And by the way, in case anybody doubted - the picture and backpedalling shows that electricron is purposefully misleading you. The DMU in Jersey did, in fact, have to condemn corners of city blocks in order to make its turns, just like I said.

Part of the problem with the Sounder is that it's, you know, full of freight the rest of the day.

As far as the MAX goes, the TOD was very slow to start and most of the "successful TOD!!!" harping was based on Orenco, which isn't bad but it's not all that great either. More recent (Past 5 years) TOD has had less parking (a decrease that would make Austinites plotz) and more emphasis on necessity commodities rather than making lifestyle centers.

I think the Triangle filled up because it's dirt cheap and local. Hesitance to move into most city cores is due to sky-high prices, which isn't the case in Austin.

I am not entirely convinced that TOD in Austin would be a much larger draw because it is certain to be trumped up and the prices jacked sky high since homes and apartments are already pretty cheap. In the cases of places like Hillsboro, the more recent TOD has offered people the chance to be within a one-seat ride of downtown and generally within 2 seats of work. Goose Hollow has some pretty cheap condos (~$200k for a studio) within a 5 minute train ride of downtown, but their draw is how cheap they are compared to the older homes and overall market.

I agree that in our burg at the present time, TOD is irrelevant - there's substantial demand to live in urban environments anyways - but the rail is essential to prevent those environments from choking on their own traffic.

A low-capacity commuter line that doesn't go anywhere worth going and that, despite the lies being peddled by electricon and Lyndon Henry's gang, can never be evolved into a line that goes anywhere worth going isn't going to provide any help.

The problem with TOD is the risk is sometimes pretty high. The far-out TOD in Beaverton/Hillsboro is doing pretty well, but the TOD in central Beaverton (The Round) is failing. Hard. Even the parking structure that's within spitting distance of the parking-free and 2nd most used transit center on the Westside goes unused since everyone just takes a bus in and transfers.

Of course, that's probably because nobody really explains WHY you should live in a TOD instead of the existing town around it and nobody explains why housing and residential development around stations is different from having an espresso stand and cop shop a few feet from the tracks.

Apparently Austin's parking is expensive. I never would have guess.

http://www.statesman.com/business/co...23parking.html

I am likewise dubious. I've not had a problem parking on the street when visiting downtown during the day, and have quite often parked in a garage for just a couple bucks.

So, who's correct, you or the local newspaper?

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
It can be a pain to find parking in downtown Austin.
Now a new national study shows that parking at lots and garages here is more expensive than in many other cities.
The study, by the National Parking Association, compared parking costs in 123 cities in the United States and Canada. It covered 4,500 facilities with more than 1.5 million spaces.
Austin has the 17th most-expensive first-hour parking rate in the country, averaging $8. The top five in the category are Century City, Calif.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Boston; New York; and Los Angeles.
In terms of daily parking rates (12 hours), Austin was the 14th most-expensive U.S. city, with an average cost of $19.50.

When was the last time you paid to park in downtown Austin? Years ago?

I'm not sure where they're getting their figures from. $8 for first-hour parking? On average? That's the most expensive I've seen, and that's usually at "peak" hours on the weekend. Most of the surface lots are more like $6 or $7, and that's not per hour, that's just to park there.

And that, of course, is assuming you need a lot or garage and can't find a metered spot.

Earlier this year. And I usually just park on the street when being there during the day. As priller has confirmed, the numbers seem very high to those of us who actually live here.

Who the hell are you, anyways?

yeah those number cant be right. the most i seen downtown for a parking garage was 7 buck and there was no time limit. and on the street with the meters its like 25 cents for like 15 mins or a half an hour( i forgot). so 8 bucks and hour is off

I forget what the lots are in San Antonio, we typically park in the garages which are usually 8 to 9 dollars.

i have been in downtown austin several times this year on business (from san antonio) and have never paid more than $7 FOR THE DAY in downtown garages.

i think the numbers might be skewed by hotels that charge $25 a day to their visitors. consider what percentage of available DT parking is in hotels...

I parked in a garage one block from the federal bldg.(not a hotel garage) at 8:45AM two weeks ago, and it was frigging $11.00 for the first hour!! I would have gone hunting for something cheaper, but I was late trying to get to the federal courthouse. That may have been an $11.00 all day rate. I am not sure about the details. I was in and out in an hour.

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 2:54 PM CDT | Modified: Monday, September 29, 2008 - 3:12 PM
VivaAerobus adding nonstop from Austin to Puerto VallartaAustin Business Journal
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VivaAerobus has added another nonstop flight out of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. This time, it’s Puerto Vallarta.

The Mexican discount airline announced the new service at ABIA on Monday. The service, which will be offered two days a week, begins Jan. 15.

VivaAerobus’ Austin-Puerto Vallarta flights will be on Thursdays and Sundays. Flights will depart Austin at 3 p.m. and arrive in Puerto Vallarta at 5:05 p.m. Flights will depart Puerto Vallarta at 11:55 a.m. and arrive in Austin at 2:15 p.m.

