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Susan Bean got off the bus a stop or two too late. The bus — the S3, down Hendersonville Road in South Asheville — completes a regular two-hour loop to the airport and back. Bean was hoping to get off at a location where she would be able to easily take another bus, the S6, back to downtown Asheville.
Unfortunately, the consequences of her error were immediate. In this part of town, buses come infrequently — sometimes with as long as 90 minutes between runs. The subsequent bus stop was by the side of Hendersonville Road, trucks whizzing past. The steep hillside was covered in grass, no sidewalks, no crosswalks…