Starting February 13, Afton Express riders will have new options for their commutes. The expanded schedule includes a new stop in Charlottesville, expanded access to existing stops, later service, and new options for traveling from Charlottesville back to the Shenandoah Valley.

The new schedule is designed with 12-hour hospital shift workers in mind. Many of these workers are not currently served by the existing schedule, as the bus does not pick up and drop off late enough in the evening for those starting or ending their shifts at 7:00 pm. In the morning, there will be a new loop back on Trip 2 that will provide service to overnight workers getting off work and heading back to Staunton, Augusta, and Waynesboro. In the evening, there will be a fifth trip that will depart Waynesboro at 6:00 pm to get employees to work by 6:45 pm, and will then circle back to pick up workers getting off at 7:00 pm.

While this schedule was inspired by hospital employees, we hope the later evening service will make the service more accessible to any commuters who work later shifts. These additional times may also provide connections with Greyhound and Amtrak routes that arrive early in the morning, and depart late in the evening.

The morning departure times from Staunton, Fishersville and Waynesboro remain unchanged, but two additional departures from the Staunton Mall stop have been added. Previously, the Staunton Mall stop was only served by two of the four morning trips. Now all trips will serve the Staunton stop.

In the afternoon, Trip 2 times have been shifted about 15-20 minutes earlier to better accommodate passengers who get off work at 3:30 pm. We are hopeful this change will significantly reduce the amount of time these commuters need to wait for a return bus.

In addition to the later service, a new stop has been added in Charlottesville. Riders will now be able to get on and off at The Omni Hotel at Ridge McIntire Rd. This stop is located near the Courthouse and serves the Downtown Mall.

Overall, we are pleased to be able to expand service to reach new groups of riders while still providing reliable service to our existing riders. We are receptive to rider feedback and will continue to explore ways we can improve the schedule with future changes.

The new schedule is available on the Afton Express website at https://www.britebus.org/afton-express-expansion-schedule-released/.

The Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC) and the City of Harrisonburg are partnering with Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project (SERCAP) to offer a series of free Homebuyer Readiness short-courses in the months of February through April. The courses will provide information on homebuying basics, including what is needed to qualify for a mortgage, how to increase financial readiness and save for a down payment, and budgeting and credit preparedness. Jacob Hodges, a Housing Counselor with SERCAP, will facilitate the series.

The first four sessions are scheduled for the following Saturdays from 10am-1pm at the Lucy Simms Center in Harrisonburg, and will culminate in a full-day Homebuyer Education Training Class on Saturday, April 15:

• February 18: Homeownership Preparation Overview – Clients will learn the basics of what’s involved in the process of buying a home, including budgeting, credit preparedness, and saving for down payments.
• March 4: Homeownership Preparation Overview Session 2
• March 18: Homeownership Partners and Personalized Paperwork – Clients will continue their homebuyer readiness journey by learning about programs and tools that eligible borrowers can access to reduce down payment and closing costs. Following the presentation, attendees can schedule one-on-one pre-purchase and credit counseling. Partners and presenters for this event TBD, more details coming soon.
• April 1: Details TBD (Participants from prior sessions will select topics of interest)
• April 15: Certified Homebuyer Education Training Class – This full-day class will be accompanied with a Virginia Housing Certificate, which is required to access many down payment and closing cost assistance programs, including the CSPDC’s First Time Homebuyer Program.

 For more information about the course, including a flyer available in English and Spanish, contact Olivia Raines at olivia@cspdc.org.

US DOT awarded the City of Waynesboro a $950,000 grant that will pay for preliminary engineering and partial right-of-way acquisition on a trail to connect Sunset Park to the Crozet Tunnel and then onto Shenandoah National Park and the Appalachian Trail via the Rockfish Gateway Trail. Waynesboro Director of Parks and Recreation, and the Chair of the Crozet Tunnel Foundation Dwayne Jones says that “while all final appropriations will be contingent upon Congress approval, we are thrilled to share the great news!”

