State Sen. Kirk Watson will reveal several ambitious proposals for infrastructure investments in Interstate 35 on Thursday, and none of them involve asking Austin voters for permission this November. Watson, former mayor of Austin, is set to deliver his suite of ideas at a Downtown Austin Alliance-sponsored luncheon at a hotel on the south shore […]
Transportation
Posted inTransportation
Local tech creators unveil nonprofit ride-hailing app
Standing atop the same stage where men and women perform bawdy pranks as part of adult entertainment-themed bingo every Tuesday at the Alamo Drafthouse’s Highball, local tech leader Joe Liemandt added another ride-hailing company to the list of those scrambling to fill the roads in the absence of Uber and Lyft. This one is called […]
Posted inTransportation
At City Hall, tempers flare over TNC resolution
City Council has formally taken steps to accelerate the expansion of ride-hailing options in order to fill the chasm created by Uber and Lyft’s abrupt departure earlier this month. Thursday’s discussion on the dais was just the latest entry in a months-old political soap opera, and this time the dramatic twist was a rare flash […]
Posted inTransportation
Gentrification, confusion and meddling: How a commission makes sausage
Austin’s Bond Oversight Commission on Wednesday morning stuck the landing in its second attempt to boost hundreds of millions of dollars for pedestrian, bicycle and transit infrastructure. In an 8-1 vote, the commission passed a resolution recommending that City Council explore a potential November bond proposition that would fully fund the city’s highest-priority sidewalk needs, […]
Posted inTransit
Capital Metro previews Connections 2025 survey
After months of consultant-driven introspection, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is on the verge of revealing new insights that could result in big changes along the agency’s service network. It’s all part of the Connections 2025 process, the yearlong study that will lead up to the recommendation of a new five-year service plan, likely to be […]
Posted inTransportation
Some confusion at Austin’s first ride-hailing driver fair
Former full-time Uber and Lyft driver Kurt Wagenman showed up to Austin’s first transportation network company (TNC) driver fair on Tuesday with a misleading email in his inbox. “As the city has mentioned, (fingerprinting) will be free for now,” read Wagenman aloud from an email signed by ride-hailing company Get Me’s Austin city manager, Patricio […]
Posted inTransit
Commission adds weight to light rail efforts
The Urban Transportation Commission has once again given a boost to advocates for light rail in Austin. At its meeting last week, the commission voted unanimously to recommend that City Council consider putting bonds for “rail options” on the November ballot. Recognizing that there is a “vocal and organized group of people” advocating for light […]
Posted inTransportation
To end traffic fatalities, Austin says it takes engineering, enforcement, education … and you
Francis Reilly is unique for an Austinite: He doesn’t have a car. He often rides his bike, but these days he mostly depends on the bus. To explain why, he met me at the intersection of Wallis and Rollingwood drives in Austin’s Rollingwood neighborhood west of MoPac. “This is where I was hit by a […]
Posted inTransportation
Why driver distraction is a persistent problem that defies easy solutions
On Jan. 13, 2015, at about 9:30 p.m., 23-year-old James Robison was driving his motorcycle on Riverside Drive toward downtown. On the other side of the road, the driver of a Ford Focus had just gotten to Austin from Killeen. He and his passenger had come down to help a friend shoot a music video. […]
Posted inTransportation
In Austin, traffic safety improvements come to those who ask
Traffic fatalities are down nationwide, but new research shows those declines are mostly among highly educated people. For those who have less than a high school diploma, the rate of death in a car crash has actually increased. That doesn’t mean you’re a better driver if you have a college degree, but rather that the […]
Posted inTransportation
CAMPO wants to get fiscal with Williamson County
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is breaking up with the city of Austin in the hopes of a better future with Williamson County. CAMPO’s Transportation Policy Board voted unanimously on Monday to enter into a fiscal agent agreement with Williamson, thus ending a relationship the transportation agency has had with the city since the […]
Posted inTransportation
City ponders giant increase in sidewalk investments
Now that Uber and Lyft have driven over the horizon, some are looking to their feet for transportation options. At the moment, the odds are good that those feet may be standing on broken or incomplete sidewalks. But if the Austin Public Works Department has its way, that could change, slowly. In line with that […]