After more than 75 years in business, the city’s longest-running taxicab operator, Austin Cab Company, closed its doors on Saturday, March 30. The franchise had been in business since 1943 and was one of only four taxicab businesses (the city officially caps the number of operators at five) strong enough to compete with the growing […]
Transportation Network Companies
Companies that provide transportation services through applications such as Uber or Lyft.
Posted inTransit
How free ride-sharing could make it easier to catch the bus in Austin
The number of partnerships between public transit agencies and private ride-sharing companies like Uber has been booming. Since 2016, at least 27 such programs have sprung up across the country, including one in Central Austin. Joseph Schwieterman, director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University, said more transit agencies are trying to […]
Posted inTransportation
City wants to keep taxi franchise system
The city of Austin doesn’t want to give up on traditional taxicabs, but it acknowledges that they need to adapt to survive in the face of competition from cheaper ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft. On Thursday, City Council will take up a measure recommended by city transportation staff that would maintain the current […]
Posted inTransportation
State Senate trumps Austin’s ride-hailing regulations
The Texas Legislature has cleared the road for Uber and Lyft to return to Austin on their own terms. On Wednesday, the state Senate overwhelmingly approved House Bill 100 on second and third readings, sending the statewide ride-hailing regulations to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for his signature. If Abbott signs it, as he is expected […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
House sets the table for Uber and Lyft’s return to Austin
Uber and Lyft’s self-imposed exile from Austin could be nearing the beginning of the end. On Wednesday, the Texas House of Representatives voted to approve House Bill 100 on a crucial second reading. The bill would create a statewide regulatory framework for transportation network companies and preempt local rules overwhelmingly upheld by Austin voters last […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Gondolas! Open Letters!
High time… Perhaps in accordance with the leisurely speed at which its subject is known for, a long-awaited report on aerial gondolas is taking its sweet time in being made public. The high-flying transit alternative captured headlines last September when the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority Board of Directors opted to bankroll the study of […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Legislature drives closer to statewide ride-hailing regulations
Three bills that would trump Austin’s ride-hailing regulations swerved through the Texas Senate on Tuesday. In front of a standing-room-only crowd, the Committee on Business & Commerce took up Senate bills 113, 176 and 361. Each authored by Republican lawmakers, the bills would overturn rules passed by Austin’s City Council in 2015 and subsequently upheld […]
Posted inTransportation
After Uber and Lyft exit, local ride-hailing options stumble during first SXSW
Mel Roe was eating dinner Saturday night at Manuel’s Mexican Restaurant in downtown Austin when she nearly threw her phone at the wall. Roe says the app of one of Austin’s six fledgling ride-hailing companies, Fasten, would not let her request a ride. So, she relied on a technique used by many who’ve been stranded […]
Posted inCity Council
Council reopens path to chauffeur’s permit for many criminal offenders
City Council took action on Thursday that could help put some disqualified taxi and transportation network company drivers back on Austin roads. The amendment to the city code tweaked an existing ordinance that Council passed in June that restricted many current and potential drivers with criminal records from qualifying for a chauffeur’s permit. Under the […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Fuel for the fire
Austin Energy prepared for Trump’s coal revival… During a presentation on Austin Energy’s financial health at the Electric Utility Commission meeting on Monday, Commissioner Stefan Wray asked AE Deputy General Manager Mark Dombroski a question about the elephant in the room: “What possible impact will the new federal government under President Trump have?” President-elect Donald […]
Posted inTransit
Uber wants to come back to Austin
Uber does not have hard feelings about Prop 1. In a forum hosted by the Austin Monitor, Glasshouse Policy and KUT on the patio of the Ginger Man bar downtown, a representative of the ride-hailing giant expressed regret about the tenor of the multimillion-dollar campaign waged by the company earlier this year. The campaign attempted […]
Posted inLocal Politics
With 100,000 potential voters, Austin tech groups flex political muscle
Imagine 100,000 dormant, unengaged voters just waiting to be drawn into the Austin political scene. That’s the potential that a pair of local technology groups see in the Austin tech community, which they hope to get involved in the local and state political scene in the coming years so they can shape policy to favor […]