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Archive for the ‘MetroRail’ Category

Introducing the Haul Pass: New Fare Card for Students

Posted in fares, MetroRail, transit savings, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 21, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Haul Pass logo

The countdown has begun. School’s almost out. Parent and teens, it’s time to get ready for summer.

Whether it’s time for volunteering, working summer jobs,  internships, taking summer courses; or it’s time for play–attending summer camp, participating in recreational sports or arts activities; or it’s time to chill–with a dip in the pool, relaxing with a good book, grabbing a bite to eat and hanging out with friends and family–Capital Metro can help get you to the places you want and need to go.

Let us introduce you to the Haul Pass, our new summer fare card for students 18 and under.

Front of Hall Pass fare card

Haul Pass Features:

  • UNLIMITED Bus & Rail rides
  • 1 pass lasts three summer months
  • Go Local discounts
  • Valid June 1 – August 31
  • A great value at $45 (for a $96 fare card)
Limited quantity sold for a limited time only, so get them while they last!
The Haul Pass is available online at www.capmetro.org/haulpass or at the Transit Store, 323 Congress Avenue.

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Regional Transit System: A Thing of the Future?

Posted in All Systems Go, bus routes, Capital Metro news, community, commute community, customer service, Driving Progress, MetroRail, MetroRapid, planning, serviceplan2020, train, transit planning, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 15, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Capital Metro has partnered with other transit agencies in the central Texas region, like the City of Austin, CAMPO and the Lone Star Rail District to create a plan for regional high-capacity transit.

What would that look like?

Imagine a series of components like urban rail, commuter rail (like MetroRail), Rapid service, and express lanes where all services support one another in a network, easing access throughout the region.

Sounds nice, right? Well, it looks even better. Check out this detailed vision map with all the system elements to help you share our vision for how to create a connected central Texas.

vision_map

(Download PDF version)

Now, you too can view the full details of the Project Connect transportation plan and partnership at ConnectCentralTexas.com.

But, wait there’s more!

Well, now that the vision has come together, the partners want your feedback. What do you think?

It’s your chance to share your thoughts at any of the following opportunities:

Tuesday, Feb. 19, 5 – 8 p.m. Seton Medical Center Hays (Cafeteria), 6001 Kyle Parkway, Kyle, TX.

Wednesday, Feb. 20, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Austin Energy (Assembly Room); 721 Barton Springs Road, Austin, TX.

Wednesday, Feb. 20, 5 – 8 p.m. Williamson Conference Center, 209 N. IH-35 Frontage Road, Round Rock, TX.

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 12 – 1 p.m. Webinar – Register online at ConnectCentralTexas.com/get-involved.

The Project Connect partners also invite the public to participate in an ongoing online discussion regarding the regional transit vision.

Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications are provided upon request.  Please call 512-369-6201 or email info@ConnectCentralTexas.com for more information.

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Joining the Costume Party Downtown on Halloween?

Posted in bus routes, bus schedules, community, detours, ebus, events, Holiday events, MetroRail, rider tips, twitter, Uncategorized, Web, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Even though Halloween’s on a Wednesday, don’t let that be a drag. We know you’ve come to know the trusty E-Bus as your ride Downtown on the weekends, now take advantage of that tonight!

Capital Metro wants to help you reach the big party down as safely and conveniently as possible. That’s why we’re running E-Bus service on a Wednesday, which usually doesn’t happen, but we’re making an exception to help get all those Honey Boo Boo and Psy look-alikes to 6th Street.

Hours will be the same as E-Bus weekend service (8:30 p.m. until 3 a.m.). Catch a ride using routes #410 West Campus, #411 Riverside, and #412 Main Campus. Regular fares will apply. UT students ride free with valid school ID and ACC students ride with the Green Pass.

All you Halloween go-ers can also ride Capital Metro’s local service to and from the downtown area until around midnight. Night Owl service will run its usual schedule until 3 a.m.

We hope all our riders have a good time tonight. Use Capital Metro as your safe ride this Halloween!

We want to see all those elaborate costumes! Post your Halloween pictures as you ride transit today–rail, bus, E-Bus. Tweet them to @CapMetroATX or post to our Facebook wall!

