Before Hurricane Helene, people catching a bus out of town would trek to a Shell Station on the outskirts of Asheville, about 10 minutes away from the city’s local bus station.
Then floodwaters decimated that gas station and, for months, some roads, including I-40 remained closed – forcing the NCDOT, which subsidizes the regional Greyhound bus line – to pause services and reevaluate.
Almost a year later, intercity bus service is back – and the logistics of riding the bus are much improved, according to Hart Evans, a planner for NCDOT’s Integrated Mobility Division.
The new Greyhound stop – in the heart of downtown – will offer regional passages starting August 1. It’s on Asheland Avenue, just behind the ART Transit Station. It also offers more friendly hours for daytime passengers, Hart said.
“When we decided we were going to restore service to Asheville, instead of just turning that schedule back on, we wanted to be cognizant of getting travel times that were more suitable for daytime travelers,” he explained. “Now we have the departure times in Asheville around 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., which is a really big improvement compared to … (the previous) 4 in the morning hour.”
Around 20,000 people depart from or arrive on a Greyhound in Asheville annually, according to data from NCDOT.
Hart told BPR he expects that number to go up, now that the bus line is more accessible.
“When people think about getting across the state or across the nation, they think of getting in the car or they hop on a plane, but a lot of people don't have access to those things or they don't have the financial position to really do that,” he said. “Intercity bus fills that gap.”
The Greyhound line connects Asheville with two key corridors: the Piedmont Pass, which runs through Hickory, Statesville, Greensboro, Chapel Hill and Raleigh, and the Cardinal Flyer Route, which takes passengers south to Forest City, Shelby, Gastonia, Charlotte, Albemarle, Southern Pines, Sanford and Raleigh. Charlotte and Raleigh both serve as transfer stations, connecting to destinations further away.
On Wednesday, Hart helped hand out flyers around Asheville to advertise the bus service’s reopening. He said community members, especially at UNC Asheville and social service organizations, were excited about the news.
“We spoke with somebody yesterday who was Ubering from Asheville to Charlotte for some family emergency stuff. And they were so excited to know that this was back online. They were spending $150 on an Uber to get from Asheville to Charlotte and now they can take the bus and get it for like 25 bucks,” he said. “You don't realize how vital it is to have reliable daily service that connects all these different points throughout the state and the country.”
