House Bill 2327, the bill that would let Capital Metro operate buses on highway shoulders, was left pending in the House Transportation Committee after it came up late Wednesday afternoon. This has been fairly common practice in most committees for many bills; the committee could act on the bill at their next meeting or subsequent ones.

A big, big thanks to the many organizations and individuals who signed cards or submitted letters in support: the City of Austin, Glenn Gadbois, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Gerald Daugherty, Envision Central Texas, the Downtown Austin Alliance, Alliance for Public Transportation, Real Estate Council of Austin, CARTS, the Texas Transit Association, Sinclair Black, CTRMA, David Richardson, and Lone Star Rail.

On the Senate side, the companion bill filed by Senator Jeff Wentworth, SB 1102, will be heard in the Senate Transportation & Homeland Security Committee this Monday, April 11 at 10:00 AM or upon adjournment/recess of Nominations in Room E1.028 of the Capitol. To learn how you can register your support of this bill, keep reading!

To sign a card in support of SB 1102, which has very wisely and kindly been carried by Jeff Wentworth in previous sessions, we suggest that any supporters simply sign a card in support and not testify since the committee appreciates brevity. (This also means you can leave and go on with your day!)

The meeting notice is online.

We’ll keep you updated.

Wouldn't this be awesome, commuters? Imagine this is Mopac at 5 p.m., and the bus you're on could carefully pass up the traffic on the shoulder?

Tomorrow, House Bill 2327, which has been filed by Representative Ruth Jones McClendon of the San Antonio area, is scheduled to be heard in the House Transportation Committee tomorrow morning. Senator Jeff Wentworth has filed the bill on the Senate side; his is Senate Bill 1102. (Keep reading to learn how you can register your support of these bills!)

Rep. McClendon’s bill, HB 2327, would authorize TxDOT to implement a pilot program in Travis, Bexar, Denton and El Paso Counties whereby public transit agencies would be allowed to safely use improved highway shoulders for bus passage on authorized sections approved by TxDOT. For Capital Metro, we believe this could be safely and effectively implemented on IH-35, MoPac, and 183—our region’s most congested corridors.

At the discretion of the bus operator, the operator could travel on the designated shoulders when traffic slows to 35 mph or less. To ensure the safety of all motorists, the bus would only be allowed to travel 15 mph greater than the prevailing traffic, with a maximum speed limit of 35 mph. 

As anyone who lives in our area knows, traffic is a beast and for multiple hours a day, traffic on major highways grinds to a halt. Austin was unfortunately recently named the third most congested city in the country—which is why we need and deserve options other than sitting in traffic and bus-only shoulders can help!

The operation of buses on shoulders is already allowed in many communities across the county: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Atlanta, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Miami, Seattle, and San Diego; and it can work in Central Texas too.

During these times of congestion, the pilot project would safely use existing 10 foot right-of-ways, which would be pre-approved by TxDOT and clearly marked with signage, to allow buses to bypass traffic. This would reduce travel time for transit riders and increase scheduling reliability. In other communities where this is allowed, the reductions in travel time and even the perception of reduced travel time were significant enough incentives to get people out of their cars and increase ridership.

Construction to implement this pilot in Travis County would be limited to signage, meaning very limited disruption to current drivers and very low capital costs. The total capital cost within Travis County is projected to be only $20,000 paid for by Capital Metro, but the increased ridership that could result could generate up tan additional $250,000 in fares annually. There is zero fiscal note to the state for this piece of legislation.

The bill is scheduled to be heard in the House Transportation Committee tomorrow morning. The meeting starts at 8:00 am in Room E2.028 of the Capitol. The notice is online.

If you are open to signing a card in support for the hearing tomorrow come on down!

Since we think the Committee would appreciate the brevity, we suggest that any supporters simply sign a card in support and not testify (which also means you can leave and go on with your day).

