ZAP calls for Cap Remap equity check

At the most recent meeting of the Zoning and Platting Commission, commissioners unanimously approved a resolution calling for interlocal agreements regarding transit connectivity between the city of Austin and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The resolution is intended to encourage Capital Metro to improve its bus schedule in areas with low-income households and high minority populations, in response to allegations that Capital Metro had violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and that its new “Every 15” minutes campaign is intentionally misleading. Commissioners David King and Ana Aguirre’s presentation pointed out areas of the Cap Remap route map with potential issues. Some members of the public had expressed concern regarding the new route maps’ potential disparate impact on minority populations living in Northeast, East and South Austin, saying that individuals in those areas encounter wait times between 45 and 60 minutes for buses as opposed to 15-30 minutes for “white millennials” near the University of Texas campus and Mueller. The commission passed the resolution unanimously 7-0, with commissioners Dustin Breithaupt, Sunil Lavani, Nadia Barrera-Ramirez and Bruce Evans absent.