We make news… Capital Metro Transportation Authority’s Twitter account went off the rails last week after an apparent security breach led to a decidedly non-family-friendly detour. Shortly after 11 a.m. on Thursday, Community Impact’s eagle-eyed reporter Jennifer Curington noticed that @CapMetroATX had quietly started following scores of adult-oriented profiles, including porn stars, adult film production […]
Capital Metro
The city’s urban transportation system.
Posted inTransit
Cap Metro delays hiring service plan consultant
After hearing conflicting advice on which firm to choose, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors voted unanimously Monday to postpone selecting a consultant to head up the development of the organization’s 10-year service plan. The board will take up the issue again at a meeting on Sept. 14. The plan, which is updated […]
Posted inPreservation
Pine Street Station may not be stationary for long
East Austin’s Pine Street Station may soon be on the move, with the unanimous approval of the Historic Landmark Commission. In what Historic Preservation Officer Steve Sadowsky called “an extremely unusual situation,” historic zoning was extended to the building earlier this year but not to the land that it sits on. The Capital Metropolitan Transit […]
Posted inBicycles, Transit, Transportation
Capital Metro to consider bikes on last-ride buses
The Bicycle Advisory Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution asking Capital Metro to consider allowing bicycles on city buses for the final ride of the night. This would allow a bus with a full bike rack to still accept those riders carrying home bicycles. While some members and attendees called for bikes on buses […]
Posted inTransit
CapMetro introduces FY 2016 budget
The Capital Metro Transportation Authority’s sales tax revenue stream is expected to reach historic heights in Fiscal Year 2016, which is a plus since the entity’s services are also slated for a hefty expansion as well. On Monday, Chief Financial Officer Leslie Browder unveiled CapMetro’s proposed FY 2016 budget to board members at the Operations […]
Posted inTransportation
City transit heads and private innovators share MobilityATX stage
A bunch of men, and one woman, gathered Tuesday night in the new Google Fiber building downtown to discuss Austin’s transportation future. With Mayor Steve Adler, Capital Metro President and CEO Linda Watson and transportation app RideScout CEO Joseph Kopser fielding most of the questions from audience members and the moderator, the night’s conversation circled […]
Posted inCity Council
Council to disperse quarter-cent fund “equitably”
On Thursday, City Council took the first step in a plan to disperse the $21.8 million remaining in the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Quarter-Cent Fund “equitably across all Council districts” for transportation and mobility improvement projects. In a resolution, Council directed Transportation Department and Public Works Department staff to work with each Council member and […]
Posted inTransit
CapMetro committee reviews split contracts
Capital Metro’s Operations, Planning and Safety Committee reviewed two major, multimillion-dollar contracts Monday for area rail lines that could increase revenue for the transportation entity. Melvin Clark, vice president of rail operations, said his staff reconfigured contractors’ responsibilities this year and sliced one contract into two. Instead of a single contractor overseeing operations and maintenance for […]
Posted inAustin
Split extra quarter-cent fund among districts, committee says
Deciding how to use leftover funds can be a challenge, but the City Council Mobility Committee came quickly to a consensus Wednesday to recommend that about $21.8 million of available transportation improvement funds be distributed equally among the city’s 10 districts. The money in question is the balance of the quarter-cent fund, which consists of […]
Posted inTransit
CapMetro awards $256 million contract
The Capital Metro board of trustees decided at its regular meeting to swap service contractors for a portion of its bus routes Wednesday, despite employee concerns. Board members unanimously approved a $256 million contract with Dallas-based MV Transportation that could potentially stretch to nine years. Starting Sept. 31, the new company will oversee the operation […]
Posted inRoads, Transportation
Website hack shines light on Project Connect
Project Connect, the grand vision for high-capacity transit in Central Texas, has spent a good chunk of 2015 completely out of sight. However, a top Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority official assured the Austin Monitor on Thursday that it’s just temporarily lying fallow after its roads-and-rail bond referendum went off the tracks in November. Todd Hemingson, Capital Metro’s […]
Posted inTransportation
CapMetro seeks new Pine Street Station owner
Members of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted Monday to speed up the search for a new owner for Pine Street Station. The board waived the two mandatory 30-day periods during which the agency has to make the item it is trying to sell — be it a bus, a computer or, in this case, […]