AUSTIN | Transportation Updates

[Nickelplate]

In a poll for best Austin traffic ideas, removing vehicular traffic from Congress Ave ranked first in customer satisfaction.
You know what ranked last in customer satisfaction? Adding vehicular traffic on 6th St. What a terrible idea. Reminds me of that tragedy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkSMSbFV_q0

[Sigaven]

I think pedestrianizing 6th street is a better than pedestrianizing Congress. Especially with the upgrades they're proposing to the buildings and venues.

[WesternSon]

Originally Posted by Sigaven

I think pedestrianizing 6th street is a better than pedestrianizing Congress. Especially with the upgrades they're proposing to the buildings and venues.

Well, that is your .02, but the people are who actually making the investments to the buildings want the two traffic restored.

https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/20...xth-street-open-to-traffic-at-all-times/

[myBrain]

Originally Posted by WesternSon

Well, that is your .02, but the people are who actually making the investments to the buildings want the two traffic restored.

https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/20...xth-street-open-to-traffic-at-all-times/

I for one couldn't care less about what a Dallas investor wants 6th street to be.

I think we should all be extremely skeptical of Stream realty -- especially given their lackluster plans for the area. https://communityimpact.com/austin/south...th-plans-for-232-unit-mixed-use-project/

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by WesternSon

Well, that is your .02, but the people are who actually making the investments to the buildings want the two traffic restored.

https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/20...xth-street-open-to-traffic-at-all-times/

Yes, roll over backward to rich people by handing them out bad planning. Superb idea.

[freerover]

[Croon]

Originally Posted by Sigaven

I think pedestrianizing 6th street is a better than pedestrianizing Congress. Especially with the upgrades they're proposing to the buildings and venues.

I agree. But I wish doing so was coupled with expanded Red Line schedule. One problem though is that with the overhaul of 35 on the horizon for several years, the downtown station will be dormant for a good while because of 35 construction.

[freerover]

Originally Posted by Croon

I agree. But I wish doing so was coupled with expanded Red Line schedule. One problem though is that with the overhaul of 35 on the horizon for several years, the downtown station will be dormant for a good while because of 35 construction.

It's hard to extend the red line schedule until they have full double tracking from Uptown to Downtown so they can run freight and Commuter rail on that section at the same time. They are still a very long time away from full double tracking.


So far, they have not said they will have to shut down red line service for an extended period but I just don't believe that. Both the 4th St and Airport Blvd crossing seem like 6 month closures to me but maybe I'm wrong.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by freerover

It's hard to extend the red line schedule until they have full double tracking from Uptown to Downtown so they can run freight and Commuter rail on that section at the same time.

If this is the plan… I oppose. Temporal separation of freight and passenger is necessary and best practice in the vast majority of cases despite no longer being technically required by federal law.

[gillynova]

Part 1 overview of Austin's future light rail. They're local and went into depth with nice Google Earth visuals!

• Video Link

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by gillynova

Part 1 overview of Austin's future light rail. They're local and went into depth with nice Google Earth visuals!

• Video Link

Already taken down?

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

If this is the plan… I oppose. Temporal separation of freight and passenger is necessary and best practice in the vast majority of cases despite no longer being technically required by federal law.

there's temporal separation and then there's _temporal separation_. There's a difference between running a freight train through a station a minute after a passenger train, and having to wait literally hours after the last passenger train to run freight and vice versa.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by Novacek

there's temporal separation and then there's _temporal separation_. There's a difference between running a freight train through a station a minute after a passenger train, and having to wait literally hours after the last passenger train to run freight and vice versa.

I don’t think they should have to wait hours, either, but that’s entirely different than what freerover said:

[…] so they can run freight and Commuter rail on that section at the same time.

Hence why I replied the way I replied. And besides, that’s not the point of double tracking anyway.

Source: an insider.

[Urbannizer]

Uber to Austin: get ready for Waymo

Uber is getting ready for the launch of Waymo’s public robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, prompting customers to join a list of people interested in riding in the Alphabet-owned company’s AVs when they finally go live. It also revealed photos of the new co-branded robotaxis that will operate across a swath of the Texas capital as part of the new service.

