AUSTIN | Transportation Updates - Page 497

chinchaaa · #**9921** Posted **Oct 31, 2025, 5:08 PM**

Renewed Austin-San Antonio passenger rail push has wide support, Travis County judge says
https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/...y-passenger-rail-austin-san-antonio.html

Quote:

Earlier this month, Travis County approved spending roughly $125,000 for a study by HNTB Corp. regarding the feasibility of building a commuter rail along State Highway 130 and I-10 between Austin and San Antonio. The Texas Department of Transportation also has commissioned HNTB to complete a feasibility study of passenger rail between Austin and San Antonio, but along the existing Union Pacific freight rail line.

I think going along 130 is a complete flop idea. If the train originated at the Convention Center, followed Red Line tracks but split somewhere near Pleasant Valley and followed 183 past the airport (airport station needed) and then continued down 130, I would feel slightly better about it.

The obvious route here is the UP line. I hope they can make it work. Those tracks go right through all the little towns along the way to capture commuters and tourists.

drummer · #**9922** Posted **Nov 3, 2025, 3:20 PM**

It doesn't seem like UP wants to give those tracks up, unfortunately. While I generally agree with your assessment of an 130-only solution, I'm curious enough to see what comes of this effort. More people are speaking about it and it's not just train enthusiasts.

ATX2030 · #**9923** Posted **Nov 10, 2025, 6:23 PM**

Car-dominant Texas needs more public transit to meet mobility demands, TxDOT report says

by: Joshua Fechter, The Texas Tribune
Posted: Nov 10, 2025 / 07:24 AM CST

https://www.kxan.com/traffic/traffic-pro...meet-mobility-demands-txdot-report-says/

drummer · #**9924** Posted **Nov 10, 2025, 8:13 PM**

From the KXAN article linked above, there is a link to the following:

Statewide Multimodal Transit Plan
(TxDOT Project Page)

Some key links from that page:
Texas Statewide Multimodal Transit Plan 2050 (draft)
Texas Statewide Multimodal Transit Plan - Executive Summary

Texas SMTP Fall 2025 Survey

davidtexan · #**9925** Posted **Nov 21, 2025, 2:11 AM**

Advocates pushing to convert all 1-way streets to 2 ways in Downtown Austin

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/...69-634721fc-eed6-4028-ba69-962693e941c2#

ATX2030 · #**9926** Posted **Nov 21, 2025, 4:20 PM**

Is an electric train still coming to Austin? Here’s an update on the Austin Light Rail

by: Ava Brendgord
Posted: Nov 19, 2025 / 09:17 AM CST
Updated: Nov 19, 2025 / 09:21 AM CST

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/i...eres-an-update-on-the-austin-light-rail/

Timeline

According to ATP, the project is currently in its planning, design, and development phase until 2026. The project timeline is:

2020-2021: Approved and established
2022-2023: Defining scope and goals
2023- 2026: Planning, design, and project development
2026- 2027: Engineering and permitting
2027: Construction
2033: Open for service

“It does take a long time,” Canally said in regard to the 13-year timeline. “It’s a ten-mile system. We want to do it very well, and it’s very consistent with how these projects are done around the country.”

freerover · #**9927** Posted **Nov 21, 2025, 6:42 PM**

Once the plan clears NEPA in the next few months then we'll be legally allowed to start engineering on the preferred plan and filing permits.

Croon · #**9928** Posted **Nov 21, 2025, 7:50 PM**

Yeah, 2033 delivery at best. Same year as advertised delivery for I-35 project completion. I'll have left Austin in my dust by then.

Urbannizer · #**9929** Posted **Dec 3, 2025, 6:00 AM**

Congress Ave Streetscape Improvements

https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=463648

Croon · #**9930** Posted **Dec 3, 2025, 4:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

Congress Ave Streetscape Improvements

https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=463648

Man, they wanna wipe out my lucky parking spots the 300 block right in front of the Elephant Room. If this proposal gets realized, I gotta go pay $10+ in a garage before I even get in the door at the club. If we had real full-service rail in and out of downtown, I'd be less salty about wiping out parking spots.

freerover · #**9931** Posted **Dec 4, 2025, 7:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Croon

Man, they wanna wipe out my lucky parking spots the 300 block right in front of the Elephant Room. If this proposal gets realized, I gotta go pay $10+ in a garage before I even get in the door at the club. If we had real full-service rail in and out of downtown, I'd be less salty about wiping out parking spots.

Just take the bus.

chinchaaa · #**9932** Posted **Dec 4, 2025, 9:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Croon

Man, they wanna wipe out my lucky parking spots the 300 block right in front of the Elephant Room. If this proposal gets realized, I gotta go pay $10+ in a garage before I even get in the door at the club. If we had real full-service rail in and out of downtown, I'd be less salty about wiping out parking spots.

just park somewhere else. people need to stop expecting door to door service.

papertowelroll · #**9933** Posted **Dec 6, 2025, 3:12 PM**

I do think it's a big problem what has happened to parking downtown. The issue with the garages is that there is no transparency on pricing. With a meter you know exactly what it costs everywhere. With garages, you often have to go inside the garage and parse a sign to understand what parking there will cost. Then you find that it is priced absurdly high (sometimes 10x what a meter would be) and you are now on a wild goose chase trying to find a reasonably priced parking spot).

Riverranchdrone · #**9934** Posted **Dec 6, 2025, 4:22 PM**

Agreed. Parking garages are a joke in Austin. They should all be regulated for over pricing. Parking garages are easily $15 or more for 1 to 2 hours where a Parking meter is $2 or $2.50 for 2 hours. People around the Moody Center are paying $50 dollars to park for concerts. That is crazy.

atxsnail · #**9935** Posted **Dec 8, 2025, 3:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverranchdrone

Agreed. Parking garages are a joke in Austin. They should all be regulated for over pricing. Parking garages are easily $15 or more for 1 to 2 hours where a Parking meter is $2 or $2.50 for 2 hours. People around the Moody Center are paying $50 dollars to park for concerts. That is crazy.

Two things should be happening simultaneously: 1) garages should be charging fairly high rates because structured parking is expensive to build and 2) we should be putting ALL of them out of business by taking alternative means of transportation

I do think publicly owned garages should be more affordable but we definitely should not incentivize bad behavior with free/subsidized parking for anyone who wants to drive downtown.