The newest member of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors on Tuesday expressed his concern for transit-dependent residents who have been pushed out of Central Austin, a sentiment that could spell trouble ahead for the transit agency’s planned realignment of its fixed route network. In a one-on-one chat, Travis County Commissioner Jeff Travillion […]
Capital Metro
The city’s urban transportation system.
Posted inBudget
Capital Metro board approves new budget
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority will cruise through its next fiscal year with a budget of $419 million. The agency’s board of directors approved that budget with a unanimous vote – minus an absent Board Member Terry Mitchell – during its regular monthly meeting on Friday. The new budget reflects the tenuous position the agency […]
Posted inAustin
Updated: Racially tinged comments spark controversy for Capital Metro’s vice chair
Update: Beverly Silas, vice chair of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors told the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday morning that she is resigning. “I most humbly apologize to the community, to you the Travis County Commissioners Court, to the Capital Metro board, and to the entire Capital Metro organization for my […]
Posted inTransit
Capital Metro takes its bus network realignment to the riders
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 […]
Posted inTransit
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 […]
Posted inBicycles
One small trail for North Austin, one giant loop for the whole city
Last year, Mayor Steve Adler declared in his State of the City address that great cities do big things, a message that the Shoal Creek Conservancy apparently took to heart. On Wednesday evening at a community workshop in Central Austin, the group officially debuted its vision for the Big Loop, a 30-mile circular system of […]
Posted inTransportation
Group keeps gondola hopes alive
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s firm disinterest in aerial gondolas is not discouraging one group from working toward a vision of cable car transit in Austin. John McCready of Look Up Austin told the Austin Monitor last week that he has plans in the works to publicly push the concept popularized by designer Jared Ficklin, […]
Posted inTransit
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 […]
Posted inTransit
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 […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Field trips and missteps
Why extend the deadline when you can eliminate it?… During a budget work session on Wednesday morning, Council Member Ora Houston asked whether the deadline for submitting items to the budget concept menu was Tuesday night or Wednesday night. Don’t worry, she was assured, she still had until midnight to submit items. What followed was […]
Posted inRadio
Austin Monitor Radio: Capital Metro’s Todd Hemingson
This week, Todd Hemingson, Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority’s vice president of strategic planning and development, joins freelance Austin Monitor reporter Caleb Pritchard to talk transit – specifically Project Connect and a plan to put dedicated transit infrastructure on I-35, with a brief interlude to scoff at gondolas. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/337741984″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /] The […]
Posted inTransit
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 […]