Where to park your carcass if you wanna ride the bus

Posted on by Cecil Bothwell

Asheville blogger Paul Van Heden has created a map for would-be transit riders who are in the market for housing. Van Heden is the brain behind the Brainshrub Bus Project (see “Public-transit ninja blogger strikes again,” Jan. 31, Xpress ) and holds forth at Brainshrub.com.

On his blog, Van Heden explains, “I’ve gotten several requests for information on the best places in Asheville are to live if one wishes to use public transit as the primary means to get around town.

“To answer these queries, and as a public service, I created a Google Map with shaded zones which represent areas I consider ideal living locations for access to the bus routes.”

Home-seekers will find Van Heden’s short descriptions of recommended neighborhoods useful, while residents of Pisgah View and Montford as well as owners of malls and strip malls may take exception to some of his commentary. But, hey—he’s a “ninja blogger,” not a Chamber of Commerce rep.

— Cecil Bothwell, staff writer

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About Cecil Bothwell
A writer for Mountain Xpress since three years before there WAS an MX--back in the days of GreenLine. Former managing editor of the paper, founding editor of the Warren Wilson College environmental journal, Heartstone, member of the national editorial board of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, publisher of Brave Ulysses Books, radio host of "Blows Against the Empire" on WPVM-LP 103.5 FM, co-author of the best selling guide Finding your way in Asheville. Lives with three cats, macs and cacti. His other car is a canoe. Paints, plays music and for the past five years has been researching and soon to publish a critical biography--Billy Graham: Prince of War:
View all posts by Cecil Bothwell →

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4 thoughts on “Where to park your carcass if you wanna ride the bus”

  1. Paul -V-

    Thank you for linking to my blog.

    I’m honored you felt the post provides useful information to readers.

  2. Melanie M. Bianchi

    This is a great service, though I am a perfect idiot with maps and can’t quite figure it out. Here’s my question: I recently moved from Dorchester Ave. in West Asheville (from where I occasionally got the bus at the stop in front of Lucky Otter, very convenient) to Greeley St., far down Brevard Road also in W.Asheville. Greeley is also accessible from Fairfax Ave., which is roughly across the street from Burgermeister’s. So…which stop would be my closest new stop for a.m. pick-up, and what’s the schedule?
    Thanks…..

  3. Paul -V-

    Melanie: You can get route maps off any bus or from the main terminal on Coxe Avenue. Also, you can see copies of the schedules at this URL:

    http://www.ashevilletransit.com

    Having said that…

    Route #9 which leaves at the bottom of the hour from downtown, practically drops you in front of your doorstep. If you are going to town, I would make sure you are at any bus-stop along Brevard at 5 minutes past the top of the hour, with an expected pick up time of ten minutes past the top of the hour. (Always be at the stop five minutes before the expected arrival time.)

    While the #9 will also bring home, if memory serves me properly, Brevard slopes downward from Haywood. This is good news for you if you have a bike, since you should be able to also take Route #1, get off at the Ingles on Louisiana, and let gravity bring you home.

    IMHO, the problem with the #9 route is that ATS tends to use a small bus for it, so it’s often a bit crowded. Also, the number #9 tends to be rushed since it has to serve the Biltmore Square Mall – which is out of the way.

    I hope my description helps. Explaining the routes in a comment window is a bit like trying to describe how to tie shoelaces without pictures.

    If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me via my blog or this thread.

    -0-

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