COMTO creates professional and educational opportunities for minorities working in the transportation industry and promotes careers in the field.  The Austin chapter provides between $2,000 and $3,000 in scholarships each year to support its members.

Dinita will serve a two-year term and joins President Blanca Juarez (UT Parking and Transportation), Treasurer Cris Lopez (Veolia Transportation) and Secretary Alta Alexander (TxDOT) on the executive board.

Portrait by Diego Huerta for 31K Portraits for Peace exhibition.

Something special is coming to Austin beginning next Friday: 31K retratos por la paz/portraits for peace, a powerful exhibit featuring the photography of Diego Huerta that opens Jan. 27 at the Mexic-Arte Museum.

The 31K project chronicles the hope for peace that still remains in Mexico despite the ongoing drug wars that have killed 31,000 people. From the Mexic-Arte website:

Diego Huerta and project partner Daniela Gutiérrez have travelled throughout Mexico and arrived at cities like Guadalajara, Campeche, Tamaulipas, Michoacán, Ciudad de México, Mazatlan, and Baja California.

For over 180 days Diego and Daniela have cataloged their project on both their website and Facebook pages providing followers with current photos and video diary excerpts from their national journeys throughout Mexico. 31K’s large-scale vivid photographs portray the breadth of lives lost and the hope for peace that still remains in Mexico. With each 31K photograph Diego presents the panoply of Mexican life. Each colorful image captures a vignette of the Mexican people from students, families, street performers, artisans, businessmen, and priests.

A visit to 31kproject.com is a chills-inducing experience, with poignant video diaries and photos from each day of Diego’s and Daniela’s travels. While you’re out and about around town or onboard the bus, you might see the exhibit preview on both the outside and inside of some of our buses. Capital Metro is a supporter of this fantastic exhibit.

Here are the details of the opening reception:

January 27
6 -7 p.m. Members Reception
7 -9 p.m. Members and General Public Reception
Admission: Free for Mexic-Arte Museum Members/$10 for non-members
Getting to the museum: Mexic-Arte Museum is on the corner of 5th and Congress. Ride 1L/1M, 5, 7, 10, 20, 30 and 101

Follow Diego and Daniela’s 31K Project on their official website and on their facebook page.

For many people, New Year’s is a time of reflection and introspection. There’s something about wrapping up a year and anticipating the next that just lends itself perfectly to resolutions and goal-setting. What went well in 2011? What do I want to do differently in 2012?

If any of your resolutions for 2012 pertain to saving money, getting healthier, or being kinder to our planet, consider adding Capital Metro to your bucket list for 2012.

SAVE SOME GREEN
Conservatively, you can save a couple hundred bucks a month on gas by taking public transportation instead of driving your car. It costs just $1 per trip on the bus, and buying a multi-ride pass will bring the cost per trip down even more. Calculate your savings. Check out our low fares.

GET LEAN
I’m always fretting over my weight and trying to find time to incorporate more exercise into my daily routine. You may not immediately connect public transportation with exercise, but consider that every single transit rider starts and ends as a pedestrian. Think about it: you walk (or bike) to your stop, and on the tail end, you walk to your destination. Over time that walking adds up to pounds and inches.

GO GREEN
Recycling is great, but if you’re ready to take it to the next level, ride Capital Metro. Taking public transportation instead of driving your own car is the single greatest action you can take to reduce your carbon footprint. Calculate your carbon savings by riding public transportation.

If you want to make a difference in 2012 on the environment or on your waistline or bottom line, mosey over to Capital Metro’s online store and purchase a transit pass today. Here’s to a great beginning to 2012.

Ride a regular local bus to downtown that night for $1, and catch a free return ride via one of six Night Owl bus routes, which begin service at midnight and run til after 3 a.m. Catch one of these buses at 6th and Congress, with service to neighborhoods throughout town.

This means your transportation costs for New Year’s Eve can max out at a mere $1–the cost of a one-way fare via Capital Metro’s regular local routes. Yes! No parking fees, no circling the block looking for a meter, and no worrying about the dangers of being out on the road that night.

