An excellent writer over at the local John Locke Blog, has a post listing some of the goals of the Asheville City Council, and I have stolen a few to share:
a) Continue public outreach strategies to communicate city council’s strategic goals.
b) Enhance commitment to public safety and drug enforcement priorities through a coordinated, holistic approach.
c) Promote and support the economic viability of local foods and agriculture through tailgate markets and other long-term strategies.
d) Develop youth and education programs that support job and career placement in Asheville; begin with a redesigned summer youth program.
e) Pursue the development of city-owned property to achieve strategic housing, economic development and land use goals.
f) Develop strategies to support diversified job growth and support small businesses.
g) Develop a sustainable funding structure for Asheville transit.
h) Develop neighborhood and corridor plans with citizen participation.
i) Use visualization technology and modeling to assess growth impact analysis for transportation needs, housing needs and neighborhood enhancements.
Source: The Wild West
Commentary
Where to begin?
The first big one that hits me is the wish to develop city-owned property for strategic housing. That is all we need, for the city of Asheville to get involved in screwing up the local housing market!
And the plan to develop a sustainable funding structure for Asheville transit. I presume this means taking tax money from people who do not, and would never use the system, to give a government subsidy to the program...a sort of government welfare to the Transit Authority.
Why not just raise fees to what the market will bear? The last time I rode the bus in Asheville, I think the boarding fee was a dollar (less, if you purchased a book of tickets) and transfer to another bus was about a dime or so. This was in 2003.
Some of the buses were packed full, other routes had less than six on board.
Here in Macon County, there is a Transit System as well. I looked at the pricing structure, and it is inline with what I thought bus fares should be in Asheville. Here is a sample list:
* Local Fares per Boarding
o Franklin - $2.50
o Highlands - $3.50
* Out of County Fares
Round Trip
o Sylva - $15.00
o Waynesville - $20.00
o Bryson City - $20.00
o Asheville - $30.00
o Clayton/Dillard - $15.00
Source: Macon Area Transit Service
As you can see, the prices are at a level where user fees pay a significant amount of what the service costs, which is better for the taxpayers, and it allows the users of the service to pay a larger fraction of their cost upon society. This allows some preservation of self-esteem, and helps to somewhat lessen the negative effect of being on the dole.
I will try to obtain figures for the percentages of who pays what for the MATS program. On the website, there is mention of a federal grant that pays for part of the service.
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