Hey, check it out. If you’re planning to ride MetroRail next week and you work around UT or the Capitol, you might find one of five new Rail Connector bus routes very useful for getting to your final destination. Three of these connector routes pick up at the Downtown Station, and another two connect with MLK Station.
All of the routes are designed so that the bus is waiting for you when you deboard the train at MLK or Downtown Station. You have three minutes to get off the train and board the bus. In the afternoon, the rail connectors will drop you off at the station with between 8 – 13 minutes to spare before your train leaves. Click through for specifics on each of the five connectors, including maps.
#460 Downtown/Congress
460 travels up Congress to the Capitol, then east to Red River, and then back south to the Downtown Station. It makes seven stops including the stop at the Downtown Station. The bus ride from Downtown Station to 11th and Trinity is 7-8 minutes (the entire loop takes between 16 – 20 minutes).
461 is your route if you work downtown on Guadalupe, Lavaca, 5th or 6th. This connector serves the Austin Public Library and the Travis County Complex. It makes six stops including the Downtown Station, and the bus ride from the station to the Travis County Complex is 7-8 minutes.
#462 Downtown/Riverside
462 travels down Congress from 4th Street, then west on Riverside, north up the 1st Street Bridge, then east along Cesar Chavez. Austin American-Statesman staffers, City Hall buffs, and Radisson Hotel team, this is your route. It makes 8 stops total, including two at the Downtown Station. The bus ride from the station to Riverside at S. 1st is 7-9 minutes.
#464 MLK/Capitol
464 travels from MLK Station west down Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd to Congress, then south to the Capitol, and east on 15th before returning to the station. Brackenridge Hospital, Bob Bullock and Blanton museums, state office buildings and Capitol are all destinations on this route. It makes six stops including the stop at the MLK Station, and a bus ride from the station to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum is 6-8 minutes.
#465 MLK/University of Texas
465 is your route to UT. It makes five stops on campus, and a sixth stop at MLK Station. A bus ride from the station to the East Mall takes between 8-10 minutes.
The map images above are from our interactive route maps available on our Web site. These maps are really helpful because they show every stop on our routes, not just the stops associated with a specific timepoint in the schedule. They also list the amenities available at each stop, what other routes serve that stop, and oftentimes, a photo of the stop as well.