This pilot program is a fantastic way to maximize underutilized right-of-way that already exists, and for Capital Metro to be able to move our passengers more quickly. In fact, a study conducted by UT’s Center for Transportation research identified feasible sections of highway shoulders in Travis County where buses could be safely and effectively operated and travel time savings of about three to seven minutes per trip for routes that could benefit from this were estimated. Given the low cost and potential for increased ridership and fare revenue, it’s a great deal!

HUD Regional Administrator C. Donald Babers & Congressman Lloyd Doggett (photo from Envision Central Texas)

More specifically, the funds will be used to

• Develop new tools/models (as in computer/software models) to measure the impact of (seemingly) local decisions on regional sustainability.
• Conduct demonstration projects, such as site-specific plans, market studies or code enhancements, to support the development of the regional activity centers proposed in the CAMPO 2035 Plan.
• Conduct studies to identify ways to close gaps in existing local plans in order to achieve region-wide sustainability outcomes.

Capital Metro is a member of the consortium that applied for the grant. The consortium includes the Capital Area Council of Governments; CAMPO; the Cities of Austin, Round Rock, and San Marcos; UT; ACC; Texas State University; IBM and other partners.

Lucy Galbraith, Capital Metro’s transit oriented developmentmanager, was instrumental in coordinating efforts to submit this application. (Look for a blog post next week from Lucy about the project’s benefits for TOD.)

In the end, our region will have the information we need to make the right investments necessary to create the region we want.

Here’s to another great step forward in regional collaboration!

For the award, we’ll be receiving $2 million, which should allow us to purchase five buses. Over the next few years, Capital Metro will have to replace about half of the 400-plus buses in our bus fleet. Clearly this will cost a ton of money so every little bit helps.

With that philosophy in mind, Capital Metro tries to pursue as many possible grant opportunities as we can. Right now, we actually have a number of other federal grant applications in the hopper. These include applications for

• The DOT’s TIGER II program, where we’ve proposed a package of passenger and freight rail projects that include double-tracking and rail replacement.
• A DOT-HUD program, where we’ve jointly applied with other local entities such as CAMPO, the City of Austin and Envision Central Texas to, for example, develop tools and demonstration projects that will help achieve region-wide sustainability outcomes.
• The FTA’s TIGGER (II) program, which is also a joint endeavor with the City of Austin to upgrade lower-efficiency lighting at various Capital Metro locations and install a solar PV system at two locations, including one at which PV panels would be used to shade parked buses reducing the idling time needed to cool the buses.
• The FTA’s Alternatives Analysis program, where we’ve proposed a study to evaluate transit alternatives in the MoPac-IH-35 corridor from Georgetown to downtown Austin and upgrade CAMPO’s transportation model.
• The FRA’s Rail Line Relocation Program, which we’re currently developing a proposal for since the application is due at the end of this month.

We expect the feds to announce awards for a lot of these programs over the next few weeks so keep your fingers crossed! And we’ll keep you posted.

The Senate Appropriations Committee also passed their version of the bill last week, and the same was previously requested by President Obama in his FY2011 budget. While there are a few more steps left before final budget approval, the recent action is very encouraging and moves Capital Metro that much closer to the finish.

MetroRapid bus rapid transit is a highly cost-effective premium service designed to reduce travel time by up to twenty percent. How? With a traffic signal priority system that holds lights green a little longer for buses, queue jump lanes designed to let buses bypass traffic, fewer stops, and frequent service every 10 to 15 minutes! Initial service will include two routes: North Lamar/South Congress and Burnet/South Lamar.

MetroRapid was selected for funding by the Federal Transit Administration as part of a competitive grant program. We applied in Fall 2008 and are especially proud of our rapid (har har, get it) progress. (Thanks to our staff and incredible assistance from the FTA, Capital Metro was able to navigate through the process very quickly.) In FY2010, as a result of the FTA recommendation and assistance from our local delegation, Capital Metro was awarded $13.3 million in funds and, should this second round be approved, the federal total will tally $37.6 million, which is 80 percent of our application’s estimated $47 million total—and the maximum amount of federal funding provided under the program.