If you’re just trying to go about your daily commute tonight: Capital Metro riders who plan to use the #4 Montopolis, #21 Exposition and #100 MetroAirport routes should take notice of anticipated 6th Street closure detours due to Halloween events from around 8 p.m. until 3 a.m. More detailed route and detour information can be found in the Capital Metro website ‘Service Alerts’ section. 

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Twitter Name: Now @CapMetroATX

Posted in bikes, bus routes, bus schedules, community, commute community, customer service, detours, events, MetroRail, MetroRapid, rider tips, train, twitter, Uncategorized, Web, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on October 11, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Tweet, Tweet!

For those of you who follow our Twitter activity (or may want to), you may have noticed our recent change of account names.

In the past, we have communicated to followers using two separate Twitter accounts: CapMetroNews and CapMetroRail. Having two accounts made sense leading up to the opening of MetroRail, but now it’s just sort of confusing. People tweet us with rail-related inquiries at CapMetroNews and with bus issues at CapMetroRail. Plus, having two accounts sometimes contributes to a delay in us responding.

Going into our new fiscal year in October 1, we wanted to use that date as a benchmark for turning over a new leaf in our Communications efforts – including Twitter.

Going into the future, we have changed the name of our CapMetroRail account to @CapMetroATX. This will be our one and only account where we’ll provide bus and rail service updates as well as relevant news and rider tips. Over the next two weeks we’ll phase-out our CapMetroNews account.

We know by following one sole account, you may get more info than before. So, how can you filter the info you get notifications about, if you want?

By using certain apps, you can make settings to only get notified of certain hashtags, versus receiving all our Tweets.

We’ll be operating via these hashtags:

#MetroRailAlert: for specific delay alerts on MetroRail

#MetroBusAlert: for all bus-related service alerts

So, for example, if you began following our rail account and only wish to continue receiving rail-related messages, set-up your account to send only messages including the #MetroRailAlert hashtag.

How to set specific alerts up? This useful YouTube video helps you use TweetDeck for setting-up hashtag notifications:

If you’re not into Tweet Deck, there’s also Boxcar for push notifications as well.

This change may take some getting used to, but it’s for the better — to provide improved communications and customer service. So, jump right it, follow us at www.twitter.com/CapMetroATX.

Tweet you soon!

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Capital Metro is the Best Ride to Austin City Limits

Posted in community, commute community, detours, ebus, events, MetroRail, rider tips, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 9, 2012 | 1 Comment »

We know you music lovers are focused on finding the best shows and sets during the Austin City Limits music festival – we don’t blame you. We want to help you get there as fast and easily as possible.

That’s why we’re partnering with ACL again this year to bring you FREE shuttle service from Republic Square to the music’s doorstep — at Zilker Park.

It’s easy. From Oct. 12 – 14 all you need to do is get to Republic Square. Walk, ride your bike, catch a bus, use the train. We’ve even cranked out this super-easy-to-use map to help you choose the best bus route for you. Check it out.

How to get to the shuttles:

- Take several regular Capital Metro routes, including routes 4, 21 and 22 (check map for other routes)

- Take MetroRail into downtown Austin (Friday/Saturday)

After ACL:

- Use Capital Metro’s Night Owl and E-Bus routes, (run until about 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights)

During ACL, regular bus service will be detoured for route #30/Barton Creek around the area on 4th and Barton Springs west of Lamar.

Use the Trip Planner or check our ACL webpage for planning your weekend travels.

Hassle-free. Cheap. Safe. You rock. We’ll roll.

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Austin Mobility: East Fifth St. Transit Oriented Development Underway

Posted in MetroRail, TOD, train, transit planning, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on October 2, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Austin Mobility featured an article in their newsletter yesterday, describing the ongoing development in the east 5th area — around our MetroRail Plaza Saltillo Station. Check out the Austin Mobility to learn more about local Transit Oriented Development at: http://ow.ly/ealZv or read on:

E. Fifth St. transit oriented development underway

Projects near Plaza Saltillo are moving forward.

