As a raft of autonomous vehicle companies prepares to deploy new “robotaxis” slated to eventually compete with the likes of Waymo and Tesla, city council’s Mobility Commission heard an update during a meeting on July 17 on how the legal ground under the tires has changed. The big news comes from Senate Bill 2807, which […]
Transportation
Posted inRoads
Urban Transportation Commission calls on city to narrow traffic lanes
The Urban Transportation Commission wants to see narrower Austin roads, and they have research to back the idea up. Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution recommending that the city adopt a 1- to 2-foot narrower standard for traffic lanes in many of the city’s larger streets and roads during the body’s regular meeting on July 1. […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin’s ‘dire’ air traffic controller shortage raises risk of flight delays
A shortage of air traffic controllers at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) has increasingly forced federal officials to slow the pace of arriving flights, at times holding planes on the ground in other cities to avoid overwhelming the tower. The delays — known as “ground delay programs” — don’t happen every day. But they were triggered […]
Posted inRoads
Austin moves forward with plan for parks over I-35
Austin City Council has approved paying for infrastructure that would allow for parks over I-35, a plan made possible by a state project to widen and lower the freeway. Council members voted Thursday to pay $104 million for support columns that would allow decks to be installed over I-35 from Cesar Chavez to Seventh streets and […]
Posted inTransit
CapMetro’s Red Line Station near the Domain is back on track, but now double the price
Three years after a groundbreaking ceremony that led to no actual construction, Capital Metro is putting plans back on track to build a new commuter rail station near the Domain. But the project’s price tag has ballooned, and the transit agency will pay more than triple what it had originally planned. Broadmoor Station was originally expected to […]
Posted inTransportation
Changes on the way for Austin’s scooters
New rules — and a new focus on equity — have arrived for Austin’s scooter rentals. Transportation and Public Works posted a new set of draft director’s rules governing the city’s shared micromobility program on May 12, which like a similar update to the residential parking program would offer tweaks in response to survey responses. […]
Posted inTransportation
Facing overwhelmingly negative feedback, city drafts refinements to residential permit parking program
Transportation and Public Works officials presented draft changes to the director’s rules governing the department’s Residential Permit Parking program to the Urban Transportation Commission on May 6, teasing a set of tweaks and formalizations rather than an overhaul of the current program The new rules will address how the department evaluates applications for participation in […]
Posted inRoads
Plans for parks over I-35 collide with Austin’s cash crunch
Facing a deepening budget deficit as the state legislature tightens the reins on city spending, Austin’s City Council was warned Tuesday that an ambitious plan to build parks and public spaces over I-35 will require tough choices to avoid straining the city’s finances for decades. A stark financial forecast from the Washington, D.C. engineering consultant Hayat Brown said the proposed decks […]
Posted inRoads
Council approves grant award to replace Barton Springs Road Bridge
A long-running debate over replacing the iconic Barton Springs Road Bridge appears to be settled, with City Council’s unanimous vote Thursday to formally accept $32 million in grant funds for the project. Although the Council voted in 2023 to move forward with replacing the bridge, funding wasn’t available to cover construction costs. That changed late […]
Posted inTransportation
City touts ongoing success in one-year update on micromobility program tweaks
Last April, Austin made changes to its micromobility program, cutting the number of scooters on the street by 2,000 and reducing speed limits among other things. In a one-year update, city staff say those changes have worked out as well as or better than expected. In a presentation to City Council’s Mobility Committee during a […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport announces new flight service while anticipating capacity cuts
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has announced new flights starting this month while anticipating capacity cuts with the softening economy’s effect on travel demand. Jason Alexander, Austin’s deputy chief of airport affairs, gave a briefing on air service updates to the Airport Advisory Commission at its regularly scheduled meeting on April 9. “We are anticipating quite a […]
Posted inRoads
Austin has only weeks to decide where to put parks over I-35
Austin must decide within just a few weeks whether to commit hundreds of millions of dollars to installing support structures on Interstate 35, or give up the chance to build parks over the highway. City Council has until May 31 to choose locations for the foundational elements that would hold up large decks – or […]