CTRMA approves policy changes

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s board of directors has unanimously approved two policy changes that will prohibit some vehicles from toll roads while providing free access to others. At Wednesday’s meeting, board members decided to prohibit vehicles with more than two axles — like shipping trucks or a towing trailer — from using variably priced toll lanes. For now, the only variably priced toll lanes will be included in the MoPac Improvement Project, but staff requested the policy because larger trucks would affect the shifting toll prices. CTRMA will adjust prices by using roadside equipment that monitors real-time traffic conditions and adjusts the price periodically throughout the day, based on the average speed and number of drivers using the express lanes. Board members also approved a policy change that would waive fees for Capital Metro’s MetroAccess Program for persons with disabilities and its Vanpool or Carpool programs, which are aimed at commuters. The current fee exemption includes “public transportation vehicles with a carrying capacity of 16 or more individuals that are owned or operated on behalf of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority or the Capital Area Rural Transportation System.” The proposed amended exemption applies to “a vehicle used exclusively to provide transportation to a member of the public under a transit program established and managed by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority or the Capital Area Rural Transportation System.”