AUSTIN | Transportation Updates

[The ATX]

This thread has a tough audience. Any mistakes are promptly and pointedly corrected.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by The ATX

This thread has a tough audience. Any mistakes are promptly and pointedly corrected.

Sorry

It's just I was confused when I first read that, my mind went to the section just south of there (which has actually started construction).

[Novacek]

so potentially beating a dead horse (so ignore if you like):

CapMetro in the most recent board meeting had some updated ridership numbers following the decrease in fare for Metrorapid

https://www.capmetro.org/uploadedFiles/N...20Directors%20-%20Full%20Agenda-1663.pdf


I had some extra time, so I finally got around to doing what I've been meaning to for a while, chart the actual ridership of the metrorapid corridors, compare what they were right before Metrorapid, and compare them to the overall system as a whole.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XCou8ZDYzT0SkS4epuyRda0TCVsLlmoj3RK__rW-xyA/edit#gid=0

so the final conclusion seems to be:

1) ignoring 803, ridership in the G/L corridor is still slightly down from 2013. Though I'm not sure that's the most valid comparison, since the 803 runs on Guadalupe from CC to 38.

2) The two metrorapid corridors in total are doing better than 2013, if not quite their historical peak.

3) Either of the above are far outpacing the system as a whole, which has been essentially cratering since 2012 (and possibly before).

4) So while I'm sure they would have preferred outright gains, outpacing the overall system by ~25% isn't that bad.


Edit: I need to go back and add the 338, since apparently CapMetro is now considering it part of the "803 corridor". It's the first I've heard it called such, but I don't think it will change the overall numbers much.

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Edit: I need to go back and add the 338, since apparently CapMetro is now considering it part of the "803 corridor". It's the first I've heard it called such, but I don't think it will change the overall numbers much.

I think the only reason the 338 is part of the 803 corridor is because both buses run from Westgate Mall up Lamar to Butler. The 338 keeps going up Lamar to 45th - then 45th to Airport - Hancock Center.

The 803 goes into downtown after the Butler stop and then goes up Lavaca/comes down Guadalupe.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by LoneStarMike

I think the only reason the 338 is part of the 803 corridor is because both buses run from Westgate Mall up Lamar to Butler. The 338 keeps going up Lamar to 45th - then 45th to Airport - Hancock Center.

The 803 goes into downtown after the Butler stop and then goes up Lavaca/comes down Guadalupe.

Right. It just feels a bit funny to include it when comparing changes in the two metrorapid corridors when the majority of its run isn't in the 803 corridor. Though I suppose the 201 only shares about half its run with the 801, and they've always included that comparison.


I did update my numbers though, and it doesn't really change much, as I expected. If anything, it emphasizes the pre-metrorapid drop in ridership (it lost 1/3 of it's riders before metrorapid).

[The ATX]

No news here. I just like posting someone's ridiculous fantasy of something that will never happen, a la the gondolas.


http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/tr...ton-a-hub-of-Hyperloop-hope-11050159.php

[ahealy]

Originally Posted by The ATX

No news here. I just like posting someone's ridiculous fantasy of something that will never happen, a la the gondolas.

That's how I feel every time I open this thread

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by ahealy

That's how I feel every time I open this thread

I'll stick to posting my own fantasies about what should happen.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by The ATX

No news here. I just like posting someone's ridiculous fantasy of something that will never happen, a la the gondolas.


http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/tr...ton-a-hub-of-Hyperloop-hope-11050159.php

This is how rumors get started.

"Hey guys, I saw a picture of what the hyperloop will look like along I-35. It's so stinkin' high! It's gonna be awesome! San Antonio in 7.3 minutes!"

[Novacek]

Okay, not really Austin related, but I ran across a slightly older article on the London gondola and its failures.

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2016/09/london-gondola-alcohol/498356/

[Novacek]

There was a council mobility committee meeting yesterday.

A bit about the mobility bond implementation and project connect

http://www.austintexas.gov/department/city-council/2017/20170503-mobc.htm

[brando]

Originally Posted by Novacek

There was a council mobility committee meeting yesterday.

A bit about the mobility bond implementation and project connect

http://www.austintexas.gov/department/city-council/2017/20170503-mobc.htm

The council passed all of the proposals to start spending bond money. New city employees, widening Parmer Ln, 360 overpasses, a cut-through road connecting RM 2222 and RM 620, and consultant studies on various city roads, as well as design and construction of sidewalks, bikeway, trails, street repairs and safety improvements to roads. It's 110 million of the bond money combined with about 230 million from TxDot.

The additional city staffers were necessary to facilitate all of the projects in the bond in a 6 year span.

