The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority issued a notice of default Thursday to CH2M Hill – the contractor that has been working on the MoPac Improvement Project – over delays that have caused work to continue far beyond the $200 million project’s original September completion date. “This is part of our contractual discussions and construction […]
Transportation
Posted inTransportation
Council debates concerns about “ward politics”
Inspired by a vote set for today on how to spend the $21.8 million in transportation dollars remaining in the “quarter-cent fund,” City Council debated at a Tuesday work session about whether the proposed approach sets a precedent that could lead to a system in which funds are often divided up evenly among districts. “I […]
Posted inTransit, Transportation
Cap Metro rolls out downtown MetroRail station plans
Capital Metro has scaled down its ambitions for a permanent MetroRail station in downtown Austin. The transit agency showed off at a public meeting on Friday its preferred concept for the station, a much more conventional rendering compared to the swooping modernist proposals floated last year. Also missing is the grand appellation by which the […]
Posted inTransportation
MoPac South public comment results pour in
Comments from the MoPac South public input period and open house are being tallied, and based on their projected volume, the proposal appears to have galvanized the community. The City Council Mobility Committee discussed the project and preliminary results on Monday with its sponsor – the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority – and public speakers. […]
Posted inTransportation
Cap Metro asks for more transit in spending plan
As City Council considers a plan to disperse the “quarter-cent fund” among transportation projects around the city, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority – the agency that initially contributed the funding to the city – is asking Council to prioritize more of its spending in a way that emphasizes public transit. “If those funds were general […]
Posted inTransportation
List of proposed Uber, Lyft rules gets longer
In the midst of a heated debate about requirements for fingerprint background checks and fees for transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft, the City Council Mobility Committee has tossed a slew of additional proposals into the pot. The committee recommended the Austin Transportation Department proposals to Council in front of a packed house […]
Posted inRoads
Austinites sound off on MoPac South
Austin-area elected officials, advocates and community members gathered at Austin High School on Monday for a forum on the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s proposed MoPac South tolled expansion. The event revealed a general dissatisfaction and frustration with the available options. “The best of these proposals don’t provide a direct benefit to Austin High or […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin hosts mobility conference, former official
Hundreds gathered in and around Brazos Hall in downtown Austin on Thursday to hear what former New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan had to say about the future of transportation planning in cities across the world, including Austin. “I think we’re in this really important moment, this sort of urban revolution,” Sadik-Khan […]
Posted inTransit, Transportation
Project Connect lives
Several months after a catastrophic hack forced Capital Metro officials to yank it offline, Project Connect’s website is back in action. It’s not clear exactly when officials turned ProjectConnect.com back on. A check as recently as Oct. 7 by a member of the Austin Monitor team yielded an error message. However, the site is undeniably […]
Posted inTransportation
Mobility authority unveils MoPac South options
MoPac South is back on the public radar, except now community members have several flavors of the proposed highway expansion to choose from as they submit input over the next month. Responding to a call from residents and elected officials for more options, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority unveiled six possible configurations online Wednesday […]
Posted inBicycles, Transportation
Regional bicycle, pedestrian projects get funding
As Austin and Central Texas grow and become more congested, city and regional leaders are looking at bicycle and pedestrian projects as ways to cut down on traffic. On Oct. 12, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Board took a step in that direction by approving federal funding for almost a dozen such […]
Posted inTransportation
Council initiates fingerprint background check requirements, fees for Uber, Lyft
City Council took a step toward requiring drivers for Uber, Lyft and similar companies to undergo fingerprint background checks on Thursday. It also initiated a process that would require such firms, known as transportation network companies, or TNCs, to pay an annual operating fee to the city, part of which would go toward road maintenance. […]