With their eyes on a possible transportation bond election in November, City Council members on Thursday kicked off a process for determining which items the public will be asked to weigh in on this fall. A number of the usual suspects were on hand – including members of the Urban Transportation Commission as well as […]
Transportation
Posted inRoads
CAMPO board approves sizable cost increase for 183
The cost of a large expansion of U.S. Highway 183 in Northwest Austin officially nearly tripled on Monday night. At its monthly meeting, the Transportation Policy Board of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization voted to amend its long-range plan to increase the price of the 183 North Mobility Project from $225.7 million to $650 […]
Posted inTransportation
Adler unveils new TNC proposal
Mayor Steve Adler on Sunday revealed that he has been working with a representative of Lyft, one of the transportation network companies that has been backing an initiative on the May 7 ballot to prevent the city from enforcing mandatory fingerprinting for TNC drivers. Adler said he has been discussing with attorney Michael Whellan, who […]
Posted inTransportation
City proposes campaign to reduce traffic deaths
If there’s anybody in Austin who doesn’t think that traffic deaths are a major problem, their views were conspicuously absent from a hearing on road fatalities held by City Council’s Mobility Committee last week. Indeed, members of the committee, city staffers and advocates all emphasized the work the city needs to do to reduce car-related […]
Posted inRoads, Transit, Transportation
Mobility Committee considers options for transportation bond
Every member of City Council, including Mayor Steve Adler, turned up Wednesday afternoon for a discussion held by the Mobility Committee on a potential transportation bond election. They heard a slate of possibilities for action on a potential transportation bond, including one that could culminate in a 2016 ballot question. Robert Goode, assistant city manager […]
Posted inTransportation
Council to discuss incentives for fingerprint requirements
City Council members are poised to kick the transportation network company ordinance down the road. On Thursday, Mayor Steve Adler will ask Council to stall strengthening an ordinance passed in December and, instead, adopt his and Council Member Ann Kitchen’s new proposal, which is meant to nudge all ground transportation providers into submitting to a fingerprint-based federal background […]
Posted inTransit
Cap Metro board greenlights central corridor study
Project Connect is returning to Central Austin. The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors unanimously approved on Monday a contract with the engineering firm AECOM to guide a new study of transportation in the urban core dubbed the Central Corridor Comprehensive Transit Analysis, or CCCTA. The eight-member board voted 7-0 on the measure, after […]
Posted inMonitor News & Media, Radio, Roads, Transportation
Austin Monitor Radio: ATD’s Jim Dale
The Austin Transportation Department’s Jim Dale joins Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to talk about the junction of technology, transit, and road planning. Austin Monitor Radio is brought to you by Austin Water. Program is embedded below: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/243541326″ 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 inAustin, City Council, Transportation, Uncategorized
Little clarity in TNC debate
Where there was once a clear path for City Council to revise rules for transportation network companies, there is now a plethora of possibilities. Council voted last month to require fingerprinting background checks of TNC drivers, and it is set to lay out a system of incentives and disincentives for the companies at its next meeting, Jan. […]
Posted inTransit, Transportation
Cap Metro CEO: Austin “not ready” for light rail
The head of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Tuesday put a wet sponge on the feverish hopes that light rail transit in Austin could become a reality sooner rather than later. “I probably echo what I’ve read (Mayor Steve Adler) has said about it recently: that we’re gonna grow to the point where it’s […]
Posted inTransportation
County takes aim at CTRMA leadership
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, who kicked off the new year in part by calling for a change of priorities at the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, will soon get a shot at shaking up the leadership at the agency. During a work session scheduled for next week, the Commissioners Court will interview three applicants […]
Posted inTransportation
Council sets background check penalties for TNCs
The battle over fingerprint background checks for transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft has taken a turn that may ultimately result in the two companies pausing operations in Austin. City Council passed an ordinance on all three readings that “sets benchmarks that work towards a goal of fingerprinting for all drivers and disincentives […]