This is VivaAerobus’ third nonstop destination from Austin. The carrier also offers flights to Cancun and Monterrey.

All VivaAerobus flights are $9.99 one way. But with fees, the average flight totals about $200 round trip, says ABIA spokesman Jim Halbrook.

Cap Metro trains finally get permission from the FRA.

http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...svc=7&cxcat=52

Federal Railroad Administration and Capital Metro officials said Monday they have agreed that as soon as possible the transit agency will design and install a steel cage to surround fuel tanks on its six trains, tanks that the railroad administration said in February were insufficiently sturdy.
Cap Metro will also prepare a number of other documents requested by the regulators, principally outlines for testing, inspection, safety and other operational issues.

Round Rock express?
 

Round Rock express?

City studying ways to do commuter rail

Austin Business Journal by Kate Harrington



While Austin residents look ahead to the start of commuter rail service in March, the city of Round Rock has quietly begun studying the feasibility of its own commuter rail.



One of the leading proposals the city is examining would bring a $50 million, 4.5-mile commuter rail link from a station near I-35 and Greenlawn Boulevard to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s red line via the State Highway 45 median, says David Bartels, administrator in Round Rock’s Planning, Programs & Administration Department. The city has spent about $32 million acquiring right of way along that part of the SH 45 corridor.



The study is in preliminary stages; while the city has determined that the project is technically feasible, big-picture questions such as how to pay for the rail and its service remain.



Bartels says the $50 million cost for the proposed line includes construction of the line and buying two sets of rail cars identical to those Cap Metro is using on its red line. It does not cover maintenance and operation, though.



And Round Rock, like many Williamson County cities, is not within Cap Metro’s jurisdiction.



Bartels says city staff and officials are not sure what financing for the proposed rail link would look like, or whether federal funding, bonds or revenue from another agency would play a role.



Round Rock staff so far have looked at a number of options for running the proposed rail, from partnering with Georgetown and Pflugerville to asking the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority to build and run it, Bartels says.



CTRMA Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein declined to comment on Round Rock’s proposed rail.



Ed Polasek, principal planner for the city of Georgetown, says city staff have been talking with Round Rock staff about the possibility of expanding the proposed rail to Georgetown, where it could come into the planned Austin-San Antonio rail station.



That regional commuter rail line is proposed to run from Georgetown to San Antonio, but it has been stalled due to a lack of funds to relocate the Union Pacific freight line from the proposed ASA corridor.



“We’ve said, ‘Yes this makes sense,’ but we haven’t taken the next step about the funding,” Polasek says. “We’d talked about creating a tax increment financing zone for the ASA station to help fund improvements. … We haven’t looked at what would be required beyond that TIF revenue, and if there’s capital cost, under whose auspices would it be.”



Other Williamson County cities have also been studying ways to increase public transit options.



The city of Cedar Park is close to completing the first part of a two-part study, Assistant City Manager Jose Madrigal says. That study examines the city’s needs for public transit and possible scenarios for getting some service from Cap Metro’s red line, which will run through Cedar Park.



“We’ve been talking to Cap Metro to find out what price they think would be equitable to them stopping here,” he says.



Cedar Park is not considering doing away with the portion of its sales tax money that funds its economic development department, Madrigal says. The city has also talked to Round Rock about its rail proposal, he says, and is open to hearing more.



“They laid the plan out and talked about what their ideas were,” he says. “If we could find a way to work with them, we definitely would. We’re open to all options.”



Bartels says a limited analysis done by Round Rock staff of potential economic development around the proposed rail stop showed the city could see anywhere from 1.5 million square feet of commercial and office space with conventional development to more than 10 million square feet of office and commercial space with residential components if mixed-use development occurs around the stop.

Funding options are already listed in the Texas Transportation Codes.
The easiest solution is to join CapMetro; Or Williamson County forming its own transit agency. But that probably requires using additional sales taxes, which most likely these cities no longer have available under the State 8.25% cap.

For those ignorant of the State sales tax cap, 6.25% goes to the State, 1% goes to the city, and there's another 1% available that could be used for transit, economic development, police, lower property taxes, etc. But the maximum sales tax is limited to 8.25%. Cities have to pick and choose what to use that additional 1% sales tax for.

Presently, Williamson County is large enough to finance its own Transit Agency, like Denton County has. But, Travis County isn't quite large enough to use Section 460 that Denton County uses. But that could change by 2010, as Travis County is very close to reaching 1 million souls.
Note (1)§ 460.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to a county that is adjacent to a county with a population of more than
one million.
Note (2) Travis County population (2006) was 921,006

Meanwhile, the option of joining CapMetro is still viable. On April 1, 2009, any election vote to join a Section 452 Transit Agency automatically cancels other sales taxes (of that additional 1% cities can charge) to no more than 8.25%. Read Section 452.6025 below.

http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes...htm#452.602.00

But I'm not sure CapMetro is based upon Section 452, although it's a definite possibility. But alas, there is no equivalent 452.6025 in the statues under Section 460. So two votes will be required, one to cancel other sales tax to make room for a transit tax, and one to add a transit tax.

