South Austin scoped for more park & rides in the next few years

South Austin scoped for more park & rides in the next few years

Written by Darcie Duttweiler Friday, 26 September 2008

Capital Metro saw a 12 percent rise in ridership in July compared to a year ago, making it necessary to devise a long-range strategy to meet the needs of a rapidly growing region, according to Capital Metro transportation planner James Gamez.

With almost 400 stops and 8,000 average weekday boardings throughout Southwest Austin, Capitol Metro also plans to increase and expand services in the area.

“There’s enormous growth all around our service area,” Gamez said. “We’re just trying to balance all of our services, and we’re already planning out for January and the next couple of years.”

New transit center

The new South Congress Transit Center on Ben White Boulevard, which opened Aug. 24, coincided with Capital Metro service changes that occurred during August. The facility has 10 bus bays with space for additional bays for future routes. It acts as the southern transfer point for six out of the total 13 lines in Southwest Austin.

“The transit center allowed us to expand services on multiple lines,” Capital Metro Communication Specialist Erica McKewen said.

New and extended services

Residents of the Battle Bend neighborhood, east of South Congress Avenue, now have access to buses on new route 202. The line between the North Lamar Transit Center and the South Congress Transit Center now has all-day service and extended service from William Cannon Drive at Bluff Springs all the way north to Tech Ridge during morning and afternoon rush hours. Service to Southpark Meadows on the 201 is now available between William Cannon Drive at Bluff Springs on Sundays.

Another enhancement includes limited service to the Travis County Precinct 3 office on Hwy. 71 during lunch hours.

“[The transit center] permitted us to restructure our routes,” Gamez said. “We have room to grow and add additional routes, but it also allows us to provide riders a secure and safe location off the street to transfer.”

Future options

One of the high priorities for future upgrades is the Oak Hill Park & Ride. Since it is one of the busiest stops in Southwest Austin, residents want more services in their community with a long-term facility and additional capacity.

“There’s definitely a demand out there,” Gamez said.

Although an upgraded Oak Hill Park & Ride is a concern, Gamez is not quite sure if changes will occur in January or May of next year.

“We know Oak Hill is going to like what we do, but we just have to finalize when it’s going to happen,” he said.

While Capital Metro is still in the beginning stages of preparing for a future Oak Hill Park & Ride, early plans are to realign the line known as the Oak Hill Flyer and connect route 333, which makes stops at the Precinct 3 building and Austin Community College’s Pinnacle campus, to the new location.

More future services will include eight additional 40-foot buses that will be added to the Capital Metro fleet and be in service by next March. The Capital Metro board approved the purchase in its Aug. 28 meeting. These buses will provide increased services on busy bus routes during rush hours as needed.

“Some of our routes are currently at capacity,” McKewen said. “We need the resources quickly.”

All Systems Go!

The next priorities on the horizon include a park & ride where Toll 45 SW intersects IH 35 south of Onion Creek and another one off MoPac at Hwy. 45, which coincides with Capital Metro’s All Systems Go! long-range transit plan.

“The plan calls for additional park & rides in South Austin, but at this time we don’t have any specific locations,” McKewen said.

All Systems Go! also includes Capital MetroRapid, a program with technologically advanced buses that will have signal prioritization to keep buses moving through peak times. Buses will be able to extend a green light or change a red light to green more quickly.

Initial routes that will be implemented in 2010 are the North Lamar/South Congress and Burnet/South Lamar corridors with additional transit centers being built around the Westgate and Southpark Meadows shopping centers.

“Our grand plan is to eventually have all 10 major corridors covered by the MetroRapid buses,” McKewen said.

Fare increases

Since its inception in 1985, Capital Metro has charged its patrons 50 cents for local routes, $1 for express lines and nothing for the downtown ’Dillo buses. Beginning Oct. 13, these rates will change to 75 cents, $1.50 and 50 cents, respectively.

According to McKewen, the increases reflect the 336 percent rise in diesel fuel prices in the last five years. Capital Metro services have steadily expanded since 1985, and ridership has gone up 246 percent, service hours have increased 155 percent and service miles have increased 192 percent since then.

“We have needed to increase our fares for a long time,” McKewen said. “It’s needed in order to expand our services. It’s all part of a larger plan.”