There is a new group in Asheville called Get There Asheville. Their mission as stated on their website:
....To Amplify the Voice of those who support building a local transportation network for the 21st century...As Get There Asheville, a coalition of citizens involved in local transportation policy, we are dedicated to making this election a winning one for our city's many walkers, cyclists and bus riders...
They have already held two candidate forums. If you haven't voted yet I would encourage you to their website and read the City Council and Mayoral candidates' responses to transportation issues. The site has been a little difficult for me to navigate...but be persistent and you can get to the info you want:
http://getthereasheville.com/?page_id=2.
Looks like they have one more meeting before the election on October 30, 5pm, Get There. We Vote. We Count. Pritchard Park in downtown Asheville.
I'll add more about this group if I can find out more. Also to see if they plan to be active after the election. In the meantime, please vote for candidates that will help Asheville improve our transit system!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
First Ride in Awhile
Rode the bus today for the first time since Bele Chere in July. It was a beautiful windy fall day. A nice day to walk up to one of the Haywood Road bus stops. The ride into town was quite uneventful. Not very crowded. Mixture of quiet people including a cute baby in a baby carrier and a toddler sleeping in his Daddy's lap.
Ride out of town was quiet and uneventful also, except for a short delay at PVA due to a potential rider standing at the door of the bus yelling to her friends to come on if they wanted to get on the bus...her friends didn't show up so she eventually waved the driver on. By the time we got back on Haywood Road I think there were only 4 of us on the bus. A shame.
The most recent transit news is that the Weaverville-Asheville route is in danger of being terminated. City council is apparently considering if it can be saved. Here's the link:
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091024/NEWS01/910240325
I don't want to see routes lost. I want to see routes added and more people riding!
PS. Let me clarify. Ken rides the bus to work with some regularity. It's just me who has fallen off the bus wagon. I am still going to figure out how to ride it to work someday. In a new post I'll lay out the logistics of getting somewhere where the bus doesn't go.
Ride out of town was quiet and uneventful also, except for a short delay at PVA due to a potential rider standing at the door of the bus yelling to her friends to come on if they wanted to get on the bus...her friends didn't show up so she eventually waved the driver on. By the time we got back on Haywood Road I think there were only 4 of us on the bus. A shame.
The most recent transit news is that the Weaverville-Asheville route is in danger of being terminated. City council is apparently considering if it can be saved. Here's the link:
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091024/NEWS01/910240325
I don't want to see routes lost. I want to see routes added and more people riding!
PS. Let me clarify. Ken rides the bus to work with some regularity. It's just me who has fallen off the bus wagon. I am still going to figure out how to ride it to work someday. In a new post I'll lay out the logistics of getting somewhere where the bus doesn't go.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday's child
As the old saying goes, Wednesday's child is full of woe. Not me, not today. Nor does this Wednesday's child have far to go. Lately, I've been working every Wednesday, but I have been free of other duties which would require a car. So: to the bus stop. This morning I hoofed the .4mi up to the business district so that I could catch #1 bus headed downtown. The riders were a sorry and sullen lot. This was 10:30ish, after all. We should have been happy! After days and days and days of rain, our fair city was experiencing sunshine! But nothing could turn our frowns upside down. We weren't particularly happy, but we weren't fired up either. We were quite a contrast from the unhappy lot that rode a #9 bus one day last week.
One day last week I hustled away from work a few seconds early so that I could be "on time" for #9 as it left the transit center headed west. Ha ha. "On time" in this case meant about twenty or twenty-five minutes late. What a joke. After waiting so long at the station, I boarded the bus. I reached for my county ID to show the driver. Oops-- a credit card. I held the line up for about ten seconds while I fished out the county ID. The bus driver asked me "how long you been waiting for the bus"?
I said, "maybe twenty minutes".
He snapped back with a near-automatic "In all that time, you could have already had your ID ready". Ouch. Snap.
I could not help myself: "I don't suppose the bus could have been here twenty minutes ago, could it have?"
Oh, but that's not his fault, he was quick to respond.
I just walked away. No, I suppose that it was not his fault. But it's somebody's fault. Did anyone walk on the bus and apologize to the riders for the error? Of course not. Is anyone accountable?
By contrast, I work in a public facility. Suppose it was a bright and sunny day. I'm not talking about a snowy day when the roads are bad. If, on such a bright and sunny day, our agency opened its doors twenty minutes late, inconveniencing dozens of people, we would find some way to apologize. We feel like we're accountable.
It's not about me. I wasn't in a hurry. Ho-hum so what. But what about the people who are depending on this bus to get to work? To get to their children?
I do feel sorry for those people. They deserve better.
One day last week I hustled away from work a few seconds early so that I could be "on time" for #9 as it left the transit center headed west. Ha ha. "On time" in this case meant about twenty or twenty-five minutes late. What a joke. After waiting so long at the station, I boarded the bus. I reached for my county ID to show the driver. Oops-- a credit card. I held the line up for about ten seconds while I fished out the county ID. The bus driver asked me "how long you been waiting for the bus"?
I said, "maybe twenty minutes".
He snapped back with a near-automatic "In all that time, you could have already had your ID ready". Ouch. Snap.
I could not help myself: "I don't suppose the bus could have been here twenty minutes ago, could it have?"
Oh, but that's not his fault, he was quick to respond.
I just walked away. No, I suppose that it was not his fault. But it's somebody's fault. Did anyone walk on the bus and apologize to the riders for the error? Of course not. Is anyone accountable?
By contrast, I work in a public facility. Suppose it was a bright and sunny day. I'm not talking about a snowy day when the roads are bad. If, on such a bright and sunny day, our agency opened its doors twenty minutes late, inconveniencing dozens of people, we would find some way to apologize. We feel like we're accountable.
It's not about me. I wasn't in a hurry. Ho-hum so what. But what about the people who are depending on this bus to get to work? To get to their children?
I do feel sorry for those people. They deserve better.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Inglés Market. (whoops!)
I rode twice this week, in and out of town on Tuesday and Saturday. The rides were without incident and easy. Aside from the schedule delays, they were fine.
Oddly enough, the Asheville Transit buses are now equipped with a speaker that pushes a computerized "female" voice into the bus at certain times. The "lady announcer" says "stop requested" after a person requests a stop. The same voice keeps riders informed about the bus location, with phrases such as "approaching Haywood and Michigan" and "Ingles Market". One announcement was quite funny, because "she" pronounced Ingles as "inglés". For those outside the general region of Southern Appalachia, Ingles is our leading regional supermarket chain. Ingles rhymes with jingles. I hope all the Latino riders realize that Ingles isn't your best stop for Mexican or Latin American foods. (because it's not).
I wonder if the computerized voice utilizes GPS. After we exited Beecham's Curve and headed down the hill towards the river, the computer lady intoned "approaching Beckham's curve". The geographical and pronunciation errors aren't really a major problem, but they are funny. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad that the system exists. This system could be a big help to blind people. For the rest of us, it's just a big joke.
Come to think of it, on the bus, I was the only one laughing.
Oddly enough, the Asheville Transit buses are now equipped with a speaker that pushes a computerized "female" voice into the bus at certain times. The "lady announcer" says "stop requested" after a person requests a stop. The same voice keeps riders informed about the bus location, with phrases such as "approaching Haywood and Michigan" and "Ingles Market". One announcement was quite funny, because "she" pronounced Ingles as "inglés". For those outside the general region of Southern Appalachia, Ingles is our leading regional supermarket chain. Ingles rhymes with jingles. I hope all the Latino riders realize that Ingles isn't your best stop for Mexican or Latin American foods. (because it's not).
I wonder if the computerized voice utilizes GPS. After we exited Beecham's Curve and headed down the hill towards the river, the computer lady intoned "approaching Beckham's curve". The geographical and pronunciation errors aren't really a major problem, but they are funny. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad that the system exists. This system could be a big help to blind people. For the rest of us, it's just a big joke.
Come to think of it, on the bus, I was the only one laughing.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Round and Round Back to the Station We Go
I'm sorry to say that my bus riding has been non-existent since I have started working out of the downtown. No bus route down Long Shoals Road even though it's an extremely busy area.
