Cap Metro courtesy-stop pilot program likely to be codified

After a successful trial run, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority hopes to extend the expanded version of its courtesy stop pilot program, which was started earlier this year.

Capital Metro first implemented the initiative to help riders with mobility impairments deboard between stops to make their commutes a little smoother. But earlier this year, the transit agency began piloting an expansion of the existing program, which extends the offer to all customers riding the bus past 9 p.m.

What is a courtesy stop? Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like. If a rider requests to get off the bus between destinations, as long it’s safe to do so the operator will allow the rider to get off.

“If the operator obviously finds a safe location (and) it is reasonable and accessible. The road they’re on has to be below 50 miles per hour …. Some common sense,” COO Andrew Skabowski said in an operations update earlier this week.

Operators will only stop between their intended destinations for riders who are aboard the bus. The program does not allow operators to stop for people who might try to flag down a bus while on the road and not in front of a Capital Metro stop.

So far, the pilot program has proved quite popular among both passengers and operators, Skabowski said. Capital Metro will continue to assess the risk of the initiative before codifying it as an official procedure in its rule book.

The courtesy stop program was developed internally by Capital Metro staff.

“Cap Metro prides itself on providing safe and reliable transit to all Central Texans, and this program is another way the agency is achieving that goal,” a Capital Metro spokesperson told the Austin Monitor.

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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