The Dec. 17 Capital Metro Board of Directors vote on the Project Connect vision plan is quickly approaching. Austin residents are being asked by the transportation agency and City Council representatives to take the time this holiday season to attend and participate in community conversations regarding their specific transportation needs. As new public discussion dates […]
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 inTransportation
Solving regional affordability problems will require addressing transportation costs
Decreasing affordability in Austin and the surrounding area is primarily tied to a shortage of housing options coupled with rising property taxes. But the region’s lack of transportation options is the source of another significant, though less recognized, financial burden on residents. That was the message from Dave Couch, the Project Connect program manager, as […]
Posted inTransit
New Project Connect plan has ambitions for 2020
Once again, Austin has been reminded of the importance of public transportation, in photos that surfaced this week of the Crystal City metro system that sits right beneath the Amazon headquarters in Crystal City, Va. “As we plan and plan again, our peer systems are investing,” Scott Morris of the Central Austin Community Development Corporation […]
Posted inTransit
Cap Metro: Key to high-capacity transit is dedicated right of way
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is still a few months away from announcing what modes of transportation it plans to propose for Project Connect, the long-term plan to bring high-capacity public transit to the Austin metropolitan area. Potential solutions include light rail, bus rapid transit, a dramatic expansion of existing MetroRapid bus service, or even […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Mobility Committee doesn’t not want Council to add Project Connect to November bond
After some brief dais drama on Tuesday, City Council’s Mobility Committee unanimously endorsed the idea of at least talking about putting $15 million in Project Connect seed money on the November ballot. The 4-0 vote nudged forward a request made by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors last month aimed at funding preliminary […]
Posted inTransit
Project Connect’s big hopes hinge on small investment
Project Connect’s path to an estimated $8 billion worth of high-capacity transit investments could be washed out if City Council and Austin voters don’t greenlight a $15 million installment this year, according to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s director of long range planning. Javier Arguello told the Urban Transportation Commission on Monday night that the […]
Posted inTransit
Green Line creeps forward at Commissioners Court
The Travis County Commissioners Court voted in a split decision on Tuesday to initiate a study of potential financing options for the proposed commuter rail line between Austin and Manor known as the Green Line. The move marks a small victory for the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority whose Project Connect initiative includes the Green Line […]
Posted inTransit
Project Connect’s new system map remains mode agnostic
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday officially debuted Project Connect’s latest draft system map, a plan that charts a regional network of potential high-capacity transit investments. A series of multicolored lines trace major corridors, both established and developing, that converge on downtown from a variety of locations on the outskirts of the city. “This […]
Posted inTransit
Project Connect draft plan makes premature debut
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube after a draft version of its proposed Project Connect system plan found its way online Monday evening. The plan, which features an ambitious combination of light rail, bus rapid transit, regional commuter rail, and possibly even a downtown streetcar, was […]
Posted inPlanning
Planning Commission takes on transit and CodeNEXT
Two of the great planning processes of Austin’s current age came together under one roof on Wednesday night as the Planning Commission talked both CodeNEXT and Project Connect with the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Todd Hemingson, Capital Metro’s vice president for strategic planning and development, used the opportunity to make the case for more transit-supportive […]
Posted inTransportation
Guadalupe plan no roadblock for Project Connect
The city’s newly published Guadalupe Corridor Plan unsurprisingly turned heads when the Austin Transportation Department published it on Tuesday. Any plan that recommends the elimination of on-street parking and conversion of general purpose lanes into transit-priority lanes can be reliably counted upon to draw swift reaction from car-friendly quarters, including no less a person than […]
Posted inTransit
Transit priority is a top priority for Project Connect
Project Connect is doomed unless the city hands over dedicated right of way. That was the message relayed by Javier Arguello, long range planning director for the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to the city’s Urban Transportation Commission on Tuesday night. Arguello told the body that the high-capacity transit investments Project Connect is ultimately trying to […]