It's a shame the State limits funding resources to specific scenarios for the various types of Transit Agencies. Maybe too restrictive. It doesn't leave much room for creative financing the Williamon County cities desire.

It'll be far easier, in the long run, to cancel economic development sales taxes, and just raise the property taxes to cover the already issued bonds, then use sales tax to fund, and operate the transit agency. Economic development opportunities are far more flexible under State Law than Transit.

If Capital Metro had the power, they'd be better off telling Round Rock to go jump in a lake - accepting Round Rock's passengers at an intermodal station, if there ever are any, would be a huge loss for the agency.

Of course, they don't, because CM is always struggling for survival at the state level. But if this ever happens, and if anybody ever rides, it'll just be another of the long list of subsidies Austin is forced to give our 'friends' in Round Rock.

Statesman Commentary
 

Cowman: Central Texas must take a regional view of transit
John D. Cowman, MAYOR OF LEANDER
Sunday, October 19, 2008

Everyone seems to talk about Central Texas' transportation issues. In downtown Austin, many solutions have been offered: trolley cars, parking garages, rubber tires and/or steel wheels and the like. We treat traffic congestion like the weather; we act as if we have no control over it. I offer the following approach to solve our regional transportation issues.

I do not know if it's best to dedicate lanes, time traffic lights, go with steel wheels or rubber-tires or implement some combination of the aforementioned. But I do know for sure that the traffic problem downtown is not solely Austin's problem. Downtown Austin's traffic problem is the region's traffic problem.

Many Central Texans come into downtown Austin to work and play. You can see this daily migration on the southbound lanes of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) and the northbound lanes of Interstate 35. Downtown is where we all seem to end up; Austin is the hub for the region.

Capital Metro's MetroRail is set to begin operation from Leander to downtown Austin on March 30, 2009. This will be a great day for Leander and Austin as well as the region, as I am sure the system will be enjoyed by eager commuters finally getting an alternative to their daily grind of driving and fighting traffic. When commuters disembark in Austin, they will reach their final destinations on foot, by bike, by Dillo or other local bus, or by a specially-designated circulator bus that will be ready and waiting for train passengers. It's a great interim solution and will work on a temporary basis, but these commuters will be hungry for better access, for a system that connects them to all places they need and want to go — for a system that links our region.

What we need is a regional transit system, one that connects all areas of our region; one that uses the right system for the connections, whether commuter rail, light rail, ultra light rail, streetcars, trolleys, express buses, bus rapid transit or local bus.

We need to come together as regional partners and fix the regional problem that affects all of us. The University of Texas, Austin Community College and cities in Williamson, Hays, Travis, Bastrop and Caldwell counties should come together to call a "regional referendum" for our 25-year transportation needs. We need leaders who are willing to make the best decisions for the whole region. I am challenging all entities in the five-county area to help develop a long-term transportation plan. We need leaders and professionals to step up. Now.

First, we need a regional bond program to create and maintain a downtown Austin transit system. Second, we could use existing rail lines to add commuter rail from Elgin/Manor to Austin. Third, we could use the Mokan right-of way to build a commuter link between Georgetown/Round Rock and Austin.Finally, we need a link from downtown to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. We also need to be planning the Buda/Kyle corridor as well as Oak Hill and beyond, connecting ultimately with San Marcos, New Braunfels and San Antonio.

As mayor of Leander, I recognize that a regional problem that affects us all. No matter where the problem is, I am willing to invest my share in helping Georgetown, Oak Hill or Elgin just as long as long as I know that we are working together as a region to solve our problems. I am willing to step up. I am challenging all city councils, boards of regents, commissions, neighborhood groups and the like to push in the same direction.

Remember, a region divided cannot stand.

How about the long list of subsidies the entire State, including Williamson County, gives to Austin?
Most cities in Texas charge 8.25 cents sales tax, with the State (meaning Austin) getting 6.25 cents of that.

And please don't suggest every penny Williamson County gives to the State comes back to Williamson County.
We all know it doesn't, that a good share of State taxes remains in Austin.........

What's wrong with the arrangement Dallas and Fort Worth has with the TRE? Passengers boarding in Tarrant County fees remains with the "T", those boarding in Dallas County fees remain with "Dart". A similar arrangement could be made with Round Rock, or Williamson County.

Solutions are easy to find if you get away from the "Them vs Us" mentality.

As for CapMetro's financial difficulties, they sort of brought it upon themselves. At one time, many cities in Williamson County had joined CapMetro. Their earlier light rail scheme left those cities out, which is why they not only voted the earlier light rail project down, but also voted to get out of CapMetro. Why continue to pay a one cent sales tax to CapMetro when just receiving service a half cent sales tax could finance?