City Council on Tuesday balked at hearing a lengthy update from staff on the ongoing efforts to ramp up the massive but compressed mobility bond program voters approved last November. By the time Council made it to Assistant City Manager Robert Goode’s briefing, several members had left for the day, and Mayor Steve Adler indicated […]
Transportation
Posted inTransit
Capital Metro approves Connections 2025
It’s all systems go for Connections 2025. On Monday afternoon, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of directors unanimously approved the framework that will guide the agency’s bus operations for the next decade. “This could be a watershed for Capital Metro,” Chair Wade Cooper said just before the vote. “The idea of implementing these high-frequency […]
Posted inTransportation
Now approaching: A final vote on Connections 2025
After months of delay, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors is prepared to take a final vote on the agency’s proposed five-year service plan. The board held one final work session last week to discuss Connections 2025, the framework that will guide a sweeping overhaul of the Austin region’s transit network. Originally set […]
Posted inCity Council
Survey says: Austinites dissatisfied with traffic, happy with most else
New survey findings show Austin residents are generally happier with city services such as fire, police, library, and parks and recreation than residents of similarly populated cities. But Austin falls behind the national average of satisfaction in an unsurprising category: traffic. Jason Morado, project manager of the Kansas City, Kansas-based ETC Institute, presented the report […]
Posted inTransportation
Capital Metro could get permission to bypass voter approval of MetroRail extension
State Rep. Celia Israel and state Sen. Kirk Watson have filed legislation at the Capitol that would make it much easier for the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority to expand its commuter rail service. On Friday, Israel filed House Bill 1726, which would allow the agency to build the proposed Green Line addition to MetroRail without […]
Posted inTransportation
County again parks park-and-ride proposal
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s proposed financing scheme to build up to eight new park-and-rides along its toll roads is going nowhere fast. On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court once again stopped short on a vote to direct $2.6 million to the plan. The inaction marked the third time since Dec. 20 that […]
Posted inRoads
CTRMA and TxDOT disagree, putting project in potential holding pattern
A rare spat between the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and the Texas Department of Transportation is clouding the prospects of a major project at the intersection of two separate toll roads. On Wednesday morning, CTRMA Director of Engineering Justin Word brought his board up to speed on the disagreement that could stall the construction […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin to consider extending parking meter hours downtown
If you’ve ever tried to park in downtown Austin, you’ve probably found yourself circling the streets a few times before finding a spot. The city is exploring changes to make more parking available during peak traffic time – but that could mean cutting back on free parking hours. The idea behind these proposed changes is […]
Posted inTransportation
City boosts traffic enforcement in areas with high crash rates
Austin officials are boosting roadway safety enforcement as part of the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to eliminate by 2025 car crashes that kill and severely injure people. The Austin Police Department and the Austin Transportation Department kicked off an initiative yesterday called Vision Zero in Action, which includes additional enforcement of traffic […]
Posted inTransportation
Highways and interstates a top priority for pedestrian safety plan
Austin appears to have had some early success in recovering from an all-time high in road fatalities in 2015, with 76 in 2016 compared to 102 the year prior. But reaching zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2025 remains the city’s goal, which local planners say will require analyzing huge amounts of data and implementing […]
Posted inRoads
Park-and-ride plan stalls anew at Travis County
A day after a regional park-and-ride plan took a big step forward, it once again got tripped up at the Travis County Commissioners Court. The surprise decision to again postpone a vote on a potential funding source for the proposed park-and-ride locations came after a lengthy discussion Tuesday and earned new Commissioner Jeff Travillion, who […]
Posted inRoads
CAMPO gives boost to regional park-and-ride plan
A beleaguered plan to build a pack of new park-and-rides across the Austin metropolitan area finally caught a break on Monday evening. The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization voted overwhelmingly to formally approve an agreement with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority on a collaboration to plan, pay for […]