NC: Winston-Salem moves to improve city bus routes, which beats the heck out of streetcar dreams

It doesn't happen often, but when a public hearing in the Winston-Salem City Council chambers is filled with hosannas, hallelujahs and plaudits offered by flinty-eyed, bottom-line business types and heart-on-the-sleeve community advocates, the occasion is worth noting.

That's particularly true when the issue at hand is a proposal to overhaul the city bus service.

Yet there it was, a conga line of diverse speakers queuing up Monday night to praise officials for a plan to radically change the way the Winston-Salem Transit Authority moves people around the city.

"The largest impediment to getting out of poverty is a lack of time," said Craig Richardson, the director of the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility at Winston-Salem State University. "People are hampered by slow transportation.

"The average rider going to work spends 11 hours a week commuting."

He added, "It's like having a part-time job without getting paid."

Back to the future

Long overdue, the shift in thinking about public transportation didn't come in a dramatic road-to- Damascus moment.

Officials spent countless hours studying maps, employment trends and ridership data. User input was carefully gathered at public forums, open houses, virtual meetings and a mountain of surveys.

"We took a hard look at underperforming routes and making better use of money and our buses," said Jeff Fansler, the city's director of transportation.

The result, pending council approval in April, will eliminate some routes and streamline others.

Two new cross-city routes that would eliminate the need for time-consuming trips downtown for transfers will be established, and the city will begin looking at "micro-transit" zones — a sort of ride-sharing program targeting areas where people rely heavily on public transportation.

Under the proposal, some 63% of the routes will have buses arrive every half-hour, Fansler said. As things stand now, 72% of routes have a bus arrive once an hour.

That's a huge deal for anyone consigned to sitting in a sweltering, breezeless bus shelter waiting for a ride to work or a grocery store.

Many U.S. cities have struggled with transportation issues and infrastructure for decades, Mayor Pro Tem Denise Adams said, "This is nothing new to Winston-Salem."

Before fully committing to an overhaul of the bus service, city officials spun their wheels, flirting with expensive and untenable plans.

Namely, a near-unanimous council vote in 2014 to explore a $179 million proposal to build a streetcar system, goosed along by an outrageous consultant's report that concluded a streetcar could lead to $2.8 billion in downtown investment.

The vote, it must be noted, didn't commit the city to a massive investment in streetcars.

Rather, the idea was to focus on the concept of a streetcar rather than, say, an enhanced bus system.

Which more than a few observers noted was hilarious, considering that the city had done away with its electric streetcar system in 1936 in favor of gasoline-powered buses.

Pumping the brakes

Cooler heads prevailed as even council members who voted in favor of considering the idea pumped the brakes before breaking the bank.

Besides, Councilman Robert Clark wryly noted, the consultant selling the idea of a $2.8 billion investment windfall just happened to be involved in building streetcar systems, too.

"It's like a life insurance salesman recommending buying more life insurance," Clark said at the time.

But that was then.

Monday's enthusiastic public hearing represented a practical turn toward something that can make a real difference in people's lives at a reasonable price.

"It is going to make the transit system better using the current budget," said Dixon Pitt, one of those who spoke in glowing terms about the plan. "It's making (the transit system) more efficient and not costing any additional money."

The plan, as written, isn't without flaws. Some areas of the city may be left short. But tweaks and changes will come as needed.

"This will link our neighbors with jobs and put (bus riders) on more equal footing with people who have cars," Richardson.

Near-universal praise doesn't come often, so enjoy the flowers when they do. Overhauled routes and micro-transit — within budget — surely beats any streetcar.

© 2026 Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.
Visit www.journalnow.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.