But Friday night I was going to make an effort to ride again. I wanted to go into town for Bele Chere after work. I got home around 6:30 and figured I'd catch a 7pm bus on Brevard Road or a 7:35 bus on Haywood Rd. Well I waited awhile on Brevard Road and then walked on up to Haywood. There were no buses to be seen. I finally realized that after 6:30pm they don't run on the hour anymore. I had forgotten this little detail. And the bus stop signs were not helpful. They indicated that the buses ran every hour until 6:30, but didn't say what the schedule was after that. I decided to walk the 3 + miles and it's a good thing I did, because no bus passed me in the 45 minutes that I walked. No big deal I guess. I got into town by 8pm like I needed to; it was a beautiful evening to walk; I needed the exercise.
After Bele Chere, we needed to catch the last bus out of town at 10:30pm. Yes, believe it or not, the last bus out of town is that early on a weekend night.
There was a swarm of people wanting on that last bus. The most people I've ever seen trying to get on a bus in Asheville. So we started cramming ourselves in. I was lucky enough to get a seat, although I would have gladly stood up. Unfortunately, two drunk rednecks had to stand very close by. (They had immediately plopped down in the seats at the front reserved for the elderly and physically challenged, but the driver asked them to move.) The bus started filling up and the driver yelled to folks to move to the back. People started yelling and grumbling about how tightly we were packed. It wasn't really tight by big city standards, or even by college bus standards! But the bus riders of Asheville were wound tight that night. Continued grumbling, yelling at each other and at the driver. The drunk rednecks and some of the black riders were getting testy with each other. It seemed very possible and likely that a fight could break out. Finally everyone was packed in and we started up.
We drove just a little ways and the Stop Request light came on and didn't go off. The driver asked who was pushing it. No one admitted they were. Before we knew it, the driver had turned around and taken us back to the bus station! We stayed parked there awhile until the light went off. Then we started again with double the grumbling. Again the light comes on and back we go to the bus station. This time when we get to the station, an Asheville police officer is there. Then an Asheville Transit worker yells "Everybody off the bus." More grumbling, but off we get. Lots of angry people
This time Asheville Transit orders an additional bus. The Transit guy says 30 people can get on the first bus. He counts them. We wait for the second bus and leave around 11pm.
It's a shame. Bad PR. Maybe a deal breaker for any middle class riders who happened to be trying out bus riding that night. I'll ride it again, for sure, but I'll bet I'm not typical of people who have a choice whether to ride or to drive. And lots of people with a choice want to stay in town later than 10:30pm on a weekend night. And not have near chaos when the bus gets a little crowded.
But Friday night I was going to make an effort to ride again. I wanted to go into town for Bele Chere after work. I got home around 6:30 and figured I'd catch a 7pm bus on Brevard Road or a 7:35 bus on Haywood Rd. Well I waited awhile on Brevard Road and then walked on up to Haywood. There were no buses to be seen. I finally realized that after 6:30pm they don't run on the hour anymore. I had forgotten this little detail. And the bus stop signs were not helpful. They indicated that the buses ran every hour until 6:30, but didn't say what the schedule was after that. I decided to walk the 3 + miles and it's a good thing I did, because no bus passed me in the 45 minutes that I walked. No big deal I guess. I got into town by 8pm like I needed to; it was a beautiful evening to walk; I needed the exercise.
After Bele Chere, we needed to catch the last bus out of town at 10:30pm. Yes, believe it or not, the last bus out of town is that early on a weekend night.
There was a swarm of people wanting on that last bus. The most people I've ever seen trying to get on a bus in Asheville. So we started cramming ourselves in. I was lucky enough to get a seat, although I would have gladly stood up. Unfortunately, two drunk rednecks had to stand very close by. (They had immediately plopped down in the seats at the front reserved for the elderly and physically challenged, but the driver asked them to move.) The bus started filling up and the driver yelled to folks to move to the back. People started yelling and grumbling about how tightly we were packed. It wasn't really tight by big city standards, or even by college bus standards! But the bus riders of Asheville were wound tight that night. Continued grumbling, yelling at each other and at the driver. The drunk rednecks and some of the black riders were getting testy with each other. It seemed very possible and likely that a fight could break out. Finally everyone was packed in and we started up.
We drove just a little ways and the Stop Request light came on and didn't go off. The driver asked who was pushing it. No one admitted they were. Before we knew it, the driver had turned around and taken us back to the bus station! We stayed parked there awhile until the light went off. Then we started again with double the grumbling. Again the light comes on and back we go to the bus station. This time when we get to the station, an Asheville police officer is there. Then an Asheville Transit worker yells "Everybody off the bus." More grumbling, but off we get. Lots of angry people
This time Asheville Transit orders an additional bus. The Transit guy says 30 people can get on the first bus. He counts them. We wait for the second bus and leave around 11pm.
