The University of Texas isn’t the only institution of higher education whose students are turning cold on public transit. On Monday, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors learned that a partnership with Austin Community College has seen dwindling fortunes since its launch at the beginning of the decade. Since the spring of 2011, […]
Capital Metro
The city’s urban transportation system.
Posted inTransit
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 […]
Posted inTransportation
At Capital Metro’s Traffic Jam, Adler brings the noise
Mayor Steve Adler’s plan for the next big transportation funding package is a new way forward indeed. On Wednesday night, at a large public engagement event meant to highlight the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s ongoing Project Connect process, Adler suggested that the plan would dwarf the historic $720 million package that voters approved last year. […]
Posted inTransportation
TxDOT pressures Capital Metro to act fast on I-35 transit
Time is running out for the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority to decide whether it will commit millions toward a vision that could bring dedicated transit infrastructure to I-35. At a board of directors work session on Tuesday, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Development Todd Hemingson reported that the Texas Department of Transportation’s timeline for […]
Posted inTransportation
Capital Metro could get into the ‘smart city’ game
Austin’s transit agency is working toward a pilot project that would use wireless technology to complement its bus service and bolster multimodal options in downtown. Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chief Information Officer Joe Iannello confirmed to the Austin Monitor recently that the agency is in talks with a group of private firms and one nonprofit […]
Posted inDevelopment
Updated: Plaza Saltillo development finally breaks ground
A giant empty field east of downtown Austin has at long last commenced its transformation into hundreds of apartments and thousands of square feet of office, retail and restaurant space. On Tuesday, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority President and CEO Linda Watson presided over the official groundbreaking on the agency’s 10-acre Plaza Saltillo tract. Scores of […]
Posted inTransit
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 […]
Posted inTransit
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 […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Conspiracies
Think before you speak… As we reported, last week’s final meeting of the Visitor Impact Task Force was a marathon affair. After nearly six months of meetings, the group kicked off the final round of bargaining over the details of a potential Austin Convention Center expansion with rumors swirling that the final confab could last […]
Posted inTransportation
Updated: City dives into corridor studies with southern region sessions
Austin’s Transportation Department is moving ahead with efforts to determine what should be done with the $482 million in corridor improvements voters approved last fall as part of the $720 million mobility bond. Thus far the department has completed six corridor mobility reports, with a seventh nearly finished with two more in South Austin just […]
Posted inTransit
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 […]
Posted inTransit
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 […]