Currently, Waymo isn’t open to the public in Austin. The company’s driverless vehicles are only available to a small group of people who joined Waymo’s waitlist to become early testers of the service. Waymo has not said when the service will open up to the broader public, but reading between the lines of this Uber announcement, it sounds like it may be soon.

Anyone else part of the beta group? I’m not a fan of them partnering with Uber given they have their own independent ride-share. The vehicles are quite responsive to other drivers. I feel safer than a Uber/Lyft.

Pros:
Responsive to other drivers abrupt behavior.
Can detect pedestrians and vehicles actions before they perform them
Pulls off quickly from a stop/light (thanks to the torque from the electric battery)
Music connectivity

Cons:
Not the most direct route
Goes the speed limit in the fast lane (can we program these to go +5-10 mph outside of residential areas or keep right outside of traffic hours?)
Slows down to designated limit in school zones even outside of hours

I took rides in the Cruise autonomous vehicles before they shuttered and I call tell you these are 1000x better.

[freerover]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

I don’t think they should have to wait hours, either, but that’s entirely different than what freerover said:



Hence why I replied the way I replied. And besides, that’s not the point of double tracking anyway.

Source: an insider.

It was a stated and published goal at one point for Cap Metro to build out double tracking to allow for freight and commuter traffic so they can offer late night and commuter service. I'm not sure why that would have changed. The lack of late night services is one of the most common complaints on the red line.


There is no single "point" to double tracking. There are benefits to double tracking like more frequent service, less waiting etc and more flexibility with freight.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by freerover

It was a stated and published goal at one point for Cap Metro to build out double tracking to allow for freight and commuter traffic so they can offer late night and commuter service. I'm not sure why that would have changed. The lack of late night services is one of the most common complaints on the red line.


There is no single "point" to double tracking. There are benefits to double tracking like more frequent service, less waiting etc and more flexibility with freight.

I think there's confusion/contention over "at the same time". I don't think the double tracking necessarily means that passengers and freight would literally be operating simultaneously (with a freight train passing through a station while there are passengers waiting there for a passenger train coming a minute later).

I don't have particular insight into CM's plans or scheduling, nor have they talked about it in that level of detail. But it seems like hypothetically late night service means at some point the passenger rail starts using a single line, runs that way several hours until say midnight, then freight starts running like a half hour later on the other line. AFAIK CM is currently precluded from running the two modes this close because of the shared line.

[freerover]

Originally Posted by Novacek

I think there's confusion/contention over "at the same time". I don't think the double tracking necessarily means that passengers and freight would literally be operating simultaneously (with a freight train passing through a station while there are passengers waiting there for a passenger train coming a minute later).

I don't have particular insight into CM's plans or scheduling, nor have they talked about it in that level of detail. But it seems like hypothetically late night service means at some point the passenger rail starts using a single line, runs that way several hours until say midnight, then freight starts running like a half hour later on the other line. AFAIK CM is currently precluded from running the two modes this close because of the shared line.

[electricron]

I think it is important to remember that CapMetro Rail had ordered their Stadler GTWs twice. Once before DCTA, North Texas COG, and Stadler went through the long effort to get their GTWs alternate compliant with the FRA. Which resulted in the new Alternate Compliance regulations issued by the FRA.
Second after the FRA Alternate compliance was in effect. It's entirely possible the last few GTWs order by CapMetro might be alternate compliant, and can run on CapMetro tracks with the very few freight trains running over it. And I have no idea what modifications they would have to make to the earlier GTWs to make them alternate compliant. Just suggesting that it could be done.

What I am certain is that the Stadler KISS and FLIRT trains built in Salt Lake City at the Stadler plant are FRA compliant, and that zero GTWs running in the USA were built there.
That's why I am suggesting they might be alternate compliant now, especially if they are suggesting they can operate with freight trains on the Red Line at the same time.,

[JAM]

Tesla Inc. will launch “unsupervised, self-driving” Cybercabs as a paid service in Austin this June, owner Elon Musk announced in a recent stakeholder call.

https://communityimpact.com/austin/south...-race-austin-launch-set-for-summer-2025/

[enragedcamel]

What website can I check to see I-35 contruction/expansion progress in its various sections throughout the Austin area? I'm looking for something that shows timelines as well as percentage of completion.