to lazy or ignorant to park their cars and ride the bus instead when possible (Yes there a plenty of opportunities at times for everyone to choose a different mode of transportation, so skip the “What about ….” bs comments ). So until these conditions change she has an uphill battle.

    Our traffic conditions will not improve any time soon until individuals do what they can to alleviate congestion. Thinking NCDOT will widen the roads so everyone can drive alone in their deadly gas guzzling automobile is nuts. Besides being physically impossible given the constraints on land it’s not economically feasible given our politicians fear of raising the cost of driving to reflect the true cost of building auto centric transportation infrastructure. So this makes it necessary for most us to be the change we want to see. Don’t like sitting in traffic? Quit being traffic.

    • John

      That’s not going to happen until all buses run every 15 minutes until 2am. In other words, that, not going to happen. Asheville should have gotten behind transit BEFORE it started having 12 million tourists visits per year. The only solution is for the BCTDA to help pay the bills, and once again not going to happen.

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