One day last week I was riding the bus. I sat about halfway back. The bus started to fill up in PVA, as it usually does. One man got on, and I swear he had the loudest speaking voice I have ever heard. This was morning. The guy was giving a shout out to everybody he knew on the bus. Then he started greeting everyone he knew as they boarded the bus. This included slapboxing matches with young children, hugs, etc. People all over the bus were rolling eyes. Some people were yukking it up with the loud man, but not many.
Eventually, with the bus on Clingman, the driver let out a solid "you better chill out, bro." At least, that's what I thought the driver said. One of the loud man's companions told him that the driver said "you better calm down, bro." Either way, the message was the same, and from that point on I heard only muted grumblings from the rear of the bus as The Loud Man contemplated (aloud, of course) his fate during the driver's newly instituted reign of control.
The driver impressed me. He only said what was needed.
When I got to the station, I hastily exited the bus lest I witness some sort of fracas.
The Loud Man may be The Paterfamilias, but I am not sure.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
If you’ve ever wanted greater bus frequency, Sunday service, longer hours of operation, or new routes – now is the time to make your voice heard.
Please come to this meeting!
(ASHEVILLE, NC) – There will be a Transit Master Plan public forum on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 from 4pm-7pm, in the Asheville Civic Center’s banquet hall. The meeting will be held in an “open house” format with no formal presentation. Instead, attendees will be able to offer in-person feedback to consultants, ask questions of staff, and see preliminary data first-hand.
Interim Transit Manager Mariate Echeverry believes the forum will help determine what kind of public transit system the community wants. “The public’s input will help craft a transit plan that will be responsive to the city’s needs, and suggest sustainable transportation options.”
In 2008 the City of Asheville hired Nebraska-based consulting firm HDR to perform a thorough scientific analysis of the Asheville Transit System and create a comprehensive Transit Master Plan.
A Transit Master Plan is a document that analyzes existing transit services and develops data to support planning and decision making. In the case of Asheville, this will mean studying Asheville’s 24 bus routes and comparing them to long-term trends. The study should be completed by July 2009, and will offer short and long term recommendations on how the city could improve public transit.
To supplement the information for the Transit Master Plan, ATS staff created an online survey to get feedback and suggestions.
(ASHEVILLE, NC) – There will be a Transit Master Plan public forum on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 from 4pm-7pm, in the Asheville Civic Center’s banquet hall. The meeting will be held in an “open house” format with no formal presentation. Instead, attendees will be able to offer in-person feedback to consultants, ask questions of staff, and see preliminary data first-hand.
Interim Transit Manager Mariate Echeverry believes the forum will help determine what kind of public transit system the community wants. “The public’s input will help craft a transit plan that will be responsive to the city’s needs, and suggest sustainable transportation options.”
In 2008 the City of Asheville hired Nebraska-based consulting firm HDR to perform a thorough scientific analysis of the Asheville Transit System and create a comprehensive Transit Master Plan.
A Transit Master Plan is a document that analyzes existing transit services and develops data to support planning and decision making. In the case of Asheville, this will mean studying Asheville’s 24 bus routes and comparing them to long-term trends. The study should be completed by July 2009, and will offer short and long term recommendations on how the city could improve public transit.
To supplement the information for the Transit Master Plan, ATS staff created an online survey to get feedback and suggestions.
Dodging Fumes and Doggy Bombs
It's my day off and I'm going to strive not to drive. I've already ridden the bus to West End Bakery. I walked back down Brevard Road to come home. It's a beautiful sunny day, although still cold, but not frigid like it has been. There were two notable negative things, however, that afflicted my walk: a lot of noxious fumes from vehicles...I mean dark smoke that you could actually see. At one point I stopped and just stood for awhile, waiting for the air to clear so I could walk through it. Also, there were lots of doggy bombs all over the sidewalk. People, please, can't you carry little baggies with you and clean up after your little darlings? Give a thought to other people!!
Oh, by the way: one more positive thing. A driver actually stopped for me to cross at the crosswalk on Haywood Road. This is the crosswalk near the bakery where there is no traffic light. Many, many many thanks to you drivers who pay attention to random crosswalks!
