It turns out you can get a lot accomplished in 35 years! Capital Metro celebrates our 35th anniversary this year, but even before we hit that mark, we’ve reached another milestone: 1 billion rides!
This month, one of our customers got on board the bus and took what was CapMetro’s 1 billionth trip since our formation in 1985. A lot has changed since then. To begin with, when CapMetro launched, we received about 225 buses from from the city of Austin. Today, there are more than 540 of our vehicles out on the streets and rails. And CapMetro provided about 7.75 million rides in our first full year and more than 31 million in 2019.
Ridership has been on the rise for the past year and a half, which is important for a lot of reasons, but its relationship to transit’s climate benefits will only increase in relevance as we move forward. By taking transit, our 1 billion customers have avoided adding the more than 445,000 tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that otherwise would’ve resulted if they’d driven alone in their cars. That’s important, but our buses are going to be on the roads no matter what. So, each additional rider who gets on a bus or train adds to CapMetro’s contribution to the battle against climate change. And, when Project Connect’s vision of an entire fleet of zero-emissions vehicles becomes a reality, that will increase exponentially.
So, Central Texas … thanks a billion!
Capital Metro is working with Austin Energy to introduce new all-electric buses to the city early next year. 
CapMetro is joining together with Whole Foods Market and the Central Texas Food Bank once again for Stuff the Bus!
A cheap costume that somehow never gets old. While there are lots of ghosts to choose from throughout the history of pop culture (Casper, Slimer, Samara, etc.), there’s something so simple and classic about just cutting some eye holes in a white sheet, throwing it over your head and calling it a day. And hey, if it’s good enough for Charlie Brown and Michael Myers, then it’s good enough for us all.
After the release of the third season of Stranger Things, you can bet we’ll see a bunch of its most iconic costumes out in the streets. And while you might think the Scoops uniform would be pretty easy to recreate, good luck replicating Steve “The Hair” Harrington’s luscious locks. No amount of volumizing shampoo or lifting spray can clone those genetics. We know. Life just ain’t fair.
Assuming you don’t have the vocal and/or songwriting chops, there’s no better way to pay homage to Daniel Johnston than a shout out to his Hi, How Are You frog. A pioneer of lo-fi sound and a staple of the Austin music scene, there’s bound to be a few out there “Walking the Cow” in honor of this legend.
You don’t need to be a detective to know that Pikachu will be the cutest costume this season. Double points to the dude who turns his Pokémon costume into a pun by carrying around a bowl of yellowfin tuna, thus evolving into the ultra-rare “Poké Man.”
Just like the genre itself, zombie costumes will never stay dead. Come Halloween night, we’ll be sure to see a bunch of Tallahassees, Wichitas and other “insert iconic city names” roaming the streets. But after a night of imbibing, don’t join the heard of the walking drunk. Just “Double Tap” the CapMetro App and hop a safe ride home.