Capital Metro extends special thanks to our Austin-area Senators and Representatives who have worked to help advance funding for MetroRapid. In the House, Rep. Lloyd Doggett provided a critical first step and ongoing support by advocating inclusion of the project in the House Transportation Appropriations bill. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Rep. John Carter provided advice and information to help us navigate this year’s process.

In the Senate both of our Senators played key roles. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, worked to fund the project and Sen. John Cornyn provided active support as well.

Funding for this project isn’t guaranteed until the bill is passed by the Senate and signed by the President, but the recent House vote is another key step in the right direction. Stay tuned for more exciting news, and thank your Senators and Congressmen the next time you see them. We couldn’t accomplish these things without them.

A few months ago, Capital Metro was called out by one of our neighbors for some mess along the rail line over near Plaza Saltillo. Unfortunately, us fine folks here at CMTA hadn’t been keeping up with our property but non-fine folks weren’t helping with their illegal dumping either. So dirty mattresses, broken-down furniture, old railroad ties and other assorted debris had accumulated. But, now, ta-da! We recently finished cleaning the egregious stretch from IH-35 to 7th Street and stinky mattresses are no more.

Obviously, it’s great that we finally cleaned up that junk. We do need to keep it clean for our neighbors and, even though people need to stop illegally dumping, trash begets more trash  unfortunately so if we can start with a clean slate, that helps.

Since I have the liberty to go off tangent here though, I wanted to take a moment to lament one aspect of the clean-up: the removal of the concrete rubble mound on 5th Street turned fun public art that made me smile every time I passed it.

See, doesn’t that make you smile too? (And it also made our interim Pres. Doug Allen smile because at a recent board committee meeting where the clean-up status was conveyed, he expressed a little sadness when he heard that the rock art was gone. (Good to know that he appreciates these quirky things that makes Austin awesome, right? Don’t worry, we put a little picture of it in a frame for him so he can always remember it.))

But I digress, back to the clean-up…

Though I lament its loss, I know we had to clean up the rock art. What’s art to me may not be art to you (oh, that’s for a whole ‘nother blog) and particularly given the heat Capital Metro gets in this town (whether deserved or not), I guarantee you that if we hadn’t picked it up, someone would’ve said, ‘Well I can’t believe Capital Metro didn’t pick up that rubble on 5th Street!’ So we had to pick it up, even though it makes my heart weep. (Whoever you are that brought us that little mound of happiness, I thank you!)

With that section in order now, it’ll be easier to keep up. But we’ve also got to keep an entire 162 mile-long rail line tidy (which is 60+ miles further than going to San Antonio!) and it’s impossible for us to have our beady little eyes planted along the entire route. So if you see a big ol’ mess in our ROW, let us know ASAP. I know we got a bum rap before for not following up but we do want to keep it clean and we don’t need more bum raps. So let us know; we’d really appreciate it. (And stop dumping those stinky old mattresses, whoever you are!)

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!

(While I like to think that Barack really, really likes Austin, Texas and Capital Metro, I do have to acknowledge that it was actually the suits at the Federal Transit Administration who deemed our project worthy of federal funds and thus sent that little recommendation over to the White House.)

Part of our All Systems Go long-range plan, Capital Metro’s MetroRapid bus rapid transit (BRT) project (say that three times fast) is designed to reduce your travel time by up to twenty percent. Ludicrous, you say. How?, you ask. With features such as a traffic signal priority system that holds traffic lights green a little longer and, in the future, queue jump lanes designed to let buses bypass traffic. Additionally, there will be less stops and service every 10 to 15 minutes. MetroRapid stops will also be close to local service bus stops and connect to two MetroRail stations for quick and easy connections.

Initial service will include two routes: North Lamar/South Congress and Burnet/South Lamar. The total capital cost to build the first two lines is approximately $47 million. At about $1.2 million per mile for capital, the MetroRapid project is very cost-effective for a premium transit service.

