At Monday’s meeting of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, a quorum of transit board members, Travis County commissioners and City Council members discussed Federal Transit Administration 5310 Project Call funding, which is primarily intended for projects that increase accessibility and service for seniors and those with disabilities. CAMPO intends to allocate $2.1 million to Capital […]
Transit
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Government leaders delay key vote on roles around multibillion-dollar Project Connect transit expansion
Three layers of government scheduled to approve a crucial document for the city’s $7.1 billion expansion of public transit have delayed the vote to another day, because the meeting went too long. Austin City Council along with the governing boards of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Austin Transit Partnership – a local government corporation created […]
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Leaders to cement Austin’s multibillion-dollar transit rollout amid concerns from local advocates
Almost one year after Austin voters authorized the $7.1 billion expansion of public transit known as Project Connect, three layers of local government are scheduled today to finalize details of how the massive buildout of transportation infrastructure should be developed. The formalization of roles and responsibilities, described in bureaucratic terms as a joint powers agreement, or JPA, […]
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Cap Metro board endorses $50M contract for MetroRapid projects
On Monday, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors approved a resolution authorizing the execution of a five-year, $50 million group of construction contracts for transit facilities. Part of Project Connect, the primary goal of these particular contracts is to facilitate MetroRapid construction projects. The funding comes from the Capital Metro Five-Year Capital Improvement […]
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How Capital Metro is able to offer free rides
Last month, Capital Metro announced that for the month of October, it would waive all bus and train fares as a way to encourage people to use public transit and to ease recent service interruptions. The decision to waive fees isn’t exactly new for Capital Metro. The agency will provide free rides for things like […]
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Council seeks clarity ahead of end-of-month transportation vote
During a joint meeting of Austin City Council and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors, members questioned Capital Metro staff on several issues, ranging from additional public input opportunities to language in a proposed ordinance that could potentially waive regulations for transit developments. Council Member Ann Kitchen called for additional meetings for community […]
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Project Connect panel looks at planning, equity concerns attached to transit system
With the city and county moving forward on the assortment of transit and community development projects included in Project Connect, leaders involved want community members to realize the many other public and private interests that play into the multibillion-dollar effort. The local real estate and development community that gathered for a recent Urban Land Institute […]
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Capital Metro’s driver shortage continues
At Monday’s meeting of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors, members discussed the transit agency’s critical scarcity of bus drivers. “As this board has been previously briefed, we are experiencing a significant shortage of bus operators,” said Dottie Watkins, who is in charge of customer experience at Capital Metro. “Our staffing shortage is […]
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Capital Metro board votes to establish transit police force
The board governing the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted overwhelmingly Monday to move forward with establishing a transit police department. The process is expected to take more than 18 months and will include outreach to skeptical members of the public. The proposal faces opposition from community groups concerned about excessive policing. The local chapter of […]
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Cap Metro unveils funding forecast for next five years
On Wednesday, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors took a long look at the upcoming fiscal year, from the projected costs of Project Connect’s rail lines to expanded bus routes and their associated infrastructural costs. Over the next five years, all capital projects are expected to cost $806 million, with the primary cost […]
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Mobility Committee hears displacement concerns
At the Mobility Committee meeting on Friday, City Council members fielded discussion about both Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Project Connect and the Texas Department of Transportation’s involvement in the Interstate 35 expansion plan. Meanwhile, community members calling in to the committee expressed their concerns about the two plans’ potential to displace low-income residents living adjacent […]
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Underground light-rail tunnel could be more than a mile longer than expected
Austin’s multibillion-dollar transit expansion will require extending an underground light-rail tunnel from Auditorium Shores to as far south as Lively Middle School on South Congress Avenue. The change could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but transit planners vow to work it into the budget Austin voters authorized in November when they agreed to a tax increase of 8.75 […]