Mountain Mobility Trailblazer Routes Remain Fare Free

Need a lift? Mountain Mobility’s Trailblazers will pick you up. After a year of near record ridership, Buncombe County announces Trailblazer routes will remain fare free through June 30, 2020.

Trailblazer routes provide transportation around local communities, as well as connections where customers can transfer to the City of Asheville’s ART bus system as well as Haywood Public Transit. Our goal is to help customers travel smoothly to work, school, and appointments free of charge, through public transit.

Recent Success

After evaluating declining ridership trends on the Trailblazer routes and a consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of fare free service, the Board of Commissioners reduced Trailblazer fares to free for fiscal year 2019. Ridership neared 30,000 over the last year as the public took advantage of the free routes, leading the Board to continue the fare free service through June 30, 2020.

How Do I Ride?

• Check out the Trailblazer Bus Finder powered by Google Transit.
• Buses are open to the public and fare free.
• Customers can flag down the bus anywhere along the route or wait at one of its preset locations on the schedule.
• Customers can get off the bus anywhere along the route or connect with ART or Haywood Public Transit.
• Each vehicle is lift-equipped and mobility device/wheelchair accessible.
• Each Trailblazer follows the route shown on the schedule, but the vehicle may deviate off the regular route by one-quarter mile to pick a customer up from an address if the customer is unable to get to the route. If you live within one quarter of a mile of the route and want to request a pick up, please call (828) 250-6750, Option 1, by 5 p.m. the day before to request a deviation.
• Click here for route information.

By the Numbers