The 256-unit Corazon mixed-use project has begun construction, and will feature 9,400 square feet of retail, along with 6,400 square feet of restaurant space.

That project, the first to break ground at the Plaza Saltillo MetroRail station and transit oriented development east of IH-35, is expected to be completed by 2014.

The project is a step towards realizing the vision for Transit Oriented Development on Fifth Street.

Transit Oriented Development, or TOD, is a rapidly growing trend to create compact and walkable communities with high quality design centered around transit, and offering mobility choices.

The TOD vision was created by working with community members to address issues such as connectivity, open space, and design within the realities of economics.

The TODs have a complimentary regulation and zoning framework to facilitate compact and connected development, which is a key part of the Imagine Austin plan, passed by a unanimous City Council this month.

In addition to the private development, Capital Metro is making progress on about 10 acres it hopes to develop under future private-public relationships.

An environmental assessment of the land is close to being completed.

An upcoming report, by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Environmental Protection Agency, will give planners an understanding of what remediation would need to occur to develop the land.

In addition, Capital Metro expects to begin design and engineering later this year to relocate rail along Fourth Street, which will free up land for mixed-use development.

That $5.4 million track project is funded 80 percent by federal funds, with a 20 percent match from Capital Metro.

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Facebook Contest: Two Austin Film Fest Badges up for Grabs

Posted in Capital Metro news, events, happy passengers, MetroRail, MetroRapid, Transit Art, twitter, Uncategorized, Web, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

You may have heard about our MetroRapid groundbreaking yesterday…maybe you’ve also been one of the early birds to watch our new YouTube video…below:

But, do you know that Capital Metro has two Austin Film Festival badges to give away? It’s true! How can you snag one? Click here Our contest is ongoing until Sept. 30!

We want to see your transit-inspired artwork. It doesn’t have to be fancy or require an extreme amount of work. Think about what transit means to you…Where do you ride to? How many places have you been to on the bus? Where are you looking forward to riding MetroRail? Take a picture, Instagram it, draw something, sketch, doodle, crayon, stamp, collage, etc. Anyway you want.

Once you have your idea and have a creation, take a picture of it and upload to our Facebook contest page. Take this for example:

Here’s an example I of a picture I took on 9/11 of a bus, then added filters. Preface: I have no artistic talent to claim!

It’s that simple. Capture a transit moment and submit it. After we have some entries on our Facebook page, others will be able to vote on each photo. The earlier you submit, the more time you have to wrangle-in those votes!
Start now!

We’ll award the top two entries. Each of our winners gets one Austin Film Fest badge! Each badge is worth over $100 bucks.

Now, go onto our Facebook page and look for the green tab at the top and enter your art baby.

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Statesman Article says MetroBike is a good thing for Austin

Posted in bike by bus, bikes, Capital Metro news, community, MetroRail, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on August 22, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Today the new Capital Metro bike shelters, MetroBike, were featured in a very positive Austin American-Statesman editorial “Capital Metro’s rail service welcomes cyclists.”

Here is an excerpt of the article: “The last thing most Capital Metro rail commuters want to see during morning or evening rush hours is a passenger boarding with a bicycle in tow. A single commuter who brings along a bicycle on the MetroRail takes the space of four people. When it’s standing-room only, as most trains are during peak hours, bicycles have had to yield…Bike shelters by themselves won’t address the Austin area’s growing demand for transportation alternatives. But they help expand options, and that is a good thing.“

Capital Metro will be holding the MetroBike Grand Opening this Friday, Aug. 24, 2012, at 9:15 a.m. at the Kramer Station. We’ll be offering tours of the MetroBike shelter, guest speakers, and refreshments. Join us! Visit our MetroBike webpage for more details: http://www.capmetro.org/metrobike/.

To read the full Austin American-Statesman article, visit: http://ow.ly/d9CCS

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Capital Metro to upgrade rail warning system at six crossings

Posted in MetroRail, Rail Safety, Uncategorized, tagged , on August 13, 2012 | 3 Comments »

Capital Metro Rail Operations staff recently completed an assessment of the handful of private crossings along the 32-mile MetroRail Red Line.

