Electric car owners will soon have the option of charging their vehicles in downtown Waynesville.

Equipment replacement schedules were some of the first line items on the chopping block for local governments when the economy tanked.

By Paul Clark • SMN Correspondent

So, here’s the problem. It’s raining and you need to catch the CAT TRAN, one of the purple vans that shuttle students and staff around Western Carolina University.

The regional head of the N.C. Depart-ment of Transportation has been demoted after nine years at the helm of road building decisions in the mountain’s far western counties.

It’s not quite the Jetsons’ flying car, but Jackson County is moving toward its own fleet of new-age vehicles powered by the emerging alternative fuel propane.

Western Carolina University’s off-campus Cat-Tran may soon go the way of the horse and buggy.

Haywood Public Transit will hold a ribbon cutting for a new transit shelter at 1 p.m. Feb. 12, in Clyde.

Haywood Public Transit offers free rides to anyone in the county, and the central location of the new transit facility will benefits users of Haywood Public Transit. The transportation operation will now be more efficient and more convenient, especially for people visiting the hospital or one of the number of doctors’ offices nearby, said Susan Anderson, director of Mountain Projects.

The transit facility also offers a lobby where passengers can wait while being transferred to a vehicle or between routes.

Connections are available to Buncombe County’s Trailblazer Route, which runs from the Haywood County line along the Enka-Candler business area and ends at the Goodwill Store on Patten Avenue. Connections can then be made from that point to other transit routes under Asheville Transit.

Haywood Public Transit runs from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday thru Friday. Reservations are required and should be made a business day before an appointment or trip.

828.565.0362.

It may seem a relatively unimportant issue, but in truth it is very symbolic because it recognizes a reality that is upon us.

I’m talking about a request that will come before the Waynesville Town Board this month concerning public transit benches and shelters at large retail centers. Mountain Projects transit director Susan Anderson hopes the town will pass an ordinance requiring stores to install waiting areas for public transit patrons.

For the elderly, disabled and carless residents of Haywood County, the public transit bus is an indispensable resource that keeps them mobile.

A new taxi service will be coming soon to Sylva.

The Sylva town board last week unanimously approved a taxicab business license for Brian Paquin, who plans to launch 24-hour, seven-day per week service under the name Freedom Taxi.