On the first authentically crisp day of fall, a cheerful man in a motorized wheelchair glides through the Asheville Transit Center. “It’s got a bite in it today,” he remarks to another man waiting for a bus on this breezy day. “Yes,” the other rider agrees. Moments later, the No. 15 bus (which traverses parts […]

This August marks Vasiliy Lebed‘s second anniversary as a driver for the Asheville Transit System. Lebed is well-qualified for his work: After driving a tank truck in his native Ukraine, he emigrated with his family to Seattle. There he had a tractor-trailer route, but not on the interstate — it was round and round, in […]

This August marks Vasiliy Lebed‘s second anniversary as a driver for the Asheville Transit System. Lebed is well-qualified for his work: After driving a tank truck in his native Ukraine, he emigrated with his family to Seattle. There he had a tractor-trailer route, but not on the interstate — it was round and round, in […]

It’s the top of the hour, and the No.16 bus is pulling into the Asheville Transit Center — precisely at its scheduled arrival time. This is a good sign. Time is of the essence today, as I have a tight schedule and can’t afford any delays. Between now and the end of the workday, I’ve […]

Trotting down Coxe Avenue, I make it to the Transit Center and onto the Route 12 bus at the next-to-last minute. Sinking into my seat, I’m grateful that it’s cool and shady inside, in contrast to the heat and slime beyond the glass. My fantasies of moving to Iceland temporarily assuaged, I glance around. A […]

The Asheville Transit Center seems an unlikely spot to discuss F. Scott Fitzgerald’s glittering 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby. But here we are — 17-year-old Chris Hewitt and I — making conversation while the PA system squawks announcements about incoming buses, and harried riders dash to make their connections. Wearing a New York Yankees ball […]

Standing at the very front of the No. 13 bus, swaying and staggering as it lurches through Oteen and Haw Creek in rush-hour traffic, I briefly consider whether all my creativity is being sucked out through the window and swallowed by the dreary Tunnel Road streetscape. It hasn’t been a fun trip, and it’s getting […]

Jim Valentine drives a bus for the Asheville Transit Authority. He’s made the No. 18 loop around downtown Asheville about 40,000 times: eight times a day, five days a week for 30 years. He says he pretty well has it down now. Two blocks from my home on Highland Street, I board the No. 18 […]

I wonder how many local drivers have the same nasty little demon inside them that I do — the one that curses you every time you pull up to the pump, shaming you for your fossil-fuel consumption. “Fine,” I tell its scraggly head and accusing little eyes. “I’ll take the bus tomorrow, when I’m not […]

Outside downtown, many parts of Asheville today give little hint of the past. In these areas, new development has transformed the urban landscape almost beyond recognition, leaving barely a trace of the landscape, the farms, the neighborhoods that have been displaced. But Asheville City Transit Route 9 provides a window into what’s been lost and […]

I’m a bench-calloused, diesel-gritty veteran of public transportation. Been riding buses — trains, when I can get ’em — since I was big enough to reach the fare box. I grew up in car-crazy California, see, and the only way I could find to be a rebel in that paved-over paradise was to refuse to […]

I boarded the Route 4 Asheville Transit bus at the Coxe Avenue station at 11 a.m. on a chilly Thursday morning. Snow was still on the ground and the wind was icy cold, but when I stepped onto the bus, I was immediately forced to open up several layers of winter insulation — it was […]

Buses … I know buses. I’ve ridden in deluxe, air-conditioned motor coaches up and down the East Coast — but hey, who hasn’t? I’ve also experienced the joys of bus travel in several Third World countries where even the hardiest travelers have been pushed to the brink of sanity by the kilnlike temperatures, noxious fumes […]

Do yourself a favor within the next week or two: Take a ride on the Asheville Transit System. It ranks among the area’s best bets in efficient, comfortable, alternative transportation. I splurged the other day and sampled one of the system’s longest, most expensive options. For a whopping $1, I racked my bike and boarded […]

[Ed. Note: Over the next few months Xpress will ride and report on every route in the Asheville Transit Authority bus system. Herewith, our first foray.] There’s a young man out in Haw Creek who actually walks to work. He gets up every morning before the buses start running and hikes past the mall and […]