As part of our ongoing effort to keep readers up to date with all that is going on at City Hall, we present our tip sheet for Austin City Council committees. As usual, we will be offering highlights of meetings, with links to entire agendas. Health and Human Services Committee Monday, Nov. 30, 1 p.m. […]
Austin City Council Mobility Committee
A City Council committee that reviews matters related to all modes of transportation.
Posted inTransportation
Cap Metro asks for more transit in spending plan
As City Council considers a plan to disperse the “quarter-cent fund” among transportation projects around the city, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority – the agency that initially contributed the funding to the city – is asking Council to prioritize more of its spending in a way that emphasizes public transit. “If those funds were general […]
Posted inTransportation
List of proposed Uber, Lyft rules gets longer
In the midst of a heated debate about requirements for fingerprint background checks and fees for transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft, the City Council Mobility Committee has tossed a slew of additional proposals into the pot. The committee recommended the Austin Transportation Department proposals to Council in front of a packed house […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: This week’s Council committees
As part of our ongoing effort to keep readers up to date with all that is going on at City Hall, we present our tip sheet for Austin City Council committees. As usual, we will be offering highlights of meetings, with links to entire agendas. Mobility Committee Monday, Nov. 16, 9 a.m. 3. Chair briefing […]
Posted inTransportation
Committee suggests new Uber, Lyft regulations
Transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft may be on the way to stricter safety regulations and higher fees based on recommendations that the City Council Mobility Committee made on Wednesday. The operating fee recommendations would establish a charge that is equivalent either to the annual fee that taxicab companies pay per license or […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Fix(at)ing (on) crazy
“You can’t fix crazy”… During a presentation about traffic fatalities at a City Council Mobility Committee meeting on Sept. 2, Council Member Don Zimmerman expressed consternation about the fact that 43 percent of the traffic fatalities that have occurred so far this year involve what the Austin Police Department identifies as “transients,” or homeless people. […]
Posted inTransportation
Google gears up for new self-driving car in Austin
Austinites who have spotted Google’s self-driving Lexus in the past couple of months will have a new rarity to keep an eye out for in the next week or so – the company’s “prototype” autonomous vehicle. Built for the task from the ground up, it sports a futuristic, if unusual, look. Following Saturday’s announcement, Jennifer […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: Austin City Council, the lowdown
This week, the Austin City Council will focus its meeting energies on a day-long budget work session on Tuesday. According to Mayor Steve Adler’s remarks Thursday, it will be at this meeting that Council will winnow down the 119 items on its “budget concept menu” in preparation for passing a budget next week. The Austin […]
Posted inRoads
Alternative to MoPac “double-deck” being studied
In the wake of public outcry against a proposal to add elevated lanes to MoPac Expressway over Lady Bird Lake and Zilker Park, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is considering an alternative that the Austin Transportation Department first put forward in May. The staff alternative cuts out a “double-deck” design and a southbound flyover […]
Posted inTransportation
Updated: City staff asks for more Uber, Lyft accountability
Uber and Lyft drivers are operating all over Austin, but there is no way, sans app, to point out their cars, and the city can’t keep track of who has signed up. Transportation Department staff, however, are hoping that will change soon. Gordon Derr, an assistant director with the department, recommended to the City Council […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: This week’s Council Committees
City Council’s July break is officially over. And, as part of our ongoing attempt to keep readers up to date with all that is going on at City Hall, we will now return to our tip sheets for City Council committees. As usual, we will be offering highlights of meetings, with links to entire agendas. […]
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 […]