Tell us something about your transportation habits. How do you get around Asheville?

I travel by car various times of the day.

What do you consider to be the most significant transportation advancement in Asheville and what impact does it have on our community?

In the past 2 years – better bus services, helps those without other forms of transportation get to work, play and services. In years past, the cross town expressway and the widening of major streets in all directions. Street signage improvements and major destiny signage.

Please identify one way in which you’ve worked to make Asheville safer for pedestrians, transit users, and / or cyclists. What did you learn from this experience?

I was involved in Asheville City government in a number of capacities including City Manager and Mayor from the mid 1960’s through 1994. Numerous changes during that time. I learned that public input is important to decision making and the City should pursue grants of all types to deal with its transportation needs. Big projects like: Hendersonville Road, the open cut; I-240 widening take years to get decisions made but often times the City loses State and Federal funding due to these time delays.

What do you consider to be Asheville’s primary transportation challenge and how do you propose to fix it?

Traffic tie-ups: I-240 Smoky Park Bridge and I-26-W; Biltmore; Sweeten Creek Rd; Asheville High/AB Tech; Merrimon; Charlotte St. Hendersonville Rd. at Mills Gap for morning and afternoon traffic. Bus Transportation – need more ridership, perhaps a feeder system using smaller vans to pick up and bring people to a large bus that travels on the major cross town streets to the central downtown area.