Following a discussion that shed some light on how the organization functions, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors voted unanimously at a special called meeting Monday to hire a consultant for its 10-year service plan in spite of conflicting requests. California consultant Transportation Management & Design Inc. and Pflugerville subconsultant Nancy Ledbetter & […]
Tyler Whitson
Posted inTransportation
Colorado nonprofit partners with city on mobility
Austin leaders announced a partnership Monday morning between the city and Colorado-based nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute to develop “innovative mobility solutions” to the transportation woes that frustrate many Austinites. Jeruld Weiland, managing director of RMI’s Mobility Transportation program, told those packed into the City Hall atrium that the initiative will involve a multifaceted approach to […]
Posted inWater
PUC calls for order to reset certain water rates
The Public Utility Commission of Texas started a process Friday that could ultimately require Austin Water to reset water and wastewater rates for a group of customers that has challenged the city. The commission approved, with some exceptions, a proposal for decision that administrative law judges Pratibha Shenoy and Beth Bierman filed in July on […]
Posted inWhispers
Council pulls back on Austin Energy cuts
During a Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget adoption meeting on Wednesday, City Council considered two major cuts to Austin Energy’s budget but ultimately did not adopt them. One, based on a budget concept menu item put forward by Council Member Ellen Troxclair, involved cutting $2.65 million from Austin Energy’s general marketing budget – including dropping 12 […]
Posted inWhispers
Council finishes budget adoption Day 2
City Council made it through Day 2 of its Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget adoption process on Wednesday after approving several amendments to the working budget that it began shaping on Tuesday. According to Mayor Steve Adler, the General Fund budget at the end of the day was over by about $600,000, and there is still […]
Posted inEnergy
Council changes energy demand charge policy
Following weeks of buildup, City Council has amended a contentious Austin Energy policy in an attempt to help small businesses avoid potentially costly demand charges. Rather than adhere to an Electric Utility Commission recommendation that Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo proposed, Council opted during a Wednesday budget adoption meeting to go with a compromise put […]
Posted inBudget
Council finishes budget adoption Day One
City Council dove into the Fiscal Year 2015-16 city budget reading process on Tuesday, making some progress toward its goal of adopting the budget by the end of Thursday. Though there is still a long way to go before Council reaches a final draft, it made some headway on a working budget that consists of city […]
Posted inTransportation
City may fix five most dangerous intersections
So far this year, Austin has already had 76 traffic fatalities – 13 more than it did in all of 2014. Now, City Council is considering taking immediate action by funding traffic safety improvements at Austin’s five most dangerous intersections in the forthcoming city budget. On Sept. 2, Austin Transportation Department staff submitted a budget-question […]
Posted inEnergy
Demand charge change could cost $7 million
As the deadline closes in for City Council to decide whether to increase the demand charge threshold for small commercial Austin Energy customers as part of the city budget, utility staff has released figures that may impact that decision. Austin Energy staff reported on Tuesday that consultant NewGen Strategies and Solutions estimates that, based on […]
Posted inTransportation
Google gears up for new self-driving car in Austin
Austinites who have spotted Google’s self-driving Lexus in the past couple of months will have a new rarity to keep an eye out for in the next week or so – the company’s “prototype” autonomous vehicle. Built for the task from the ground up, it sports a futuristic, if unusual, look. Following Saturday’s announcement, Jennifer […]
Posted inBudget
Council gauges interest on proposed budget items
City Council inched closer to adopting the city’s Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget at a work session on Tuesday when it took a “straw poll” – in the words of Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo – of the concept menu items that members have put forward. Though the votes were taken quickly and ultimately have no […]
Posted inWhispers
Fath pushes ahead on demand charge policy
Electric Utility Commissioner Shudde Fath continued her effort to get City Council to raise the demand charge threshold for small, commercial Austin Energy customers as part of the Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget in a frank memo she sent to Council, City Manager Marc Ott and Austin Energy General Manager Larry Weis on Monday. “A budget […]