The Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday canceled an application for state grant money to fund a body camera pilot program for sheriff’s deputies. The county had reached the second stage of the application process when state officials made the grant money conditional on the county’s submission to federal agents’ requests to detain potentially undocumented immigrants […]
Caleb Pritchard
Posted inWhispers
Connections 2025 findings coming to an open house near you
Capital Metro will soon roll out the preliminary findings of the study that will shape its upcoming Connections 2025 service plan. The transit agency and its consultant, Transportation Management & Design, Inc., have been analyzing ridership and operations data since fall 2015. The effort is aimed at developing both short- and long-term recommendations for Capital […]
Posted inTransportation
CAMPO wants to get fiscal with Williamson County
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is breaking up with the city of Austin in the hopes of a better future with Williamson County. CAMPO’s Transportation Policy Board voted unanimously on Monday to enter into a fiscal agent agreement with Williamson, thus ending a relationship the transportation agency has had with the city since the […]
Posted inAustin
A census, but for downtown parking
In a city obsessed with mobility issues, even parking can be a flashpoint that excites visceral debates about whether there is too much or not enough temporary vehicular storage. Soon, however, the Downtown Austin Alliance will temper parking passions with cold hard data mined from a sweeping census of all available spaces in the city’s bustling […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: Travis County, 5.10.16
The Travis County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday. In the interest of space, we’ve decided not to post the entire agenda here. The County Clerk’s office hosts a copy at its website. 6. Consider and take appropriate action regarding the issuance of a Mass Gathering Permit for Untapped Beer and Music Festival to […]
Posted inWhispers
Prop 1 adversaries trade paint in last stretch before election day
The last-minute messaging dash ahead of the May 7 referendum on Proposition 1 resulted in dueling press conferences in downtown Austin on Thursday. Ridesharing Works for Austin, the political action committee emboldened with nearly $8.7 million in funding from ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft, kicked things off in the late morning at City Hall with […]
Posted inBicycles
Bond Oversight commissioners nix bike plan recommendation
Austin’s Bond Oversight Commission on Thursday evening voted down a proposed recommendation to City Council to consider placing on the November ballot a bond that would fund bicycle and sidewalk infrastructure. Chair Keri Burchard-Juarez, who was put on the commission by Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo, scheduled the special meeting at 6 p.m. in downtown […]
Posted inWhispers
Words on the Wingz
Pending the results of Saturday’s election on Proposition 1, many Austinites are fretting the imminent exit from our fair town by Uber and Lyft, the two ride-hailing giants who make getting home from Sunday morning worship service such a breeze. If they do go, however, residents might still have options. There are, of course, the […]
Posted inWhispers
The roads go on forever
The Texas Department of Transportation has given the green flag to yet another toll road expansion project in Austin. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority announced yesterday that TxDOT conferred its clearance on the 183 North Mobility Project’s environmental study. That in effect gives CTRMA permission to start building two new variably priced toll lanes […]
Posted inAustin
Opponents question legality of Prop 1 spampaign
The political action committee fighting against Proposition 1 suggested on Wednesday that Uber, Lyft and the PAC those corporations have poured millions into could be breaking the law in their fight to rewrite the city’s ride-hailing regulations. “To be blunt, this campaign doesn’t pass the smell test,” said former City Council Member Laura Morrison, a […]
Posted inTransportation
CTRMA board gets up to speed on MoPac tolling
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority formally adopted a high-tech tolling policy on Tuesday after a discussion that revealed not all were fully up to speed on the MoPac Improvement Project. At its monthly meeting, the CTRMA board of directors voted unanimously to amend its policy code to include language that provides for variable tolling […]
Posted inBicycles
Travis County considers ambitious bicycle and pedestrian proposals
The Travis County Commissioners Court has flung itself into the ongoing conversation about funding bicycle infrastructure in Central Texas. On Tuesday, the court-appointed Bicycle Safety Task Force presented a long list of detailed proposals to enhance multimodal alternatives in unincorporated parts of the county. That list included a $3.3 million slate of specific projects to […]