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Most Popular Stories
- How Trump’s federal funding freeze is beginning to affect Austin
- APD won’t enforce SB 14 as Paxton and Trump further attack gender-affirming health care
- After shutting off mental health care for Austin musicians, SIMS Foundation restarts services
- Council approves call for better coordination, planning among downtown projects
- Austin ISD announces hiring freeze as budget deficit grows to $110 million
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- Council Member Mike Siegel will speak out against cuts to federal services
- City manager hosts community meetings on next year’s budget
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- RRCD names Klepadlo as executive director
- Zero Waste Advisory Commission adds own ‘no’ rec on merge with RMC
Transit
It's official: Cap Metro chooses Dottie Watkins as new president and CEO
A bus driver who rose through the ranks of Capital Metro over three decades has now taken the top job at the transit agency. The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors voted unanimously Monday to hire Dorothy “Dottie” Watkins…
Transit • By Nathan Bernier, KUT • Jan 31, 2023
Cap Metro set to choose Dottie Watkins as new president and CEO
A bus driver who rose through the ranks of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority over three decades is now poised to take the top job at the transit agency. Dorothy “Dottie” Watkins started driving buses in 1994 when she was…
Transit • By Nathan Bernier, KUT • Jan 30, 2023
CapMetro police force coming to North Austin office park
Capital Metro has secured the location of its first police department headquarters – a nondescript building in a North Austin office park – and is ready to spend millions on rent and renovations to expand the transit agency’s mission into…
Transit • By Nathan Bernier, KUT • Dec 19, 2022
Council passes transparency changes to transit partnership board
Last week, City Council voted to recommend changes to the Austin Transit Partnership Board of Directors that would add two additional seats to the five-member board and establish transparency standards for their appointments. The resolution directs the city manager to…
Transit • By Nina Hernandez • Dec 13, 2022
Light-rail tunnel under downtown Austin might not happen after all
Some or all of Austin’s light-rail system could be at street level downtown instead of underground, which was the vision sold to voters when they authorized Project Connect in November 2020. The Austin Transit Partnership, a local government corporation created to build the Orange and Blue…
Transit • By Nathan Bernier, KUT • Nov 17, 2022
Broken buses slow Capital Metro schedules
Capital Metro bus commuters, already coping with reduced schedules put in place last year, are this week facing further frustrations as they try to catch a bus. The regional transit agency says a shortage of bus parts is keeping a…
Transit • By Nathan Bernier, KUT • Nov 2, 2022
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City aims to get out of its own way with 'fast-track' permitting for Project Connect rail lines
An ordinance aimed at streamlining permitting for Project Connect has been making its way through boards and commissions in recent weeks – the latest sign of progress toward new rail and bus lines approved by voters in 2020. On Tuesday,…
Transit • By Jonathan Lee • Oct 24, 2022
Cap Metro previews impact of Manor and Lago Vista leaving service area
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors learned more this week about the potential fallout of both Lago Vista and Manor ending their partnerships and leaving the Capital Metro service area. In August, both suburbs decided to hold elections…
Transit • By Nina Hernandez • Sep 28, 2022
Two more Texas towns are considering leaving Capital Metro
Two more Austin suburbs – Lago Vista and Manor – have decided to hold an election this November to determine whether to pull out of their partnerships with the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. These elections follow Leander’s vote in May,…
Transit • By Samuel Stark • Sep 1, 2022
Real estate, transit leaders see potential for change in Project Connect plans
As planning and early design work on the Project Connect mass transit plan moves forward, with cost increases mounting due to inflation and scope expansion, a Dallas developer told Austin real estate leaders recently that the city has an opportunity…
Transit • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 1, 2022
Advocates continue the fight for free transportation for Austin's unhoused
The start of Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s monthly board of directors meeting yesterday had a different feel than usual. Typically, a few speakers may approach the podium to speak in support of or against an item on the agenda. Yesterday, however, advocates and…
Transit • By Samuel Stark • Aug 30, 2022
Cap Metro struggles to recruit and retain more bus operators
Late last year, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority raised the starting hourly wage for bus drivers to $22/hour and kicked in a $5,000 signing bonus for qualified candidates with a commercial driver’s license. But despite these perks, the transit organization is…
