The largest overhaul of Austin’s bus network in recent memory is about to go before the court of public opinion. Next week, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority will hold three feedback sessions to hear residents’ opinions on proposed service changes that are set to take effect next June. The changes represent the most sweeping element […]
Transit
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Capital Metro: No stopgap plan for fill-in-the-gap stops
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is taking a slow approach to the eight pairs of stations destined to fill in key gaps along its two MetroRapid routes. “The long story short is we expect to have them in service by this time next year,” Ken Cartwright, vice president of capital projects, told the Austin Monitor […]
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Capital Metro greenlights millions more for MetroRail
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority will spend $65.7 million to install federally mandated safety upgrades along its commuter rail line. The agency’s board of directors voted unanimously on Monday to hire Modern Railway Systems to augment the 32-mile Red Line with a positive train control system. Capital Metro President and CEO Linda Watson told the […]
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Capital Metro arrives in Round Rock
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority has extended its service to another Austin suburb. On Thursday, representatives from Capital Metro, Williamson County, Austin Community College and the city of Round Rock gathered in that community to officially cut the ribbon on four new bus routes that will expand access for its residents. “It’s another new day […]
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TxDOT document reveals limp projections for I-35 bus plan
The Texas Department of Transportation has projected less than stellar ridership numbers for a proposed enhanced bus line on I-35, but a top Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority official says he isn’t losing any sleep over it. On Wednesday, Capital Metro Vice President of Strategic Planning and Development Todd Hemingson unloaded on the prediction that the […]
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Capital Metro to lose its head
Linda Watson, the president and chief executive officer of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, will step down at the end of 2017. The agency made the announcement through a press release sent out just before 5 p.m. on Monday, just hours after the board of directors wrapped up its monthly meeting by awarding Watson with […]
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Project Connect advances despite lingering concerns over key details
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors on Monday gave its blessing to the handful of staff-curated corridors that will be studied for potential high-capacity transit investments. The 6-0 vote, with Council Member Delia Garza and fellow Board Member Terry Mitchell absent from the meeting, provided Project Connect with clearance to advance to the second […]
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Travis County looks to get into the transit game
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority could soon expand its transit operations into unincorporated parts of the county thanks to a vote at the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday. The court’s unanimous decision to begin crafting a transit development plan is the latest in a flurry of interlocal agreements between Capital Metro and other jurisdictions […]
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Capital Metro’s Downtown Station plans inch forward
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors moved forward on Monday with plans to rebuild the downtown MetroRail station, but the long-planned project still has to clear several more hurdles until the shovels hit the ground. At its monthly meeting, the board unanimously voted to give CEO Linda Watson permission to execute an interlocal […]
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Project Connect goes citywide
Three years after a proposal to lay 9.5 miles of light rail across a sliver of Austin went down in flames, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority planners are broadening their horizons. On Friday, the agency’s board of directors heard the preliminary results of the first phase of the rebooted Project Connect effort, findings that revealed a citywide […]
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Council approves ‘Smart Trips’ transit outreach
City Council voted Thursday to approve a contract with a Portland-based company to operate the “Smart Trips” program, which aims to get more people in the urban core to opt for public transit, bikes and walking over driving. Before voting to pay Alta Planning & Design $600,000 (half of which comes from the Capital Metropolitan […]
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Renewed Project Connect closes in on milestone
The brain trust behind Project Connect will reveal which specific corridors have made the cut to advance to the next round of high-capacity transit planning on Friday. Last Wednesday, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Long Range Planning Director Javier Arguello told the City Council Mobility Committee that his team will present to members of the Capital […]