The Travis County Commissioners Court meets every Tuesday at 9 a.m. To help our readers stay informed, each week we offer a selection of interesting items from the voting session agenda. The entire agenda is available on the Travis County website. 7. Consider and take appropriate action on legislative matters, including: a. Update on legislative […]
Ryan Thornton
Posted inLand Development Code
Reshaping the land development code conversation
Still haunted by the misinformation battles of CodeNEXT, the Pedestrian Advisory Council passed two recommendations Monday, April 1, to help shift the land use conversation and support City Council as it takes up discussion of a new development code beginning later this week. The first recommendation is a predictably pedestrian-oriented response to City Manager Spencer […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin’s oldest cab franchise calls it quits
After more than 75 years in business, the city’s longest-running taxicab operator, Austin Cab Company, closed its doors on Saturday, March 30. The franchise had been in business since 1943 and was one of only four taxicab businesses (the city officially caps the number of operators at five) strong enough to compete with the growing […]
Posted inTravis County
County to acquaint itself with puzzling Pretrial Services
Despite its ongoing effort to keep Travis County defendants connected to their communities and out of jail whenever possible, the county Pretrial Services Department has not always been included in the county’s many recent discussions about reducing jail population and growing jail diversion strategies. As became clear during its annual report to the Commissioners Court […]
Posted inTransit
AECOM wins Orange Line preliminary engineering contract
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority began advertising a contract for preliminary engineering design services and mode recommendations for the Project Connect 21-mile high-capacity Orange Line on Dec. 18, the day after the agency’s board of directors approved Project Connect‘s long-term vision plan. Now, after receiving three responses in January and negotiating with the most qualified firm, the […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: Travis County, 4.2.19
The Travis County Commissioners Court meets every Tuesday at 9 a.m. To help keep our readers informed, each week we offer a selection of interesting items from the voting session agenda. The entire agenda can be found on the Travis County website. 7. Consider and take appropriate action on an interlocal agreement with the Austin […]
Posted inTransportation
Land use policy is driving mobility discussion
As the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan has made its rounds to various city boards and commissions over the previous month, conversations about transportation goals have consistently gravitated toward the great unknown question of land use code reform. Now that the plan was passed on first reading by City Council on Thursday afternoon, the mobility plan […]
Posted inTransit
Capital Metro to meet its own bus stop standards by 2020
The Capital Area Metropolitan Transportation Authority is wrapping up construction on the last of 16 MetroRapid stops approved in a contract with Muñiz Concrete and Contracting Inc. in May 2018. This year the agency is turning its attention to its MetroBus stops with a new contract with Muñiz for the addition of benches, shelters and […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Council lines up next steps to revise land use code
Austin City Council members came together Tuesday morning for a preliminary discussion about City Manager Spencer Cronk’s five big questions about the city’s land development code that he released in a memo earlier this month. In the wake of the death of CodeNEXT, some Council members were clearly eager to jump back into the work […]
Posted inTransit
Transit fund celebrates 5 million discounted rides
Getting around is still the second-greatest cost for Austin residents, but the Transit Empowerment Fund – a collaborative effort between the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Austin Community Foundation and One Voice Central Texas – has eased that financial burden for a portion of the community’s most vulnerable residents. The TEF Board celebrated a milestone at […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: Travis County, 3.26.19
The Travis County Commissioners Court meets every Tuesday at 9 a.m. To help our readers stay informed, each week we offer a selection of interesting items from the voting session agenda. The entire agenda is available on the Travis County website. 1. Receive input from the public related to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) […]
Posted inTransportation
The Netherlands offers critique and solution to Austin street design
Cutting traffic fatalities and getting people out of single-occupancy vehicles may seem like impossible tasks here in Austin, but it’s actually rather simple, says Billy Fields, associate professor of political science at Texas State University. The solution, according to Fields, is to systemize street design to manage vehicle speed and separate vulnerable users like bicyclists […]