Following GO Virginia Region 8 Council’s recommendation, the GO Virginia State Board approved the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport Commission’s (SHD) site development proposal at its December 13 meeting. SHD was awarded $993,300 for utility improvements at its 58-acre Aviation Technology Park. The project will construct new water and sewer lines, moving existing utilities from the center of the site to its perimeter. The relocation of utilities enables future construction of additional hangars and facilities to support aviation-related business growth in the region. The project is expected to create more than 260 higher-wage jobs. Design and engineering for the project was supported by a GO Virginia Enhanced Capacity Building grant. With a federal grant through the Economic Development Administration, SHD is currently constructing two hangars in the Aviation Technology Park that are expected to be completed in the summer. The CSPDC provides technical assistance and grant administration services for these projects.

On December 14^th, Rockbridge Area Tourism held a workshop at the Virginia Horse Center to gather input for their recently received DRIVE Outdoor Grant. The DRIVE Outdoor Grant was awarded by the Virginia Tourism Corporation and builds on the recently completed DRIVE 2.0 Statewide Strategic Plan. The goal of the workshop was to determine next steps for outdoor recreational product development in the Rockbridge Region. DRIVE Outdoor funds can be used to enhance outdoor recreational development, assets, and entrepreneurial opportunities. Rockbridge Area Tourism invited Rockbridge Outdoors members as well as other community stakeholders to attend the event.

During the meeting, the group conducted a competition analysis of similar outdoor recreation markets, and determined priority outdoor recreation product development opportunities for the near term, over the next two years, and a five-year strategy. The group settled on a final ‘hub and spoke’ model that determined a primary tourism lure, outdoor products to sustain and enhance, and two new outdoor product concepts.

More information on DRIVE Outdoor can be found here: https://www.vatc.org/driveoutdoor/

The Afton Express is a public commuter bus system that connects the Shenandoah Valley to the Charlottesville area with daily transit service provided Monday through Friday. First launched on September 1, 2021, the Afton Express has seen great success and has proven to be a safe, convenient, and affordable way for people to get to work, medical appointments, and other services.

The Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC) is pleased to share the first Annual Report for the Afton Express. This report provides an overview of ridership and performance during the first 16 months of operations (September 2021 – December 2022). The report also includes highlights from the first year, a summary of rider impressions collected during a rider survey last fall, and a glimpse of what is to come in the future.

The report can be viewed on the web here: 2021-2022 Afton Express Annual Report

Operated by Virginia Regional Transit (VRT) as a route in the BRITE Bus system, the Afton Express provides four trips from the Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro (SAW) region to Charlottesville and Albemarle County in the morning; and four return trips back to the Valley in the afternoon/evening. The Afton Express offers low fares, discounted multi-trip farecards, plush seats, and on-board WiFi to provide riders with a comfortable and convenient commute.

Afton Express has been funded through a demonstration grant provided by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) matched with local funds from the cities of Staunton, Waynesboro, and Charlottesville, the counties of Augusta and Albemarle, and the University of Virginia. This service would not be the success it is without the support of our regional partners.

As ridership steadily increases, the team at the CSPDC and VRT are gearing up for a planned expansion of services to launch in February 2023. This expansion includes a fifth trip in the evening to provide later service and a new stop at the Omni Hotel in Charlottesville. The goal of this expansion is to make service available to commuters whose work schedules vary from traditional business hours.

The proposed expanded schedule was released for a 21-day public comment period on December 27^th. Once the CSPDC has reviewed the feedback provided during this comment period, final adjustments to the schedule will be made and the expansion will be implemented.

CSPDC staff and our transit operators at VRT are looking forward to the future of the Afton Express and are excited to continue delivering quality and reliable service in 2023. To stay up to date on what’s happening with the Afton Express, be sure to follow us on Facebook and check our website for route maps, schedules, and other information.

After a 5-year closure, the Warm Springs Pools reopened to the public on December 16, 2022. Operating since the 1760s, the Warm Spring Pools are an important to link to Bath County’s history and a vital piece of the community’s tourism industry. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Martin Van Buren, and Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt headline a long history of prominent guests who have enjoyed the mineral waters of the natural hot springs.

Having acquired the Pools in 2013, the Omni Homestead began a $4.5 million renovation process in 2021 to restore the Pools to how they looked in the 1920s. The 14-month renovation process came to end on December 16, 2022 as the Omni Homestead hosted a locals-only soft reopening. The Pools are currently open for reservations Wednesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Reservations may be made by calling 540-839-3860 or emailing warmspringspools@omnihotels.com.