Austin, Monitored: Trouble at AUS, Council divided over water request

Austin’s ‘dire’ air traffic controller shortage raises risk of flight delays

From Nathan Bernier, KUT News:

A shortage of air traffic controllers at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) has increasingly forced federal officials to slow the pace of arriving flights, at times holding planes on the ground in other cities to avoid overwhelming the tower.

The delays — known as “ground delay programs” — don’t happen every day. But they were triggered twice in May alone, a growing symptom of an acute staffing crisis inside the tower, where controllers are enduring mandatory overtime, six-day work weeks and managing more flights with less rest.

City officials who run Austin’s city-owned airport have no authority over the FAA-run control tower. But they have been pressing federal officials to act, citing both flight disruptions and a string of near misses between planes.

Council OKs water, wastewater extension to environmentally sensitive property

From Jo Clifton:

The property at 10656 North FM 620 is in the North Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, upstream from habitat for the Jollyville Plateau salamander, which is listed as threatened by the federal government. Council members Ryan Alter, Marc Duchen, Zo Qadri and Mike Siegel opposed the item, citing environmental concerns.

The Environmental Commission voted unanimously to oppose the project, while the Water and Wastewater Commission voted to support it. Likewise, city environmental staff opposed the extension, while Austin Water supported it.

Vision Zero vision at UTC

At last week’s Urban Transportation Commission, Austin’s Transportation and Public Works Department presented an update on “Vision Zero,” which was adopted in 2015 and strives to eliminate traffic fatalities in the city, mainly through infrastructure improvements. On the decennial anniversary of the plan’s adoption, the department touted some sobering statistics and some happy ones and discussed what still needs to be done from the city’s perspective.

Joel Meyer, the transportation safety officer for the department, started off the presentation by highlighting a grim fact: according to their calculations, traffic accidents have cost roughly 1,185 years in lives cut short by traffic accidents in the area in 2025 alone. However, the overall picture seems to be getting better: Meyer also said that combined traffic injuries and deaths on city-owned roadways are down 17 percent from where they were in 2024, and 41 percent down from the five-year average for this time of year from 2019 through 2023.

“We’re seeing some positive trends, especially post-pandemic when we saw a big spike in… when we saw a lot of dangerous driving behaviors during those years,” Meyer said.

The breakdown of the numbers by mode of transport revealed some interesting trends: motorcyclists are seeing more injuries and deaths, while every other mode has seen decreases. Bicycles seem to be having a great year, with injuries and fatalities down 92 percent from this time last year. Are bike lanes getting built that fast? Are people just not riding their bikes? The data doesn’t say, but it seems like a good thing.

The presentation also threw some shade by highlighting a huge gap in the direction of traffic casualty numbers between city-owned and non-city owned roadways, which are mostly owned and operated by either Travis County or the Texas Department of Transportation. Those non-city-owned roads have actually seen a 73 percent increase in fatalities since 2024, a difference Meyer said the department believes lies in their implementation of Vision Zero.

— Miles Wall

… and parking

The commission also once again discussed the upcoming changes to the Residential Permit Parking program, which the Austin Monitor has previously reported on. This time, they were ready to make a recommendation. The motion, introduced by commissioner Spencer Schumacher, mostly agrees with the director’s rules proposed by the department, with several granular adjustments from the commission.

Those include two clauses each addressing the program’s impact on residents of multi-family developments and cultural venues, and one addressing the language used to define the program’s purpose. To the latter point, they propose removing language about making it easier for residents to find a parking spot and clarify that the purpose of the program is simply to make use of neighborhood street parking more efficient for everyone.

That recommendation passed unanimously.

— Miles Wall

Elsewhere in the News

Austin Transit Partnership has opened the bidding process for a $3 billion Project Connect contract.

Despite the intense rain that we’ve had of late, KXAN reports that rivers in the Hill Country are at the lowest levels seen in a century.

In other weather news, the Saharan Dust is back, and so are stories about it.

KUT also reports on Senate Bill 38, which looks to change the eviction process as it relates to squatters.

And, after this legislative session, Texas Monthly has given up trying to name the best and worst lawmakers and, instead, has just selected the most influential.

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