You can plan your trip with our online trip planner, and check out the Night Owl maps, too, to see if our late night service will work for you.

APD is stepping up its DWI enforcement. Don’t chance it! If you’re flying late on New Year’s, get on the Night Owl.

Data Analyst Brad Weaver, Vice Chair John Langmore and CEO Linda S. Watson met Mr. Ferguson (seated) and his caseworker Roy Salazar (right) at Plaza Saltillo for a train ride.

We posted a story from the Austin American-Statesman earlier about James Ferguson, who was selected for the newspaper’s annual Season for Caring and who is a train buff. 

Mr. Ferguson, with his new ball cap and the "official" MetroRail jacket.

After the ride, railroad folks from Capital Metro and our partners at Herzog and Watco presented Mr. Ferguson with some giftcards, bus passes and some railroad gifts, including the official MetroRail train engineer jacket. (I’m envious of the jacket!)

A happy Mr. Ferguson, in the cab of the MetroRail train.

This landmark plan outlines a strategy to address several funding challenges over the next few years while increasing our savings to a projected $68 million by 2018.

As outlined in Capital Metro’s new strategic plan, we are taking steps to strengthen the financial health of the agency. The long-range financial plan will help Capital Metro meet its financial goals by:

• Maintaining current service in the short-term
• Providing funding for bus fleet replacements
• Helping meet cash reserve targets of Senate Bill 650
• Continuing MetroRapid plans as scheduled
• Planning for federally-required Positive Train Control implementation
• Supporting the labor structure transition

Of significant concern has been ensuring that Capital Metro’s ageing fleet can be replaced on a regular schedule. The long-range plan includes a seven-year strategy that will replace a total of 292 vehicles.

That strategy includes Capital Metro borrowing $20 million to jumpstart the vehicle replacement program in FY2013-14 and to allow the agency to stay on track to meet the Texas Legislature’s cash savings requirements as specified in SB650. Capital Metro expects to save millions in vehicle maintenance costs over the life of the loan.

JAMES FERGUSON: Taking life’s journey alone
Austin American-Statesman
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Written by Kirk Bohls

James Ferguson (left), 66, loves trains so much that he once took one to Chicago just say he'd been there. Ferguson says his favorite job was selling roses on a street corner because he had no boss. Photo courtesy: Ralph Barrera AMERICAN STATESMAN

James Ferguson has always liked trains.

 He’s not sure why or when his fondness for that mode of travel first sprung. But the 66-year-old Texan has always had an affinity for train travel.

 Inspired by talk show host Jerry Springer, who said everyone ought to travel to Chicago once in a lifetime, Ferguson hopped aboard an Amtrak train when he was younger and headed toward Chicago.

It wasn’t all he was counting on. The sleeping car that he thought he had booked wasn’t to be found, and he spent much of the trip sleeping in coach. Once he arrived in Chicago, he booked a room in a budget hotel and returned home the next day.

 “Jerry Springer said a trip to Chicago never hurt anyone,” Ferguson said. “I was only there one night. I saw all the tall buildings. And I can say I have been to Chicago. I don’t know why, but I just like trains. I love to watch freight trains, and I love to hear a train whistle.”

 The life journey that the Lampasas native has taken also has been fraught with trouble and obstacles. He never knew his father and stayed only briefly with an alcoholic mother before he was shuttled between foster parents and Austin State School, where he spent a dozen years and made a lot of friends.

Read the full article from the Austin American-Statesman.

It’s great news, and we’re excited to promote healthier air and cleaner bus stops for our riders by discouraging tobacco use. But, the most exciting part of the new signage project for riders has flown under the radar: incredible new methods for getting next scheduled bus information, specific to every single bus stop in the system.

Riders will begin to see a sign like this at their bus stops beginning in December. The sign will be in addition to the current bus route signs at stops.

Check out the new sign that will be gracing your bus stop in the new year. Note that the top 1/5 or so of the sign is the “No tobacco use within 15 feet” message. And the remaining 4/5 of the sign outlines how one can use his phone four different ways to get schedule information by stop.