[smt1]

Statesman article:
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/transpor...ty-bond-spending/aWvCZFrBsSHgkmhiTcyFdN/

[drummer]

Here's an article from Community Impact:

https://communityimpact.com/austin/city-...nd-round-funding-mobility-bond-projects/


This article had links to two older articles talking about what could happen with specific projects, so I wanted to put them here as well:

The 620/2222 bypass:
https://communityimpact.com/austin/news/2017/02/14/road-changes-headed-four-points/

The changes for 360:
https://communityimpact.com/austin/northwest-austin/news/2016/11/22/big-changes-loop-360/

[brando]

Originally Posted by smt1

Statesman article:
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/transpor...ty-bond-spending/aWvCZFrBsSHgkmhiTcyFdN/

Roughly six months after Austin voters approved a historically large transportation bond program, the city began in earnest Thursday to spend that money.
The Austin City Council without discussion approved a series of measures authorizing more than $110 million in projects stemming from the $720 million bond proposition. Some of that money will have to come from existing city revenue, then be reimbursed when the city in August begins to issue debt by selling property-tax-backed bonds.

The council also gave the go-ahead to hire 21 more employees in five city departments to help meet a tight eight-year deadline imposed by the council to get all of the transportation bond projects done.

RELATED: Austin pressured to go fast on ‘go big’ transportation bond program

As part of the $110 million approved Thursday, the council authorized agreements with the Texas Department of Transportation in which the city will provide part of the money for design and construction of improvements on TxDOT highways in Austin. That includes:

• $46 million of bond money on Loop 360 for overpasses, with TxDOT kicking in $204 million.

• $7.5 million for a new cut-through road between RM 2222 and RM 620, joining $17.9 million from TxDOT.

• $17 million from the city to widen Parmer Lane, augmented by $6 million from TxDOT.

Much of that spending might not occur for a year or more as TxDOT works on environmental clearance and design of the highway work.

The council also passed a measure adding $39 million to the current budget for consultant studies on various city roads, as well as design and construction of sidewalks, bikeways, trails, street repairs and safety improvements to roads.

RELATED: What will Austin transportation bond pay for?

The council action comes as the city kicks off what appears to be the first actual construction under the auspices of the $720 million bond. According to an April 24 memo to the council, Assistant City Manager Robert Goode said crews began work late last month on a sidewalk on Chesterfield Avenue between North Loop and Koenig Lane, a stretch of the road that has no sidewalk on either side despite being near an elementary school.

That work is expected to take six to eight weeks, Goode wrote, and is part of eight miles of “early-out” projects that were already designed and ready for construction when voters approved the bonds in November.


The bond program includes $482 million to make over at least some of nine major roads listed for voters (although that money will fall far short of what it takes to do all of them); $101 million for “regional” mobility such as the Loop 360 and Parmer Lane projects; and $137 million for bikeways, sidewalks, trails and road repair.

Before the election, city officials estimated that once all $720 million in bonds have been issued (likely by 2020 or so), annual property taxes on a $250,000 home would increase by about $56 to generate revenue for repayment of that debt.

Adding those overpasses to 360 will help future non-road projects because west austiners tend to react negatively to any projects in the city core because of how bad 360 is. It's good in general at how many of these projects address outside austin. People made a big deal about the last light rail route but at the end of the day everyone inside Mopac, 71, North 183 and almost to East 183 voted for the bill and everyone else voted against it. South and West austin especially.

The vote also authorizes the city to add 21 new staffers in order to work on a greater number of simultaneous projects which is long overdue. They will also have to start working on a 2018 mobility bond proposal asap. The council has indicated that they will address rail... again. Housing development will likely be much further along by then so voters will see the benefits of not running rail down N. Lamar which has relatively few residences within 1/4 mile of the road. Complexes like the triangle and handful of other ones can't equate to a corridor built like S. Lamar which might have the greatest concentration of housing along a single corridor in Austin. I understand N. Lamar as an express route getting people from north austin to downtown but not a corridor that has enough close hosing/commercial to fill stops along the way.

[brando]

Do any of you guys post to any other forums that deal heavily with austin transportation?

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by brando

Do any of you guys post to any other forums that deal heavily with austin transportation?

There's city-data and urbanplanet. I don't know any others, and don't post much on either.

[lzppjb]

shaggytexas has a funny thread where everyone bitches about Mopac construction. lol

[KevinFromTexas]

There's also SkyscraperCity.com, which is the sister forum to this one. It's about the only other forum I've maintained a profile on, but I mainly visit this one since I've been here for so long.

Originally Posted by lzppjb

shaggytexas has a funny thread where everyone bitches about Mopac construction. lol

lol

[brando]

Lyft/Uber could return to Austin as soon as next week assuming the Governor doesn't delay signing the new ride sharing bill that passed the Texas Ledge. It will go into effect immediately upon signing.