Uber and Lyft’s self-imposed exile from Austin could be nearing the beginning of the end. On Wednesday, the Texas House of Representatives voted to approve House Bill 100 on a crucial second reading. The bill would create a statewide regulatory framework for transportation network companies and preempt local rules overwhelmingly upheld by Austin voters last […]
Transportation
Posted inRoads
Transportation Improvement Program costs continue to rise
The Transportation Policy Board discussed amendments made to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization 2017-2020 Transportation Improvement Plan at its meeting Monday night. Among the top concerns mentioned were the continuous cost increases such amendments entail. Resident Kelly Davis cited an amendment that referenced the grade separation of main lanes north of Slaughter Lane and […]
Posted inRoads
Fixing street cut repair program to take time
City Council Member Ellen Troxclair said she was “really alarmed” when she read the Office of the City Auditor report showing that the city has a 3.6-year backlog in repairing potholes created by utility crews fixing water lines. That’s the number even if there were no new street cuts during that time. Members of the […]
Posted inRadio, Transportation, Uncategorized
Austin Monitor Radio: City Transportation
Austin Monitor freelancer Caleb Pritchard chats with Austin Transportation Department Director Rob Spillar and Transportation Systems Development Division Manager Annick Beaudet. The show is embedded below: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/314537164″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inTransit
New MetroRail trains roll into Austin
With the arrival of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of new equipment, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is approximately half a year away from beefing up its tenth most popular route. On Thursday, workers at the agency’s North Operations and Maintenance Facility off Burnet Road unloaded six new pieces of Swiss-manufactured components that will […]
Posted inTransportation
Capital Metro demos robot bus
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority showed off a robot minibus last week that could be the future of linking low-density areas to the agency’s mass transit network. Along with RATP Dev, the parent company of Capital Metro contractor McDonald Transit Associates, the agency demonstrated a single Easymile EZ10 self-driving shuttle in a University of Texas […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Legislature drives closer to statewide ride-hailing regulations
Three bills that would trump Austin’s ride-hailing regulations swerved through the Texas Senate on Tuesday. In front of a standing-room-only crowd, the Committee on Business & Commerce took up Senate bills 113, 176 and 361. Each authored by Republican lawmakers, the bills would overturn rules passed by Austin’s City Council in 2015 and subsequently upheld […]
Posted inTransportation
After Uber and Lyft exit, local ride-hailing options stumble during first SXSW
Mel Roe was eating dinner Saturday night at Manuel’s Mexican Restaurant in downtown Austin when she nearly threw her phone at the wall. Roe says the app of one of Austin’s six fledgling ride-hailing companies, Fasten, would not let her request a ride. So, she relied on a technique used by many who’ve been stranded […]
Posted inAustin
Austin officials rap about Smart Cities, robot cars at SXSW
Nine months after Austin lost the federal Smart City Challenge to Columbus, Ohio, the vision of a data-enhanced urban future is still alive and well. Top officials from Mayor Steve Adler to Austin Transportation Director Robert Spillar took time during South by Southwest 2017 to publicly address the city’s efforts to leverage data collection into […]
Posted inTransit
Capital Metro touts partnership that keeps vulnerable residents moving
A nonprofit effort to expand transportation equity in Austin is celebrating a milestone while also dropping six figures to expand its scope. Last week, the Transit Empowerment Fund announced it has provided its 3,000,000th bus ride via its partnership with the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. At a press conference on Tuesday, TEF Chair Janet Allen […]
Posted inTransit
Mobility plan will prioritize transit
The collaborative effort to craft a transit priority policy is being rolled into the larger Austin Strategic Mobility Plan. Last Wednesday, Austin Transportation Department staff briefed the City Council Mobility Committee on their nearly year-old charge to put together a framework to guide decisions about transit-boosting treatments such as bus lanes and queue jump signals. […]
Posted inTransportation
Council looks forward to robot car future
City Council has kicked its embrace of self-driving cars into maximum overdrive. On Thursday morning, Council approved a resolution directing the city manager to develop a plan to prepare the city for a future of shared vehicles piloted by software and powered by electricity. Council Member Ann Kitchen, the chair of the Mobility Committee and […]