Here’s how it works: every bus stop in the system has a unique ID number.  The bus stop at 11th and Guadalupe is #504, for example. With your phone and that ID number, you can:

1. Text: Text the bus stop ID number to Dadnab^TM at (512) 981-6221, and receive a reply text with the next scheduled bus arrival times for the buses that serve that stop.
2.  Scan the QR Code: Scan the square barcode on the sign using a QR reader app (many free readers are available from your phone’s apps marketplace), and next bus times and a route map will be displayed on your smartphone.
3. Open our mobile site: Open capmetro.org/stopid/ from your phone and input your bus stop ID number to pull up a mobile-friendly website with the next bus arrivals.   
4. Call the Go Line at 512-474-1200. Use the automated voice system 24 hours/day or talk to a real person weekdays, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on weekends, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This new information method has been in the works for a number of years, but we haven’t had the funding available before to implement it across the system. Because of our commitment to reduce secondhand smoke at bus stops, we are able to leverage federal grant funding to implement the signage. The entire cost of the signage, hardware and installation (about $230K) will be paid for through a grant from the city of Austin under the national Communities Putting Prevention to Work. Later in FY2012, Capital Metro will use additional local funding to incorporate Braille on the signs, too, greatly expanding the usability of our system for riders with visual impairments.

There are a ton of other benefits, too. First off, we begin to rack up the savings with the very first service change, because the signs will not need to be updated when routes or frequencies change. Over 5 years, we could save up to $100,000 on materials alone! Additionally, the signs are slated for installation at 100 percent of Capital Metro bus stops. Currently, schedule information is available at fewer than 50 percent of bus stops.

Riders may begin to notice the new signs at their bus stops beginning in December, and we expect the signs to be 100 percent installed by the end of February.

You might be thinking, what if you don’t have a phone? No worries. Although a 2010 survey of Capital Metro riders found that 80 percent carry a cell phone when they ride, Capital Metro will continue to provide free route brochures and system maps onboard the bus, and for $3, customers can purchase the newest edition of Destinations, the official Capital Metro schedule book.

We invite you to test out the various information options featured on the sign and let us know what you think.

In 2010, more than 2,000 people enjoyed a home-cooked turkey dinner at the Fiestas Patrias of Austin Community Thanksgiving Dinner. This year's free event is on Nov. 19.

This past week Capital Metro CEO Linda S. Watson discovered something wonderful about a coworker when she was visiting our facilities to participate in our annual Thanksgiving meal. MetroAccess Lead Service Coordinator Julius Velasquez, who’s been working for Capital Metro more than 20 years, is also the driving force behind a local non-profit organization that has contributed more than $600,000 to the East Austin community.

For the past ten years, Julius has been president of Fiestas Patrias of Austin, which hosts the annual Diez y Seiz and Cinco de Mayo festivals at Fiesta Gardens. In addition to promoting Mexican-American culture, Fiestas Patrias funds scholarships for college bound Hispanics and other community programs, such as the annual community Thanksgiving dinner (more on that in a minute).

MetroAccess Lead Service Coordinator Julius Velasquez, left, with his dad Gilbert Velasquez. Gilbert founded Fiestas Patrias of Austin in 1978.

Fiestas Patrias is a family affair; it was founded by Julius’ father, Gilbert Velasquez, in 1978. Both father and son live (and have lived) within the neighborhood their organization serves.

You can get a taste–quite literally–of what Fiestas Patrias has to offer, at the 16th annual community Thanksgiving dinner, this Saturday, Nov. 19, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The meal will be served at the A.B. Cantu Recreation Center, 2100 E. Third Street. Pick up routes 17, 21/22, or 320 for a ride to the center. This is a FREE home-cooked traditional Thanksgiving meal, including turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, whole kernel corn and green beans. About 100 volunteers, including some of Julius’ coworkers at MetroAccess, will cook and serve about 2,000 meals this coming Saturday. Awesome.

Fiesta Patrias of Austin Community Thanksgiving Dinner
Saturday, November 19, 2011
A.B. Cantu Recreation Center, 2100 E. Third Street (routes 17, 21/22, or 320)
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
FREE FREE FREE