Bicycle and Pedestrian Services - The City of Asheville

Bicycle and pedestrian friendly communities are happier, healthier, safer, and more livable places. Creating a welcoming environment for bicycling and walking improves resident’s quality of life. Encouraging biking and walking reduces a community’s automobile dependence. This allows residents to become more active, reduces carbon emissions, and creates an equitable transportation network for all—regardless of age, physical ability, or income. Bicycle and pedestrian friendly communities also benefit economically; encouraging local spending, spurring tourism, and creating jobs. Asheville has been recognized as both a silver level Walk Friendly Community and bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community. The City’s Transportation Department aims to support biking and pedestrian services through the City through its plans, policies, and project implementation.

The following sections on this page contain additional information to resources that align with the bicycling and pedestrian services provided within the City’s Transportation Department.

Complete Streets

2022 GAP Plan

2016 Asheville In Motion Mobility Plan

Pedestrian and Bicycle Counts

Bike Locker Locations

Get Involved

Complete Streets

The City adopted a complete streets policy in 2012. You can review the policy here.

What are Complete Streets?

Complete streets are streets for everyone. They are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities. Complete streets make it easy to cross the street, walk to shops, and bicycle to work. They allow buses to run on time and make it safe for people to walk to and from transit stops.

By adopting a Complete Streets Policy, Asheville’s City Council directed city planners and engineers to routinely design, maintain, and operate streets to enable safe access for all users, regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation. This means that with every transportation project we seek to make the street network better and safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and motor vehicle drivers and passengers.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) also adopted a complete streets policy.

What does a “complete street” look like?

There is not a single design for a complete street; each can be different and should be context sensitive based on the unique conditions and needs of the community. Elements of complete streets may include sidewalks, bicycle facilities, comfortable and accessible public transportation stops, frequent and safe crossing opportunities, median islands, accessible pedestrian signals, curb extensions, narrower travel lanes, roundabouts and more. However, some streets, especially low volume residential streets with sidewalks and safe crossings, may sufficient meet the needs of the street without additional features.

2022 GAP Plan

In October 2022, City Council adopted the GAP Plan which was produced through the Close the GAP Planning Process. This plan provides updates to the City’s Greenway Master Plan (G), ADA Transition Plan (A)*, and Pedestrian Master Plan (P) in one comprehensive document.

These plans were combined because Asheville’s overall pedestrian network will be stronger if the three aspects – greenways, ADA accessibility, and pedestrian networks are considered and planned at the same time. The GAP Plan identifies greenway, accessibility, and pedestrian networks for our community as well as programs and policies to support the expansion of these networks.

The City recently published its first GAP Plan Annual Report. This annual report summarizes GAP (Greenway / ADA Transition / Pedestrian) Plan implementation over Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024. It provides progress updates, highlights accomplishments, and identifies needs for future improvements. The City is federally required to track and annually report on its ADA Transition Plan progress. Moving forward, this report will be produced and published annually, covering one fiscal year at a time.

For information, go to the Close the GAP Page.

2016 Asheville In Motion Mobility Plan

The City adopted its Asheville In Motion (AIM) Mobility Plan in 2016.

AIM is designed to provide a cohesive strategy and method to prioritize transportation projects, with a goal of improving multimodal connections. This plan aligns the City’s existing pedestrian, bicycle, and transit plans and provides frameworks to consider as incremental decisions are made regarding Asheville’s transportation network.

Through this planning process, the City endeavored to create an effective and progressive plan that encourages health-oriented and sustainable transportation, reduces barriers to access transportation, and connects residents and visitors with the places they want and need to go with improved safety, efficiency and accessibility. The AIM Plan was an important community-driven step to absorb and enhance growth in a way that balances travel needs and creates true choices among the City’s mobility options.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Counts

Data matters. When we know how many people are walking and bicycling, we are better prepared to provide facilities to support those activities. Working with volunteers from the community, the City conducts pedestrian and bicycle user counts in Asheville each September. Pedestrians and bicyclists are tallied during two-hour periods, usually from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday in mid-September. You can see the 2025 report here, which includes a list of the counts since we began.

Volunteers are the backbone of this effort; the counts could not happen without volunteers. Every year, the City issues a call for volunteers before the September counts. No special skills are needed to volunteer. Email asexton@ashevillenc.gov for more information.

Bicycle Locker Locations

45 Wall Street

12 Rankin Avenue

68 Rankin Avenue

The City of Asheville has several locations where you can safely secure your bike while you shop, work, or even if you live downtown. The City offers several locations, as listed above, where bikes can be stored. The lockers are safe, convenient, and easy to use. You can sign up today for only $10.00 a month. Simply complete the Bike Locker Application form online, or bring it to the Parking Services Office located at 45 Wall Street in Downtown Asheville. Call us for a tour of the locations, or stop by at the above listed locations and see them for yourself. If you have any questions, call us at (828) 259-5792.

Get Involved!

The work of City staff is greatly supported by local volunteers. Here are a few ways to get involved:

Volunteer for the annual bicycle and pedestrian counts or annual greenway user surveys (both completed every September).
Join the Multimodal Transportation Commission, or submit public comment for the meeting.
Join the Active Transportation Committee, or submit public comment for the meeting.
Reach out about interning with the Transportation Department.
Register your business as a “Bicycle Friendly Business” by the League of American Bicyclists. See Asheville on Bikes’ Bicycle Friendly Business Program for additional information and resources.

Contact Information

If you would like additional information about bicycle planning, pedestrian planning and/or related policies in the City of Asheville please contact: