Among the roughly 100,000 transit trips taken in Austin on Wednesday, perhaps one of the most notable was the 3-mile jaunt that began when Randy Clarke, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s new CEO, started his first day on the job by boarding the No. 17 at Republic Square Park. Clarke, who lives downtown, had previously […]
Caleb Pritchard
Posted inWhispers
BAC and PAC support draft corridor plan, make additional requests
In a joint meeting of the Pedestrian Advisory Council and Bicycle Advisory Council on Monday evening, members officially gave their support to the proposed Corridor Construction Program. The $482 million draft road map charts out the scope of projects coming to nine sections of the city’s busiest corridors as directed by voters in November 2016. […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Commissioners Court hits pause on new women’s unit at county jail
The Travis County Commissioners Court has shelved for a full year what was supposed to be the first installment of a $97 million plan to build a new housing unit for female inmates at the county’s jail complex in Del Valle. The 3-1 vote came on Tuesday afternoon following lengthy and occasionally tearful testimony from […]
Posted inWhispers
Gómez remains Travis County’s political iron woman
Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gómez extended her decades-old streak of victorious campaigns Tuesday night by handily dispatching Susanna Woody in her Democratic primary. Woody, a Del Valle Independent School District trustee, had pledged to bring fresh leadership to the Commissioners Court Precinct 4 seat that Gómez has held since she first secured it in 1994. […]
Posted inTransit
AURA to Capital Metro: Seek new shelters
Even as it overhauls its downtown train station, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is sticking with the same design for its MetroRapid shelters, to the chagrin of one advocacy group. Last Thursday, AURA – formerly Austinites for Urban Rail Action before the group expanded its scope – published a blog post reiterating its standing call […]
Posted inWhispers
City gives pedicabs a jolt just before SXSW
Just in time for South by Southwest, the Transportation Department and Austin Energy are launching a pilot program allowing electric-assist pedicabs to operate on city streets. Though current rules allow them to rove around an area roughly bounded by 38th ½ Street and Oltorf Street to the north and south, and Mopac Expressway and Pleasant […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: Travis County, 3.6.18
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. 7. Consider and take appropriate action on Travis County funding for the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) Pay for Success Project. […]
Posted inTransit
Shorter headways create mild headaches for Capital Metro
Ever since the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority began operating its two MetroRapid routes at 10-minute intervals during daytime hours, the agency has seen an uptick in an unwelcome phenomenon of buses of the same line running back to back. The bunching, which has been reported on social media, had made it onto the radar of […]
Posted inWhispers
Dukes supports county’s affordable housing project
State Rep. Dawnna Dukes has finally endorsed Travis County’s first proprietary affordable housing project nearly a year after her decision to back a competing development cost the county crucial tax credits. Late Thursday afternoon, Commissioner Jeff Travillion’s office announced that Dukes had submitted a letter of support for the Travis Flats project at the county’s […]
Posted inRoads
Travis County looks to tap CTRMA to fast-track bond projects
Travis County and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority have both signed on to negotiations that could leverage the CTRMA’s prodigious road-building capabilities to boost priority safety improvements in the southeastern quadrant of the county. On Wednesday, the CTRMA board of directors unanimously voted to enter into negotiations with the county on an interlocal agreement […]
Posted inWhispers
Heimsath’s curtain call
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority welcomed its newest board member on Wednesday morning. But before new Travis County appointee John Langmore took his oath of office, CTRMA board Chair Ray Wilkerson showered his predecessor, Charles Heimsath, with praise and more than a handful of souvenirs. “It’s tough to say goodbye to a board member, […]
Posted inWhispers
Court delays action on new women’s unit at county jail
The Travis County Commissioners Court postponed a vote on Tuesday to release $6.6 million in certificates of obligation that would partially fund a brand-new facility for female inmates at the county jail complex in Del Valle. County Judge Sarah Eckhardt’s decision to delay the action came after activists showed up to oppose the plans, which […]