Asheville Reporter

The City of Asheville has launched a community-wide survey aimed at gathering feedback on Asheville Rides Transit (ART) current operations. This initiative is part of the ART Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA), which seeks to enhance the city's public transit services in accordance with present and future needs and resources.

The survey is open to all residents, workers, and visitors of Asheville, regardless of their transit use frequency. Completing the survey takes less than 10 minutes, and the gathered input will contribute to forming draft recommendations expected to be released later in the year. According to the city, feedback from the community is crucial to making ART "more efficient, convenient, and community-centered."

The COA is intended to address several aspects crucial to transit development:

- Identifying strategies to improve service reliability and frequency

- Overcoming barriers for underserved populations

- Supporting future urban growth, development and enhancing climate resilience

- Learning from past events like Tropical Storm Helene

- Aligning ART resources with contemporary and future needs

The City of Asheville emphasizes its commitment to a transparent and inclusive planning process. There will be multiple opportunities for community engagement, such as rider and non-rider surveys, public meetings, stakeholder workshops, and updates via social media and newsletters.

To learn more about the project and participate in the survey, Asheville residents are encouraged to visit the ART COA project webpage.