Pity Capital Metro, Austin’s transit agency. It has an opportunity to include bus-rapid transit stops on a freeway that is now under construction–but it doesn’t have the funds to pay for them.
The Texas Department of Transportation, which is building the freeway, needs $18 million from Capital Metro now to buy the extra land needed for the bus stops. But Capital Metro doesn’t have it. Nor does it have the $105 million more needed to actually build the bus stops.
Where could it get the money? The best way would be to shutter the agency’s pathetic, 32-mile commuter-rail line. In 2015, Capital Metro spent more than $20 million operating and maintaining this line, but received less than $2.5 million in fares. The trains carried fewer than 1,500 round trips per day, which means each daily round-trip rider cost taxpayers nearly $12,000.
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The reality is that Austin probably doesn’t need a fancy bus-rapid transit line with expensive stations. Instead of a bus-rapid transit system in which buses stop at several stations, Capital Metro could run non-stop express buses from various origins to various destinations. The buses could originate and terminate at curbside stops in various neighborhoods, thus giving people a fast trip from one point to another–in other words, the Megabus model.
One advantage of such a system is that, if some routes don’t work, you can run the buses on different routes. When rail doesn’t work, agencies keep running the trains anyway because there’s not much of a market for used rail infrastructure and it is expensive to change rail routes. Bus-rapid transit lines with expensive stations have the same problem. Instead of blowing a bunch of money on another unproven concept, Capital Metro should find alternatives that minimize costs.
I know someone that rides that train in Austin. This person loves it so much. I think they think it is the “progressive way”…. which I guess it is if the “progressive way” is making everyone else pay for your benefits.
OFP2003, that is part of it. From their point of view, I suspect they enjoy not having to deal with traffic, plenty of seating, etc.
It’s a shame with the BRT. A post WWII city like Austin, those freeway corridors are extra important. Getting BRT on them is key. That’s where all the office jobs are.
That’s an awful lot of money for a few bus bays on a freeway :$
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/transportation/txdot-cap-metro-must-pay-put-buses-future-toll-lanes/zEVhCRlTmLGrazRgBn1GBM/
Under pressure from the Texas Department of Transportation, which is well into planning and environmental studies for a $4 billion-plus overhaul of I-35 through Central Texas, the Capital Metro board in September will consider making that initial financial commitment. TxDOT needs to know whether to plan for bus stops next to those toll lanes, which would involve buying more land for the project, among other costs.