It's a shame. Bad PR. Maybe a deal breaker for any middle class riders who happened to be trying out bus riding that night. I'll ride it again, for sure, but I'll bet I'm not typical of people who have a choice whether to ride or to drive. And lots of people with a choice want to stay in town later than 10:30pm on a weekend night. And not have near chaos when the bus gets a little crowded.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
the bus choice
It's hardly news when everything at Asheville Transit works as it should, but that's what happened this morning. I got on trusty bus #9 on Brevard Road, we rode into town together, and I got to work on time.
I haven't had much time for busriding lately. It does take more time than driving. (Example: this morning I intended to catch the #9 bus, because that requires less walking. I had to be ready at 8:05. Alternative: I could walk about half a mile up to Haywood Road with my heavy bag to catch bus #1; in that case, I would need to be ready at 8:20. If I drive my car, I need to get ready by 8:40). This is played out again and again. If I worked today and drove my car, I could be home by 5:15 or 5:20. Riding the next bus home would mean arriving at home closer to 6:00. It's frustrating. What is a five or ten minute trip by car becomes a half-hour or so trip by bus, and then you figure in the waiting. As Tom Petty sang, the waiting is the hardest part.
I avoided riding the bus all week for one reason or another, mostly because I wanted to go to the Y or I had some other activity planned, and it all made the bus choice (at least in Asheville) impractical. Getting the boy out to his camp location in North Asheville and then whisking myself to work? I haven't tried it yet. Car scenario: leave the house at 8:30, drive him to camp, drive to work. Bus scenario: leave the house at 7:15 (ouch!), walk half a mile, hop a bus to downtown, transfer to a bus going north, kick the boy out of the bus at camp, then ride the bus back to downtown to the job.
By contrast, today was easy. Easy like Saturday morning.
I haven't had much time for busriding lately. It does take more time than driving. (Example: this morning I intended to catch the #9 bus, because that requires less walking. I had to be ready at 8:05. Alternative: I could walk about half a mile up to Haywood Road with my heavy bag to catch bus #1; in that case, I would need to be ready at 8:20. If I drive my car, I need to get ready by 8:40). This is played out again and again. If I worked today and drove my car, I could be home by 5:15 or 5:20. Riding the next bus home would mean arriving at home closer to 6:00. It's frustrating. What is a five or ten minute trip by car becomes a half-hour or so trip by bus, and then you figure in the waiting. As Tom Petty sang, the waiting is the hardest part.
I avoided riding the bus all week for one reason or another, mostly because I wanted to go to the Y or I had some other activity planned, and it all made the bus choice (at least in Asheville) impractical. Getting the boy out to his camp location in North Asheville and then whisking myself to work? I haven't tried it yet. Car scenario: leave the house at 8:30, drive him to camp, drive to work. Bus scenario: leave the house at 7:15 (ouch!), walk half a mile, hop a bus to downtown, transfer to a bus going north, kick the boy out of the bus at camp, then ride the bus back to downtown to the job.
By contrast, today was easy. Easy like Saturday morning.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, Saturday
I managed to ride the bus Friday and Saturday of last week. I got good service both days. Saturday morning's bus is always uncrowded. It's nice, probably ten passengers on the way into town. Friday's is a different story, but it's good in a way. We're packed into the #1 bus along Haywood Road, into PVA, and back onto Haywood on the way to downtown. Either way, it's good.
Asheville Transit is supposed to be testing out some new routes (no passenger service while they test how long it takes a bus to get from point A to points B, C, D, etc.). One of the proposed routes (I think) includes Bingham Heights, PVA, and Wal-Mart, but it doesn't go downtown. As every single route involves downtown now, this is a big change. I hope it works.
Asheville Transit is supposed to be testing out some new routes (no passenger service while they test how long it takes a bus to get from point A to points B, C, D, etc.). One of the proposed routes (I think) includes Bingham Heights, PVA, and Wal-Mart, but it doesn't go downtown. As every single route involves downtown now, this is a big change. I hope it works.
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