Included in the $7.1 billion Project Connect proposal for Nov. 3 is $300 million for affordable housing and neighborhood-level displacement prevention strategies along transit corridors. On Thursday, City Council will vote on a resolution further clarifying that impacted neighborhoods are to help establish the metrics to measure the success of those displacement prevention efforts. “We’re […]
Project Connect
This project brought together a series of Central Texas transportation agencies looking to build high-capacity transit options in the region in the wake of CAMPO’s 2035 regional transportation plan. The City of Austin’s much-discussed 2014 Urban Rail plan was part of Project Connect’s efforts.
Posted inTransit
Capital Metro offers alternative investment timeline for Project Connect vision
Since June 10, when City Council endorsed the $10 billion Project Connect system, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been considering which of the transit components is most essential for an initial investment to place before voters in November. “Every city, every state starts out with a portion; it’s not built all at once,” said […]
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City, Capital Metro adopt Project Connect with justice, sustainability in mind
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors and City Council adopted the final vision for an all-electric comprehensive transit system on Wednesday. Board members and city leaders said the $9.8 billion plan, featuring three light rail lines, a new commuter rail line through Northeast Austin and seven much-improved bus routes, would be transformative for […]
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Capital Metro adds new light rail line to Project Connect recommendation
An update to regional population estimates has prompted the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority to make a major change to its proposal for Project Connect. In a memo posted Wednesday, CEO Randy Clarke and Assistant City Manager Gina Fiandaca said the more recent demographics indicate that the Gold Line, previously envisioned as a bus rapid transit […]
Posted inTransportation
Council to address transit-related displacement in anticipation of Project Connect
Amidst the uncertainty of the pandemic, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority has indefinitely deferred $7.7 million in capital projects and another $11.9 million in operating projects, yet work on Project Connect, the region’s first mass transit system, may soon continue. City Council will consider a resolution Thursday to make sure low-income residents won’t be pushed […]
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Council lands on long-term payment method for Project Connect
In capital costs alone, the city and its residents can expect to contribute around $5.6 billion for the combined pieces of Project Connect. That money will cover investments for two light rail lines, several bus rapid transit “lite” routes and expanded commuter rail, but all of those investments will require funds for operations, maintenance, repair, […]
Posted inTransportation
CAMPO 2040 plan, Stassney Lane overpass highlight common failures of multimodal projects
A recent brief from the Center for American Progress suggests the Austin region’s transportation efforts may ultimately work against its own stated priorities. Kevin DeGood, CAP’s director of Infrastructure Policy and author of the Nov. 13 brief, examined the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s 2040 Regional Transportation Plan as well as details of the Texas […]
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Project Connect Blue Line yet to be defined
In the shadow of 2014’s failed Highland-Riverside rail ballot measure, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s similarly charted Blue Line is struggling to take form. The Blue Line is one of Project Connect’s two high-capacity transit lines. If approved, it will run in some form of dedicated transitways between the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and the Austin […]
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County Transportation Blueprint: So many projects, so few dollars
Between the city’s ambitious new mobility plan and the region’s transportation vision into 2040, Travis County is now working on prioritizing its own transportation goals for the next 30 years. The Commissioners Court approved a draft of the Transportation Blueprint in November 2018. Recently, the court kicked off a more aggressive public engagement process to […]
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Getting everyone together for city’s first high-capacity transit line
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority has only just begun its initial yearlong leg of conducting preliminary engineering and studying possible modes and alignments for Project Connect’s Orange Line, the city’s first high-capacity regional transit route, but transportation officials are ready for the community to get on board. As the first of more public outreach efforts to […]
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AECOM wins Orange Line preliminary engineering contract
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority began advertising a contract for preliminary engineering design services and mode recommendations for the Project Connect 21-mile high-capacity Orange Line on Dec. 18, the day after the agency’s board of directors approved Project Connect‘s long-term vision plan. Now, after receiving three responses in January and negotiating with the most qualified firm, the […]
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CapMetro approves Project Connect vision plan
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s long-term vision plan was adopted by the agency’s board of directors Monday afternoon. As per Project Connect program manager Dave Couch, the map – an array of intersecting and parallel lines of various colors and styles – is the result of a decision made two years ago to study the transportation […]