Stories by Ryan Thornton
City hopes fewer Covid cases and cooler temps will boost open-air business pilot
Austin’s Covid-era pilot for safe outdoor shopping and dining has been running since June 15, but not many local shops and restaurants have sought to take advantage of the program so far. During the first 10 weeks of Shop the…
City Council • By Ryan Thornton • Sep 8, 2020
Council approves $23 million in partial purchases for Corridor Construction Program
City Council has authorized the Office of Real Estate Services to start negotiations with landowners for $23 million in real estate acquisitions from a number of properties along the nine segments of the Corridor Construction Program. Mike Trimble, director of…
City Council • By Ryan Thornton • Sep 4, 2020
Project Connect: Council to consider equity metrics
Included in the $7.1 billion Project Connect proposal for Nov. 3 is $300 million for affordable housing and neighborhood-level displacement prevention strategies along transit corridors. On Thursday, City Council will vote on a resolution further clarifying that impacted neighborhoods are…
Bonds & Propositions • By Ryan Thornton • Sep 2, 2020
Tiered-rate parking payment system to free up parking spots, decrease use of parking tickets
Over the next month and a half, the Austin Transportation Department will be updating on-street parking meters to a more flexible “pay-by-plate” system that will make it easier for drivers to add extra time to a parking session. The new…
Austin • By Ryan Thornton • Sep 1, 2020
Austin to become a better 'laboratory' for UT research under interlocal agreement
While City Council members and city departments have long sought help from the University of Texas to research challenges facing the city like gentrification or the “downtown puzzle,” there has never been a formal process to coordinate those efforts –…
City Council • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 28, 2020
Broadmoor rail station to break ground in September, replace Kramer station
A new Red Line commuter rail station will break ground next month, directly servicing the Domain and the future $2 billion mixed-use Broadmoor development by summer 2022. The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board approved a public-private partnership with Brandywine for the…
Transit • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 27, 2020
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Council to consider approving grants for APD safety projects
Thursday’s City Council meeting agenda has 10 items requesting approval of grant awards to the Austin Police Department for a variety of ongoing projects. While the grants support important community programs like mental health first response, sexual assault evidence testing…
Police • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 26, 2020
Capital Metro electric buses running longer than predicted, cutting emissions
By the end of the month, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority will have received all 12 battery-electric buses that make up its initial investment in what will become a zero-emission public transportation fleet. With two of those already in service…
Transit • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 25, 2020
City Council candidates discuss growth, segregation and the land use code
The Nov. 3 election is set to shape the future of transportation in Austin, but it could also shift City Council’s 7-4 divide on housing and density in the Land Development Code rewrite. While the effort is now tied up…
Elections • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 25, 2020
City forms team to ensure equity with I-35 cap-and-stitch
As the Texas Department of Transportation moves ahead with plans to expand Interstate 35 under the Capital Express project, the city has joined the effort to use the giant construction project as an opportunity to help minority communities recover from…
Roads • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 21, 2020
Austin Energy price on coal energy reduces emissions 20 percent since March
In a little over four months, Austin Energy’s carbon pricing program, REACH (Reduce Emissions Affordably for Climate Health) has cut the utility’s carbon emissions by roughly 20 percent, saving more than 480,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere since the…
Energy • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 20, 2020
Integral Care set to address most mental health emergency calls without involving APD
Last week, City Council approved an additional $1.3 million for the Integral Care-EMCOT program next fiscal year, increasing the budget for the Expanded Mobile Crisis Outreach Team by about 75 percent. With those extra dollars, Integral Care, the mental health…
