I decided to try the new ART system to go downtown from north Asheville. I first went downtown to the main terminal to get the bus schedules. There was no place to park at the terminal so I was almost ticketed for stopping nearby.
Since the bus stop at the end of my street was eliminated, I went to the next closest stop on Kimberly Avenue. I waited and waited and when no bus came I called the ART and the person answering did not know where the bus stops were and the person who did was out of the office. Two days later I got a call saying that Kimberly service is "dial-up" but that dial-up service has been eliminated but not the bus stop sign. (Bus stop signs are all over the city, but buses do not stop at many of them anymore.)
Wanting to save on gas and help the environment, I tried again to get downtown from north Asheville. My yoga class starts at 5:30 p.m. so I waited for the 5:03 bus on Merrimon Avenue. The stressed 5:03 bus driver came at 5:20 and before going directly downtown, the bus had to cruise through the UNCA campus. I did not get to yoga that day and decided to stay away from the poorly run ART system in the future.
Running an empty hybrid bus is not helping the environment.
— Richard Taylor
Asheville
Not only is it not helping the environment, it is worse – the irony is obviously missed by those in authority – if I can’t get where I want to go by bus, I have to have a friend take me in their car – thereby putting more cars on the road! Whoever thought up this new disaster of a system? What were you thinking? Do any of you actually use the bus? Connections are too long, walking distances are too far, the “Google map” is seriously faulty. I haven’t met a passenger or driver that wasn’t furious, angry, and disappointed by this new service. Do something about this. Shame on you!!