Embedded Files
Aspen Hickman, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn
All photos taken by Aspen Hickman on February 22, 2026.
An AppalCART bus drives along River Street.
Snow falls over a road that lacks a sidewalk.
For a rural community like Boone, public transit is a rarity.
For a rural community like Boone, public transit is a rarity.
In cities and urban areas, public transportation is common. Many cities are easily navigable on foot or by bike, while their rural counterparts face long distances and difficult terrain. Despite this, many rural communities have little or no public transit. Boone, however, has AppalCART.
"AppalCART is very robust compared to most counties, especially in rural areas. It's different in that we're not just doing demand response trips we have our big fixed route system," said Craig Hughes, the Director of AppalCART. "AppalCART was set up in the 80s. It's a combination of the county system and the university. AppalCART is an authority, which is a standalone organization that's not part of the county, not part of the university, not part of the town. It's standalone."
A figure waits for AppalCART across from Wey Hall on Appalachian State's campus.
The nearest AppalCART stop to Watauga High School.
"There's a lot of people that would say, how does AppalCART benefit me? It helps everybody, because even if you're not riding the AppalCART, every person that does, that's one less car that's on the road and creating traffic jams," said Hughes.
AppalCART bus shelters outside the Schaffer Center. Bus shelters provide riders with shelter while they await buses.
One of AppalCART's many stops along Highway 421.
An AppalCART bus departs the stop across from Wey Hall.
"AppalCART is a fair free system. It covers the whole town of Boone, plus we serve the homeless shelter," said Hughes. "It doesn't matter if you're a homeless person or a student. Anybody can use the system. So, if you live at Hospitality House, you have access to the university, you have access to the department of social services, you have access to the hospital, you have access to medical appointments. You have access to employment."
Many of Watauga's rural roads lack sidewalks or safe shoulders. In addition to their regular routes, AppalCART also provides a service that takes people in Watauga to Boone for a fare of only a couple dollars.
Bamboo Road on the way to the Hospitality House. Bamboo has no sidewalks, but for many people housed at Hospitality House, walking along the thin shoulder is a necessity.
An AppalCART bus makes a loop of the parking lot across from the Schaffer Center. Even in inclement weather, AppalCART makes the effort to provide transport for the people of Boone.
An AppalCART bus picks up passengers at the AppalCART depot.
Another AppalCART bus stop along Highway 421, this one near a Speedway.
"There are not many sidewalks [near Hospitality House], so a homeless person has to worry about walking alongside a busy street, where cars might not see them and hit them. With us, they don't have to worry about finding street crossings, they can hop on at the shelter and ride to where they need, as long as weather permits and we can get out there," said Hughes. "And so that helps, and we have stops in close proximity to where most people are going to need to go. We've got a [bus] shelter at the hospital, a stop there, we have stops at DSS, we have stops in front of medical offices, you can get to about anything you might want to."
An AppalCART bus drives away along River Street.
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