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Transportation

Planning Commission hears about 30-mile loop of urban trails

City transportation officials have a grand vision to dramatically expand the Shoal Creek Trail and eventually connect it to a 30-mile loop of trails around the northern half of the city. But it’s anybody’s guess when that vision will be…

colorado street

Another downtown Austin street goes two-way. Studies tell us that’s good.

For 68 years, drivers on Colorado Street in downtown Austin could go only one way: south. But as of today, that one-directional road officially goes two ways for cars. It’s the hip thing to do. “This is absolutely a trend,”…

metrobus

County's new transit plan includes buses, other odds and ends

The Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a three-year transit development plan that aims to bring a variety of transit and transit-adjacent services to parts of the county where no buses currently operate. The 10 transit gap zones identified…

Bird Dockless scooters

E-bikes, e-scooters not welcome in Austin parks

Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department would like to remind parkgoers to observe the speed limit. In a June memo to Mayor Steve Adler and City Council, department Director Kimberly McNeeley pointed out that city code prohibits the use of motorized…

Big plans for Shoal Creek Trail unveiled

The nonprofit steward of Austin’s premier urban trail has published its draft plan for extending the hike-and-bike path north from Central Austin all the way to the Domain. The Shoal Creek Conservancy on Friday publicly debuted its Shoal Creek Trail:…

Austin hopes deregulation will save taxi companies

Austin’s City Council on Thursday approved a radical change in the city’s taxicab regulations that the Transportation Department drew up in the hopes of saving the industry. The most important of the changes is the deregulation of fares. That means…

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CTRMA agrees to help with MetroRail station relocation, if necessary

Austin’s toll road agency is volunteering to be a financial backstop for the city’s transit provider should a bid for federal dollars to relocate a train station run off the rails. On Wednesday the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority Board…

City wants to keep taxi franchise system

The city of Austin doesn’t want to give up on traditional taxicabs, but it acknowledges that they need to adapt to survive in the face of competition from cheaper ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft. On Thursday, City Council…

Capital Metro gears up for no-pilot shuttle pilot

Austin, the “Kitty Hawk of driverless cars,” will likely see autonomous shuttles ferrying passengers through downtown streets by the end of 2018. The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday revealed new details about a planned yearlong pilot program that will…

Capital Metro picks up its customer service game

Austin’s transit agency is putting renewed emphasis on the customers who make up the bulk of its service. On Monday, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority staff revealed to the board of directors details about a new initiative dubbed the Bus Customer…

bus stop

Capital Metro sets its sights on the sun

The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority this summer is waging a two-front offensive on one of the most dreaded enemies of Austin bus riders: the Texas sun. The agency recently rolled out a pair of demonstration projects aimed at dulling the…

'Speed cushions' hit Health and Human Services Committee

Though the program that brings new speed cushions to Austin is currently in a holding pattern, the City Council Health and Human Services Committee received an update regarding traffic calming devices at its meeting last Wednesday afternoon. Chair Ora Houston…

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