Downtown parking may have just gotten a bit easier, thanks to a public-private partnership aimed at downtown service industry workers. The city of Austin and the Downtown Austin Alliance announced yesterday that, after a partnership with Premier Parking, the Affordable Parking Program is now 2,000 spaces bigger. It’s the second expansion this year, and the […]
Transportation Department
This city department is responsible for municipal transportation planning including roadways and bikeways.
Posted inTransportation
Austin hopes deregulation will save taxi companies
Austin’s City Council on Thursday approved a radical change in the city’s taxicab regulations that the Transportation Department drew up in the hopes of saving the industry. The most important of the changes is the deregulation of fares. That means each individual taxicab company will be able to determine the rates for its fleet, and […]
Posted inRoads
‘Speed cushions’ hit Health and Human Services Committee
Though the program that brings new speed cushions to Austin is currently in a holding pattern, the City Council Health and Human Services Committee received an update regarding traffic calming devices at its meeting last Wednesday afternoon. Chair Ora Houston said the need for the such a discussion arose after several people testified at Council […]
Posted inTransportation
Urban Transportation Commission endorses paid parking near Deep Eddy Pool
The Urban Transportation Commission on Tuesday night got behind a proposal to add parking meters to streets on the north shore of Lady Bird Lake near Austin High School. The plan would create a parking management district stretching from Deep Eddy Pool to Lamar Boulevard. If City Council ultimately approves it, nearly 300 currently free […]
Posted inTransit
Local group launches effort to enhance statewide transit funding
The launch of a grass-roots campaign to expand transit funding across Texas kicked off in Austin Wednesday night with input from regional officials and activists, and, from the audience, some impromptu criticism of the local bus service. Dubbed One Thousand Texans for Transit, the campaign is driven by the nonprofit organization Farm&City. “We have a […]
Posted inBicycles
Solution for Shoal Creek landslide coming soon
City engineers are getting closer to figuring out how to fix a catastrophic landslide that knocked out a portion of the Shoal Creek Trail earlier this month. “By the end of next week, we’re probably going to have an idea of what a solution is going to look like,” Mike Kelly, managing engineer with the […]
Posted inTransportation
Two years after Vision Zero, when will Austin streets be safer for pedestrians?
Before he was killed, 14-year-old Alexei Bauereis had quit the backyard stunts like jumping from trees onto roofs and downhill skateboarding that defined his childhood. He was saving his legs for ballet. “Dance was so important to him,” said Eric Bauereis, Alexei’s dad. Just past 10 p.m. on June 7, 2016, a driver hit and […]
Posted inTransportation
Transportation Department revises sweeping taxi recommendations
The Austin Transportation Department staff has scaled back a set of draft recommendations aimed at saving the city’s flagging taxi franchises. On Tuesday evening, Acting Mobility Services Division Manager Jacob Culberson revealed to the Urban Transportation Commission a revised version of the proposals he initially debuted during the UTC’s Feb. 13 meeting. “Some of our […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Is CodeNEXT spreading?
Contagion… Is the trauma of CodeNEXT spreading to other Central Texas cities? That’s the horrific question at least one Sunset Valley resident must have asked herself when she opened her mailbox recently. Inside was a postcard sent by the city of Austin inviting her to learn more about the effort to rewrite the Land Development […]
Posted inTransportation
Council votes to clarify the road ahead for Austin’s $482M corridor plan
Austin voters now have a clearer road map for a slate of bond-funded projects intended to relieve congestion and improve city infrastructure on a massive scale. With little more than a guarantee from City Council, voters overwhelmingly approved a $720 million mobility-focused bond in 2016. Council voted Thursday to approve a construction plan for some […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Scoot on
Much ado about scooting… As best as we can tell, the Scooter Wars hyped up on social media have largely been playing out as a sitzkrieg. Absent thus far is the oppressive sidewalk clutter – dubbed “mobility spam” by one writer – wrought by dockless bike-sharing companies on our neighbors to the north in Dallas. […]
Posted inTransportation
Dockless scooters and bikes zip through Mobility Committee
City Council’s Mobility Committee learned on Tuesday afternoon that when it comes to dockless bikes and scooters, the last foot is the technology’s biggest problem. That was the message at least from Jason JonMichael, assistant director of smart mobility with the Austin Transportation Department. Along with Austin Transportation Director Rob Spillar, JonMichael briefed the committee […]