To take full advantage of this opportunity to toot our own (MetroRapid bus) horns, I should point out that this is actually the second fiscal year in which our MetroRapid project was included in the President’s budget (and recommended by the FTA). In FY 2010, we were awarded $13.4 million in federal funds. Combine that with the newly recommended $24 million and the federal total becomes $37.4 million—or 80 percent of our total estimated capital cost of $47 million. This new funding recommendation is a great indication that we are on our way to securing a full-funding grant agreement with the feds. (Since an eighty percent funding level is the maximum amount of federal funding provided for capital grants under the Very Small Starts program, the feds call this “full” funding.)

Additionally, led by our principal long-range planner, Surinder Marwah, Capital Metro was able to speed through what is normally a lengthy and highly competitive grant process and we navigated through the Very Small Starts capital grant program much more quickly than is the norm for other transit agencies. For people who know how long federal review and approvals take: we submitted the project in August 2008. Pretty awesome, huh? (Since Surinder would humbly want me to point this out, I’ll say that he also says that this is a team effort, accomplished by many Capital Metro staff, and lots of very helpful assistance from the FTA (though my understanding is that Surinder did yeoman’s work). In fact, he has worked on this project for years!)

The project has been approved for project development and Capital Metro has received environmental clearance from the FTA. We are currently working with them on a Project Construction Grant Agreement (PCGA). The agency is also in the process of vehicle acquisition (talk about fancy buses!) and, in partnership with the City of Austin, we have completed design of the signal priority system. And to probably the most burning question on your minds, When will it open?, I will say that we *hope/plan* to begin service on the first line, North Lamar/South Congress, in 2012.

So keep your fingers crossed! We still gotta make it through Congress but hopefully they will keep our funding in there (which I hear is typically the case for FTA-recommended grants) and we can ride the Rapid all through town.

Still want more info? If so, you can check out the route map and dig around online at http://allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/capital-metrorapid.shtml.

Previously, the agency was lead by seven board members. Beginning in January, we’ll have eight members at the helm, or rather, behind the wheel.

Of those eight, three will be returning members:

• Austin Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez, who was appointed by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO);
• Austin Council Member Chris Riley, who was appointed by the City of Austin; and
• Leander Mayor John Cowman, who was appointed by the small cities within Capital Metro’s service area.

The remaining five will all be new. They are

• John Langmore, also appointed by CAMPO;
• Frank Fernandez, appointed by CAMPO;
• Beverly Silas, appointed by Travis County;
• Norm Chafetz, appointed by Williamson County; and
• Ann Stafford, appointed by the City of Austin.

Some of you may see that we have a lot fewer elected officials now. Previously, five of our seven board members were required to be elected officials. Now, only three electeds are required. Populating the board with ‘regular citizens’ actually makes the board more like it was prior to its reconstitution in 1997. At that time, a bill was passed that added the elected officials (and created the composition currently in place today) but as is often the case, I guess it is time for the pendulum to swing back. There are valid pros and cons to both sides so we’ll just have to see how it all works out.

The other significant change to our board composition—other than the addition of an eighth member, which works out to be an additional member appointed by CAMPO—is the requirement for certain types of experience on the board, specifically for the CAMPO board members. To fulfill this, John Langmore was appointed as an individual with the requisite ten years of professional experience in executive-level management, and Frank Fernandez was appointed as the individual with the requisite ten years of professional experience in finance and accounting.

While I will miss our former board members (particularly former Austin Mayor Pro Tem John Treviño, who I loved to hear stories and lessons about old Austin from), I am excited about the new board members who have been appointed. (I just wish we could fast-forward the clock six months if not a year from now because this period of transition is beginning to feel interminably long.) Not unsurprisingly, some of them have already hit the ground running and have begun to build upon their existing knowledge base of Capital Metro in an effort to represent us well and advocate for our agency. It’s very encouraging.

So, here’s to our board members—old and new—and to a new year. May Capital Metro begin to write more success stories in the future.