Tonight is the first of several public forums this week that will help establish the city’s transportation priorities. The Austin Strategic Mobility Plan will attempt to prioritize the hundreds of requested/identified transportation projects. Here’s the information and list of meetings as posted on the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan site:
National experts say Austin suffers from some of the nation’s worst traffic congestion, which will only get worse with the region’s rapid growth. The Austin Strategic Mobility Plan is turning to the public to help establish the city’s transportation priorities. Six forums held throughout the city Feb. 8-11 will offer citizens a chance to express the community’s values and explore how they can shape near-term and long-term investments in our transportation system.
“Whether one uses roads, bikes, sidewalks, or transit, we all have a stake in an efficient, sustainable transportation system,” said Rob Spillar, director of the Austin Transportation Department. “Citizens who use the transportation system are best suited to tell us what they want and need from that system, and these forums are designed to capture those ideas.” Continue Reading »
One of the education outreach efforts we’ve been conducting is in-school rail safety education for students, teachers, and parents at schools within a two-mile radius of the Red Line. To date, we’ve reached out to more than 33,000 students in Central Texas. Last week, I had the pleasure of presenting to approximately 600 students, staff and parents at Webb Middle School, which is close to the Crestview and Highland rail stations. While this is definitely one of the largest groups I’ve presented to, it was wonderful to see the excitement students and teachers have for MetroRail. From interacting with students, it was great to hear that many of them currently ride Capital Metro buses.
This is what 600 students looks like... I took this on my phone before the presentation started at Webb.
Having lived and grown up immediately adjacent to our Red Line in East Austin near 5th & Comal, I intimately understand that the only trains many of the kids have seen is the slower moving, loud freight trains that one can hear from as far away as a quarter mile, and many do not fully understand the dangers- as I didn’t growing up- of walking down the tracks or being in the rail right-of-way. Continue Reading »
Our colleagues at METRO in Houston are channeling the Beastie Boys and tapping into their own families for their new campaign to attract riders. Check out the video below, and read their Rapping for Riders blog post for more details.
Capital Metro’s Board is preparing to consider adoption of the recommendations of the year-long planning process known as ServicePlan2020. In short, ServicePlan2020 is a ‘big picture’ look at our entire bus system, involving input from several important sources: technical analysis, customer input, and staff and consultant analysis. The purpose of the effort is to figure out how best to structure the system to serve the changing needs of the community over the next five to ten years.
Big deal, you might say, Capital Metro changes its bus routes a few times a year, so how is this any different? The difference is in the scope. Whereas our three-times per year service adjustments are typically focused on individual routes, sections of routes, or areas of the city, Service Plan 2020 goes well beyond that. It looks at the existing network of routes and beyond while recognizing that indeed it is a system, one in which all of the parts should work well together.
Equally important, the effort attempts to approach this assessment from a customer perspective. It is informed by direct customer input through dozens of meetings and hundreds of surveys. Continue Reading »
As we all know, Capital Metro could always use some good news and the good news is (insert drum roll here)…we actually have some darn good news! Really!
Yesterday, President Obama (yes, THE President of the United States himself, Mr. Barack Obama) proposed his FY 2011 budget and it included $24 million in *additional* federal funds for Capital Metro’s MetroRapid project. Yahoo! Continue Reading »
A train ride is a great way to unwind after a productive four-hour board retreat. Following the lively discussion of various board processes and several key issues, including the safe and successful launch of MetroRail, our new board members took a ride on one of the trains (and you’ll get your chance to ride very soon).
Today we sent word to the Federal Railroad Administration, the federal agency overseeing the development of the MetroRail Red Line, that we expect to be operationally ready to begin service at the end of February. This doesn’t mean we’ll open the service at that time, though. At that point, Herzog will simulate full testing of everything for two weeks, and if things go well we’ll be ready to open later in March.
It’s cleaner, it’s greener and it’s the most technologically advanced bus in the world. The Hydrogen Hybrid bus is a new prototype that is currently traveling the country to prove the soundness of the concept. On its way back from San Antonio, the bus and a few of it’s developers stopped by Capital Metro today to give us a sneak preview. Within 12 months, this bus will be loaned to Capital Metro through the National Fuel Cell Bus Program. We’ll be able to put it into regular service for about nine months. Continue Reading »
Today I found myself on the 300 route. That is the route I’ve been working since October. Today I also found, with help from little friends, a better me.
The best way to explain is to give an example of what a typical morning is like on the 300. I would pull my bus out of the Capital Metro gate about 4:20 in the morning. Life in Austin is remarkably quiet and still at this time. My assignment called for me to travel on Pleasant Valley to Cesar Chavez, then north on I-35 to North Lamar Transfer Center. Very quiescent was this drive but instead of drifting to daydreaming I would become reflective. It was the best time to write poetry. Unfortunately I was driving a bus instead of sitting at my desk. Continue Reading »
It’s been about one month since Capital Metro hired the new passenger and freight rail contractors, and we’ve reached some key milestones along the way.
Staffing
Herzog Transit Services has filled 58 of its 60 positions and has selected Terry Bruner for the position of General Manager. He has more than 30 years of experience in the railroad industry and has worked for Herzog since 1996. Most recently, Bruner served as Transportation Manager of the Trinity Railway Express in Dallas-Ft. Worth. His first day as MetroRail General Manager was Dec. 21.
