A decade-old project to build a passenger rail line between the San Antonio and Austin areas picked up steam Wednesday with a public meeting of the Lone Star Rail Project. The meeting served as the kickoff to the project’s environmental impact study, which Lone Star Rail Director Joe Black called a “major, major point in […]
Transit
Posted inAustin, Local Government, Local Politics, Transit, Transportation
Council OKs changes to Lone Star Rail agreement
Austin City Council members Thursday approved a set of amendments to an interlocal agreement with the Lone Star Rail District. The action clears the way for rail district officials to count the city — and funding derived from special taxing districts around eight potential Austin stops — among its support as it moves forward with […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics, Transit, Transportation
Council scales back Riley’s quarter-cent proposal
Austin City Council members Thursday declined to solely commit $20.4 million derived from Capital Metro quarter-cent funds to projects along the Airport Boulevard corridor. Instead, they opted to commit $2 million for various short-term improvements in the region. The $20.4 million in question is the last of $139.4 million raised as part of an agreement […]
Posted inAustin, Local Government, Transit, Transportation
City may consider Lone Star funding commitment
Austin’s role in funding a proposed commuter rail line that would run through Austin and San Antonio is up in the air ahead of consideration at today’s City Council meeting, with staff and some Council members disagreeing on whether it is time to commit property tax money to the project. Council members may amend an […]
Posted inAustin, Hays County, Local Government, Transit, Transportation, Travis County, Williamson County
CAMPO board OKs list of future transit projects
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Policy Board approved a recommended list of regional transit projects Monday, including a commuter rail line from Elgin to Austin and multiple new MetroRapid Bus routes, to prioritize for potential funding under its draft long-range plan. The board also approved a recommended list of roadway projects in Travis, […]
Posted inAustin, Local Politics, Transit, Transportation
Riley plan for quarter-cent funds raises concerns
City Council Member Chris Riley ran into concerns from both Austin city management and his Council colleagues over a plan to use $20.4 million in funds raised through a Capital Metro one-quarter-cent tax agreement for transportation infrastructure improvements along Airport Boulevard. If approved, Riley’s proposal would use the money — the remainder of $139.4 million […]
Posted inAustin, Local Government, Transit, Transportation
Panel dusts off plans for Green Line rail
With the rail bond defeat in the rearview mirror, this week the City Council Comprehensive Planning and Transportation Committee took a look at a long-planned but almost forgotten rail line that could connect Austin will communities to the east. The proposed Green Line would connect Elgin, Manor, Decker Lake and downtown Austin. The route, which […]
Posted inPreservation, Transit
Landmark Commission delays fate of Pine Street
The future of East Austin’s Pine Street Station will remain in limbo for at least another month after last week’s postponement of a grass-roots bid for historic landmark designation. Though the Historic Landmark Commission again discussed the buildings at Fifth and Waller streets, the case was postponed again. Following public outcry about the proposed demolition […]
Posted inAustin, Elections, Transit, Transportation
Martinez to pitch bus rapid transit investments
City Council Member and Austin mayoral candidate Mike Martinez is looking to pitch multiple bus rapid transit lines as the next major transportation investment for the area. In an interview with the Monitor, Martinez nodded to the work done by Project Connect – efforts that led to a $600 million rail bond question that was […]
Posted inAustin, Development, Housing, Transit
City beefs up transit portion of SMART Housing
With a swift, unanimous approval, City Council members amended the transit requirements for the city’s SMART Housing program last week. SMART stands for Safe, Mixed-income, Accessible and Reasonably-priced Transit-oriented housing. Last week, Council tweaked the “T” to require that SMART Housing be located within a half-mile walking distance of a transit route. Council members voted […]
Posted inDevelopment, Land Development Code, Transit, Transportation
Austin Monitor Radio, Show 22
Brennan Griffin and Amy Hartman of AURA join Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to talk about the past, present, and future of the organization. Link below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/174499415″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inTransit, Transportation
Study: Urban rail could add $31 billion to Austin economy by 2030
A staff-produced study of the potential economic impact of a complete urban rail system for the City of Austin concludes that a layout that includes rail service along South Congress Avenue and East Riverside Drive could result in $31 billion of total economic impact by 2030. The projections further suggest that a project on that […]