Austin Mobility News For October 18

Press release from the City of Austin:

October 19, 2021

The Austin area is embarking on a voter-approved overhaul of its public transportation system that will include two new light rail lines, additional high-frequency bus routes, new commuter rail options and more. The initiative, called Project Connect, is actually a suite of multiple overlapping projects scheduled to be constructed over the next 13 years.

To be successful, transportation leaders and city officials say Project Connect needs to have strong vision, oversight, transparency and organization. As the first step to achieving that goal, an independent local government corporation, the Austin Transit Partnership, was created in December 2020 to oversee the program. On Oct. 29, the ATP Board of Directors, City Council, and Capital Metro’s board of directors will take a series of votes intended to further set up Project Connect for success over the next decade-plus.

The City, Cap Metro and ATP will delineate their responsibilities and lay out standards for Project Connect to the community through this agreement. For example, the ATP will ensure worker protections and workforce development according to the agreement, while the City will be responsible for transferring Project Connect tax revenue and Capital Metro will develop an operational readiness program for each project.

Previously, these requirements were laid out in multiple documents—the City’s contract with the voters, Capital Metro’s Community Commitment Resolution and the Interlocal Agreement to create the ATP. The Joint Powers Agreement brings all those commitments into one comprehensive document.

“We are showing the community and we are showing each other how we are taking care of those requirements,” said Sam Sargent, the ATP’s director of program strategy, at an Oct. 4 work session.

Austin City Council will consider an ordinance and a resolution intended to improve the efficiency and predictability of the permitting process for Project Connect.

The draft Joint Powers Agreement and supportingaction items under consideration Oct. 29 are available for review. Public comment will be allowed in person or remotely by telephone at the meeting. Instructions for registering to speak are posted with the meeting agenda.

Payton Gin Road and Ohlen Road are targeted to receive a boost in safety and connectivity, thanks to a partnership improvement project beginning in Fall 2021. This project was launched after the Safe Routes to School team published a report identifying the intersection of Payton Gin Road and Ohlen Road as a barrier to students safely walking to Burnet Middle School and Woolridge Elementary School.

Intersection improvements include:

This project is funded through a partnership between the 2016 Mobility Bond, Austin Public Works’ Safe Routes to School Program and Austin Transportation’s Bikeways Program. Construction will begin in the fall and is predicted to last three months, weather permitting.
For more information, email MobilityBonds@AustinTexas.gov.

Crews have completed safety improvements to the intersection of Braker Lane and Stonelake Boulevard. These improvements aim to reduce traffic crashes, while also increasing connectivity for those walking and biking by constructing new shared use paths and sidewalks on both sides of West Braker Lane.

Other highlighted improvements include:

View an album of the project photos.

This project was funded through the 2016 Mobility Bond Intersection Safety/Vision Zero program. For more information about the project, contact MobilityBonds@austintexas.gov.

As development continues to proceed at a rapid pace in downtown Austin with multiple large-scale projects, City staff are recommending reinstating a moratorium for new street events. The moratorium was in place from 2014 through 2020, and with no signs of development slowing down, officials from the Austin Center for Events (ACE) and the Austin Transportation Department (ATD) are recommending implementation through the end of 2022.

The moratorium applies to the downtown area bordered by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the north, Oltorf Street to the South, MoPac to the west and Chicon Street to the east. Major public utility and private development projects underway in the area include the Capitol Complex, Moody Arena at the University of Texas, a number of projects along East Avenue in the Rainey Street District, the new Travis County Courthouse on Guadalupe Street and more.

Exemptions for smaller events as allowed by applicable safety guidelines may be granted based on review by ATD and ACE. Events outside the downtown core will also continue to be permitted as long as the ACE has adequate staffing. More information is available in an Oct. 12 memo.

One of the world's largest automakers has set up shop in Downtown Austin to showcase how it plans to transition to an electric vehicle manufacturer. Ford Motor Company set a benchmark to have half of all vehicles sold being electric by 2030, executives said during a panel discussion Friday on electric vehicles, moderated by Austin Transportation Director Robert Spillar.

"Now is the time for electric vehicles," said Darren Palmer, General Manager of Ford's Electric Vehicles Division. "Technology just reached a point where electric vehicles can be considered mainstream.

Palmer said ensuring a vehicle's range is around 250 miles per charge helps make electric vehicles more attractive than similar gasoline-powered models.

"Austin went from having 4,000 electric vehicles in 2017 to more than 17,000 plug-in hybrid and plug-in battery electric vehicles in 2021," Spillar said. "That means Austin is home to 22 percent of all electric vehicles in Texas, and Austin Energy predicts 52,000 electric vehicles in the capital city by 2023."

Among the vehicles on display through Friday, October 22 is the Ford F-150 Lightning. With 230 miles of range for the base model, Ford executives say it has enough battery storage to power a typical American home for three days, and critical circuits like a refrigerator and medical equipment for up to 10 days.

Electric vehicle adoption is a key component of Austin's 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goals. Electric vehicle users can find more than 1,000 Level 2 charging ports citywide, as well as 29 fast chargers. Austin Transportation's Smart Mobility Office is actively working with electric vehicle partners to deploy emerging technologies and expand the network in an equitable manner.

This press release was produced by the City of Austin. The views expressed here are the author’s own.