Federal Transit Administration withholds NC-DOT access to $25 million in transit funds for mostly rural programs.
Tag: transit
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Anatomy of a gas crunch
Gas station after gas station with plastic bags tied over the pumps. Tense drivers stuck in hours-long lines. Packed buses and nearly empty restaurants. These have become familiar sights in Asheville and environs over the past two weeks during the area’s worst gas crisis in decades. Drained dry: Cars line down the street near a […]
The Gas Crunch: Tell us your stories
Out of gas? Waited in line for two hours to fill up? Finding other ways to get around? Working from home? The Xpress wants to hear your tales of getting through the gas crunch.
County: At least another week of gas crunch, but don’t panic
Long gas lines and hours of waiting to fill up aren’t over yet. According to a release from Buncombe County this morning, “local distributors report that it will be at least another week before fuel is flowing regularly in our area.” The release also asks citizens to not panic and conserve when possible.
Asheville Transit: Under new management
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.
How to stretch those gas dollars
The bad news: The price of a gallon of gasoline is expected to hit $4 or higher in the very near future. Worse news: As summertime traffic heats up, things aren’t likely to get better anytime soon at the gas pump. While you can certainly strive not to drive, sometimes that’s simply not feasible. But […]
Craving nature
I recently spent a month at home with my 4-month-old daughter, Eleanor Marie. During this time, I learned many things, some of them totally new to me. She’s my first child, and I’ve found out why every little girl is a daddy’s girl. And like every parent, I know my child is the most beautiful […]
Asheville City Council
The Asheville City Council chamber has seen its share of controversy … but helmets? Scores of people wore protective headgear to Council’s Feb. 26 meeting—not because of physical danger, however, but to show support for a new city bicycle plan. On a roll: Helmet-clad cyclists showed up in droves to support Asheville’s bike plan at […]
Where to park your carcass if you wanna ride the bus
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 and holds forth at Brainshrub.com.
You can get there from here: Asheville’s new emergency-transportation option
One of the biggest disincentives for commuters who might otherwise be tempted to use mass and other alternative transportation – from a bike to a carpool to walking – is, “What if?” What if there’s an emergency at home or my child gets a tummy ache at school? What if my carpool driver has to […]
The big ride
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 […]
The big ride
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 […]
The big ride
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 […]
The big ride
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 […]
The big ride
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 big ride
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 […]
The big ride
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 […]
The big ride
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 […]
The big ride
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 […]
The big ride
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 […]
The big ride
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 […]