Imprudent scooter users could now face fines of up to $40 for breaking the city’s new rules of conduct for micro-mobility devices (scooters, skateboards, etc.). Though they decided to postpone two of the Austin Transportation Department’s three proposed micro-mobility ordinances, City Council members unanimously approved the rider safety ordinance Thursday afternoon, adding only minor caveats. […]
Transportation Department
This city department is responsible for municipal transportation planning including roadways and bikeways.
Posted inTransportation
CDC study says Austin scooter riders don’t wear helmets, ride fast and don’t know what they’re doing
Nearly 200 people were injured because of rentable scooters between Sept. 5 and Nov. 30 last year, according to a first-of-its-kind study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Austin Public Health Department. During that time, there were about 940,000 rides taken in Austin overall, according to the Austin Transportation Department. That […]
Posted inTransportation
City to consider franchise model for dockless mobility
Austin Transportation has been steadily slowing the stream of dockless units coming into the city and is now considering a 50 percent cut to the number of dockless mobility operators licensed to deploy their scooters and bikes. In a presentation to the Pedestrian Advisory Council on March 4, Jason Redfern, Parking Enterprise Division manager, and […]
Posted inTransportation
ASMP is here to guide the multimodal path to 2039
The city of Austin is inviting public comment as the final draft of the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan makes its way to various city boards and commissions beginning this week and continuing through March. The full document was made available on the city’s website on Friday, Feb. 22. ASMP is the city’s transportation appendix to […]
Posted inTransportation
Council members agree: Cars are not the solution
If the Thursday meeting was any indication, every member of City Council believes that the key to fixing Austin’s transportation problems is reducing the population’s reliance on automobiles. Council members peppered city transportation staff with questions and critiques in response to a presentation at Central Library about the city’s long-term mobility goals. None of the […]
Posted inTransportation
Vision Zero advocates look to Legislature to help reduce traffic deaths
In 2015, Austin hit a record high in road deaths: 102. In the two subsequent years, things have improved, with 79 and 76 people perishing in 2016 and 2017, respectively. By the beginning of December, 69 had died this year on Austin’s highways and roads. The improvement is not nearly good enough, said Laura Dierenfield, […]
Posted inCity Hall
Transportation Dept. faulted in right-of-way audit
When Austinites are asked for their top complaints about the city, one of the most frequent responses relates to traffic. The central city is particularly congested and contractors working in the right-of-way exacerbate the problem. According to a report released by the Office of the City Auditor this week, efforts by Austin’s Transportation Department to […]
Posted inTransportation
City cracks down on Lime scooters
In the same week that Parks and Recreation announced a controversial pilot program allowing electric bikes and scooters on several of the city’s most popular trails, the Austin Transportation Department has temporarily subtracted 1,000 scooters from the number of Lime’s authorized units due to violation of the city’s dockless mobility rules. In a memo sent […]
Posted inPlanning
Austin explores options for new pedestrian bridge over Lady Bird Lake
There are enjoyable ways to walk or bike across Lady Bird Lake, but the Pleasant Valley Bridge is not one of them. A narrow sidewalk, a chain-link fence and low guardrails are all features that make the East Austin crossing unsafe. For years, the city has floated ideas to improve the crossing, with no results. […]
Posted inTransportation
Tech leaders consider autonomous vehicles, scooters and more to solve transit
For all the debate and hope over new transit plans and the potential for light rail to move Austin residents around quickly and efficiently, the city’s growing traffic and transportation problems come down to simple math. That was the point that Karla Taylor, chief of staff for Austin’s Transportation Department, made at a recent panel […]
Posted inTransportation
Old Enfield: Another neighborhood divided over speed humps
It’s no wonder that the Transportation Department gets a lot of grief in a city as choked by traffic as Austin. Some of the complaints are unfounded or make demands that city transportation experts will not agree to. However, said Annick Beaudet, assistant director of the Austin Transportation Department, some of the negative feedback makes […]
Posted inTransportation
Parking, recklessness among scooter concerns for city’s disability committee
Amid concerns over the safety of people in wheelchairs and the visually impaired, the Mayor’s Committee for People With Disabilities pressed the Austin Transportation Department to take steps soon to improve the behavior of users of rentable motorized scooters, and the companies that have put roughly 4,300 of those units around downtown Austin. The committee’s […]