Today at the Capital Metro Operations & Planning Committee meeting, VP of Rail Operations Melvin Clark outlined the assessment and our recommendations. The good news is that all of the private crossings meet Capital Metro’s standards.

The better news is that the assessment gives us an opportunity to review and update our standards for private crossings. Melvin reported to the board committee our plans to standardize the private crossings and install flashing light warning signals, as well as pursue closure of several private crossings as part of its ongoing commitment to safety.

We will install flashing warning lights at six private crossings—one per year over the next six years. It costs an estimated $200,000 per crossing to install the lights. Although the Federal Railroad Administration does not require warning lights as private crossings, we’ve programmed these upgrades to enhance safety along the commuter line.

We are also standardizing the crossing surface of each private crossing along the Red Line to asphalt or concrete panels. Three private crossings in the assessment had a gravel (they call it ballast in the railroad industry) crossing surface, which requires more ongoing maintenance depending on the volume of motor vehicle traffic. One of the three private crossings has already been resurfaced with concrete panels, and the remaining two crossings will be resurfaced over the next two months.

Ultimately, it is still up to the driving public to obey public safety and traffic laws. Capital Metro has an ongoing rail safety education program to raise awareness of rail safety issues. This fall, Capital Metro will launch a rail safety campaign to reach rural communities along Capital Metro’s freight railroad. Learn more about rail safety.

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To Our Riders: “You’re One in a Million”

Posted in community, commute community, events, MetroRail, MetroRapid, train, Trains & music, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on August 7, 2012 | 2 Comments »

In celebration of Capital Metro’s ridership increase over the past year, we will be partnering with Randolph Brooks Credit Union, Black Star Co-op and Midtown Commons in hosting our “You’re One in a Million” rider appreciation party on Aug. 10.

From October 2011 to June 2012, Capital Metro saw ridership increase by over one million trips from the previous time frame a year ago. Bus ridership increased by 3.9 percent, or roughly 898,000 trips and MetroRail ridership grew by over 49 percent, or roughly 133,000 trips. Total ridership is on pace to exceed 33 million passenger trips in 2012, with a projected increase to 34 million in 2013.  The increase in ridership is the direct result of streamlining and improving connectivity of routes throughout Capital Metro’s 522 square-mile service area, and also the dedication of area residents and visitors in choosing public transit.

All transit riders are invited on Friday! To thank passengers for riding, Capital Metro will hold customer celebration events at several MetroRail stations on August 10.

Early morning commuters at the Downtown, Howard, Lakeline and Leander stations will be treated to fresh donuts, hot coffee and “You’re One in a Million” buttons, courtesy of Randolph Brooks Credit Union.

Crestview Station will become party central from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. with balloons, banners and a rousing welcome from local band Conjunto Los Pinkys and Friends as each train pulls in. Through a Capital Metro partnership with Black Star Co-op at Midtown Commons, all transit riders who present a valid Capital Metro pass or ticket will also receive $1.50 off any house beer. In addition to the fun atmosphere, various lucky passengers will be selected at random from arriving trains and buses to win 7-Day Capital Metro passes. Crestview Station is located at 6920 North Lamar Boulevard in Austin.

“This event is to show how much we appreciate our riders,” said Capital Metro President and CEO Linda S. Watson. “At Capital Metro we strive to provide dependable, beneficial transit options for the community; we will continue to build on our ridership success into the future as we look at more ways of extending transit throughout the region.”Crestview Station

Crestview Station symbolizes a central hub of transit within Capital Metro’s service area where MetroRail and our busiest bus routes combine; in the future it also will be a location on MetroRapid Lamar route.

Riders are strongly encouraged to ride transit to the event, since there will be no parking available at Midtown Commons. MetroRail riders can get off at the Crestview Station and bus riders can take routes 1L/1M, 101 to the celebration. Use our Trip Planner to get step-by-step directions for using Capital Metro routes.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news. See you there!

Details

Date: Friday, August 10, 2012

Location: Crestview Station, 6920 North Lamar Blvd.

Time: 4:00pm-7:00pm

Take your valid Capital Metro bus/rail ticket to Black Star Co-op on Aug. 10 to get $1.50 off house beer.

A special thanks to our partners:

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