Will go to the Asheville Transit Public Hearing for Transit Master Plan meeting today! Please come! It's 4-7 at the Civic Center and is drop in so you don't have to sit through 3 hours of meeting! Come make your wants and needs known!
Oh, by the way: one more positive thing. A driver actually stopped for me to cross at the crosswalk on Haywood Road. This is the crosswalk near the bakery where there is no traffic light. Many, many many thanks to you drivers who pay attention to random crosswalks!
Will go to the Asheville Transit Public Hearing for Transit Master Plan meeting today! Please come! It's 4-7 at the Civic Center and is drop in so you don't have to sit through 3 hours of meeting! Come make your wants and needs known!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
MLK holiday
Monday is the holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Will the Asheville Transit buses be on a regular schedule?
Will the Asheville Transit buses be on a regular schedule?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
milk to the airport
A woman with a bulging backpack asks me when the last bus leaves the transit center for the airport. Yikes! It's 3:45, and I tell her the next one leaves at 4:00. I verify that the bus is indeed number six. It will leave at 4:00.
She asks me when number six leaves after 4:00. I tell her 5:30. She explains: "I don't think I'm going to make that first bus, not with a backpack full of milk!"
She asks me when number six leaves after 4:00. I tell her 5:30. She explains: "I don't think I'm going to make that first bus, not with a backpack full of milk!"
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Why Don't the Buses Go Everywhere, All the Time?
So I got a promotion and am now working in a different part of town. There is no bus service near where I work. The closest stop is nearly a mile away and the road I'd have to walk up to get to work from the bus stop has no sidewalks. Also the times, even if I decided to walk the mile, would be pretty inconvenient.
So I'm wondering why the bus doesn't go down Long Shoals Road. Someone came into the library yesterday and said that her friends had told her that it did indeed stop at the Ingles on Long Shoals, but looking on the route maps, I couldn't find any evidence of that. The library is at the convergence of an elementary school, a middle school and a high school (I'm thinking staff here--teachers, cafeteria workers, custodians.) Long Shoals is a busy, busy road. A hotbed of activity and people going to jobs. All the new businesses in Biltmore Park, also the YMCA is out there. The Waffle House, Ingles...Surely it's just a matter of time...On the other hand, it's quite upper middle class out there...
If I'm wrong and a route has been added I will be very very happy. I'd still have to walk a little ways from the corner of Overlook and Longshoals, but it wouldn't be bad. If I'm wrong, someone out there let me know!
I want to go downtown today. I would ride the bus today if I could, but, alas, it's Sunday and there is no service. Do buses run on Sundays in other cities the size of Asheville?
So I'm wondering why the bus doesn't go down Long Shoals Road. Someone came into the library yesterday and said that her friends had told her that it did indeed stop at the Ingles on Long Shoals, but looking on the route maps, I couldn't find any evidence of that. The library is at the convergence of an elementary school, a middle school and a high school (I'm thinking staff here--teachers, cafeteria workers, custodians.) Long Shoals is a busy, busy road. A hotbed of activity and people going to jobs. All the new businesses in Biltmore Park, also the YMCA is out there. The Waffle House, Ingles...Surely it's just a matter of time...On the other hand, it's quite upper middle class out there...
If I'm wrong and a route has been added I will be very very happy. I'd still have to walk a little ways from the corner of Overlook and Longshoals, but it wouldn't be bad. If I'm wrong, someone out there let me know!
I want to go downtown today. I would ride the bus today if I could, but, alas, it's Sunday and there is no service. Do buses run on Sundays in other cities the size of Asheville?
Friday, January 9, 2009
Asheville Bus Riding Survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=IbMVkOkYW4uWw8K0C5cHFQ_3d_3d
This is the link to a survey that the Asheville Transit System is doing. Please take it and tell your friends to take it. Especially if you think you might ride the bus if it went where you wanted to go and when you wanted to go.
Also, please remember to go to the meeting mentioned in the previous post.
This is the link to a survey that the Asheville Transit System is doing. Please take it and tell your friends to take it. Especially if you think you might ride the bus if it went where you wanted to go and when you wanted to go.
Also, please remember to go to the meeting mentioned in the previous post.
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