For years, short-term rentals – the rooms, cottages, condos and homes on apps like Airbnb and HomeAway – have been the subject of lawsuits and hand-wringing on the part of regulators and people looking to rent out properties. Texas lawmakers haven’t yet figured out how to regulate them, but a handful of bills have been […]
Andrew Weber, KUT
Posted inAustin
Homelessness in Austin increased 5 percent this year
Homelessness increased 5 percent in Austin over last year, according to the results of Ending Community Homelessness Coalition’s annual census. The survey, which was conducted overnight on Jan. 26 by about 500 volunteers, found 2,255 people experiencing homelessness on Austin streets and in shelters, compared to 2,147 people last year. “The numbers are not moving […]
Posted inTransportation
UT will use geofencing to limit e-scooter speed to 8 mph on campus this week
Riders using rented scooters on the 40 Acres will no longer be able to go faster than 8 mph, according to UT Austin. The university said Bird, Jump, Lyft and Lime’s e-scooters will have speed restrictions on the lion’s share of the UT campus starting today. The decision comes at the suggestion of a campus […]
Posted inAustin
Immigrants in Austin pay more taxes, have more spending power than in other large Texas cities
A new study shows immigrants have an outsized impact on Austin’s economy. Overall, 4.8 million immigrants in Texas paid $34.8 billion in taxes and had an economic footprint of $109.9 billion, according to an analysis of 2017 census data from the bipartisan immigrant advocacy group New American Economy. Researcher Andrew Lim says immigrant populations have […]
Posted inTransportation
Nearly 434,000 scooter rides were taken during SXSW 2019
Dockless scooters were the headliner in their first year at South by Southwest. City data show the scooters outpaced rentable dockless bikes during the festival, accounting for nearly 434,000 rides over the 10 days of SXSW – 12.3 percent of the 3.5 million scooter rides since the scooters descended upon Austin last April. Still, nearly […]
Posted inAustin
City audit says Austin doesn’t effectively help people get out of homelessness – or measure progress
A new audit of the homelessness service providers in Austin says the city doesn’t always hold providers accountable. The report from the City Auditor found nine of the city’s largest contracts in 2017 met city benchmarks for service only about half the time. The audit is the final part of a four-part review of the […]
Posted inAustin
Good news: Fewer people moved to Austin in 2017. Bad news: It was still a lot of people.
Prepare to be shocked: People keep moving to Texas. A new Texas Realtors report looking at Census Bureau and U-Haul rental data found that more than half a million people relocated to the Lone Star State in 2017 – the second-highest number of relocations in the U.S. after Florida. In total, 524,511 out-of-state residents moved to […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin records first traffic death involving rented scooter
A 21-year-old scooter rider was killed in a crash last week, says the Austin Police Department. According to the department, it’s the first death related to a rented scooter in Austin. Police say Mark Sands was riding a Lime scooter on the wrong side of the Interstate 35 southbound frontage road at around 1 a.m. Friday […]
Posted inCity Council
New city agreement with ARCH would shift focus to housing
The Austin City Council will vote Thursday on renewing the contract for Front Steps, the operator of the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless. The new agreement could bring systemic changes to the city’s homeless shelter. One of those changes would reduce the number of beds from 190 to 130 and focus more resources on […]
Posted inTransit
After years of declines, Cap Metro sees an increase in ridership
After years of declining ridership, Capital Metro’s ridership increased in 2018. The boost comes in a year that saw the transit operator’s largest overhaul of its bus system, known as Cap Remap, which affected more than half its lines. Overall, Capital Metro’s ridership went up 5.4 percent in December 2018 compared to the previous year, […]
Posted inTransportation
Texas wants to put more autonomous vehicles on the road
Like a mirage on a sun-beaten West Texas highway, the future of autonomous vehicles in Texas isn’t altogether clear. A new state effort hopes to clear up the prospect of an increasingly connected fleet of vehicles on the road. The Texas Department of Transportation announced yesterday that it’s forming a task force to bring more […]
Posted inAustin
Gus Garcia, the first elected Hispanic mayor of Austin, dies at 84
Gustavo “Gus” Garcia, a former Austin school board trustee, City Council member and the first elected Hispanic mayor of Austin, died early Monday surrounded by his family. He was 84. At a memorial service at Gus Garcia Young Men’s Leadership Academy, Mayor Steve Adler remembered Garcia’s years of service to Austin. “He really was one […]