Austin Mobility News For September 27

Press release from the City of Austin:

September 28, 2021

If you are heading to the Austin City Limits Music Festival this year, you know there are preparations you have to make ahead of time. Pack sunscreen and empty water bottles. Check the schedule and circle the artists you want to see. This year, according to the festival’s health protocols, you have to also be prepared with a negative COVID-19 test obtained within 72 hours of entering or proof of full vaccination.

Don’t forget to make transportation part of your pre-festival preparations as well. There is no parking located at Zilker Park or in the surrounding neighborhoods, so take advantage of other methods to access the music all weekend long.

Shuttles: ACL Fest will run free shuttles between Republic Square and Zilker Park. Shuttles will run to the festival from downtown Austin starting at noon on Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday both weekends. Face masks are required on the shuttles and health documentation will be checked prior to boarding.

Capital Metro buses: To find the best route to the festival using public transportation, use Capital Metro’s trip planner here. Routes that stop close to the park include MetroBus 3, 4 and 10 and MetroRapid route 803. Capital Metro is offering free fares for all customers throughout October.

Scooters and bicycles: ACL Fest will provide one bicycle parking station and two bike or scooter parking locations. You can rent a bicycle from any MetroBike stations located throughout downtown Austin and ride to the festival, where you can drop off your bikes at the station located on Barton Springs Road, William Barton Drive or Veterans Drive.

Ride-share and taxis: Typing “Austin City Limits Music Festival” or “Zilker Park” into your ride-share app will direct your driver to the nearest drop-off point around the festival. When you are leaving, you will have to exit the festival area and cross either the Colorado River, South Lamar Boulevard or the MoPac frontage road before requesting a ride. The taxi pick up and drop off point is at William Barton Drive in front of the Barton Springs Pool.

As you think about how to get to and from ACL Fest or any other destination, you can choose to make a plan in advance to get around safely. There are more options than ever before to avoid driving while impaired, which will ensure you don't injure yourself or others.

For the first ten days of October, from the beginning of ACL Fest weekend one to the end of weekend two, Austin Police will be enforcing its No Refusal Program. Then for the next 12 months, APD will enforce No Refusal four days each week, along with additional holidays and special events, through the end of September 2022.

No Refusal is an enforcement strategy that allows jurisdictions to obtain search warrants for blood samples from suspected impaired drivers who refuse breath or blood tests. It is a partnership between the Austin Transportation Department and APD to improve safety for all people getting around Austin.

Driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs is a major contributor to crashes in Austin, with impaired drivers typically being involved in more than one-third of the City’s fatal crashes. Last year, there were more than 1,250 DWI-related arrests during No Refusal Program initiatives.

A $1 million grant will help build and evaluate a community hub for smart mobility in North Austin's Georgian Acres neighborhood. Mobility hubs are places in a community that bring together public transit, bike share, car share, and other ways for people to get to where they want to go without a private vehicle.

The project team won the grant from the National Science Foundation's Civic Innovation Challenge. The community hub could provide options like a neighborhood bike system, a bike-share station and e-scooter stations. It may also provide free WiFi, mobile health clinics and a food pantry.

"This area is a traditionally low- to moderate-income community, where affordability is a significant barrier to transportation for these residents," said Gina Fiandaca, Austin's Assistant City Manager overseeing Mobility. "Our hope is that this community hub project will provide a variety of affordable transportation options, empowering community members to select the modes that best meet their needs."

Earlier this year, the Austin project team received $50,000 from Stage 1 of the competition. Watch a video describing features of the hub or learn more about the project.

Residents in South Austin can expect to see a new phase of construction beginning in October as the Austin Transportation Department works to improve bus stops and pedestrian crossings along Stassney Lane.

The work is phase 2 of a three-phase project that began this summer to improve Stassney Lane between West Gate Boulevard and South Congress Avenue. Phase 2 improvements are designed to make it easier to cross the street, improve access to transit, provide protected space for people bicycling and improve overall intersection operations for everyone.

The work starting in October is expected to last about three months and will be occurring at Stassney Lane’s intersections with Lewood Drive, Buffalo Pass, Emerald Forest Drive, South First Street and South Congress Avenue. Phase 1, which involves restriping, adding protected bike lanes and upgrading traffic signals, started this summer, and Phase 3, which involves additional intersection improvements, will start in 2022.

Funding for these changes has been identified from Capital Metro and the 2016 Mobility Bond’s Bikeways, Sidewalks and Safe Routes to School programs. You can learn more about the project here.

A pilot underway in East Austin aims to improve pedestrian safety by informing drivers when they are approaching pedestrians who are crossing the street. TAPCO and Siemens are installing the Pedestrian Crosswalk Warning Systems on Rosewood Avenue at Angelina and Navasota streets.

When the crosswalk’s push-button is activated, the system will send communications to drivers in connected vehicles, or vehicles capable of connecting to wireless networks, that pedestrians are present and crossing the street in their intended path. Connected vehicles have the ability to use this wireless technology to communicate with infrastructure and other vehicles, and their features include displaying safety messages to drivers. They are part of the emerging technology system making upgrades to vehicles and infrastructure.

The system also provides warnings to drivers of non-connected vehicles using highly visible, rectangular rapid flashing beacons on both sides of the road.

The pilot will evaluate the system’s ability to enhance safety on Austin’s roadways and mid-block crosswalks. It will also help the City develop a process for retrofitting older City infrastructure with the new technology.

This pilot will provide the City, TAPCO, and Siemens the opportunity to evaluate connected-vehicle infrastructure in a real-world environment. Information gathered from the pilot could help shape future policy and deployment of similar devices. TAPCO and Siemens will discuss the technology at this week's Smart Mobility Workshop.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority Board of Directors is comprised of seven local community volunteers who are responsible for setting policies, identifying priority projects and ensuring the agency is operated in an efficient and effective manner.

The September workshop highlights two emerging mobility solutions, SPACES and TAPCO, that are currently deployed pilots in Austin. You will learn about SPACES, a mobile payment platform for gated parking facilities, that is being tested at Austin City Hall. Also learn how TAPCO and Siemens has teamed up with the Smart Mobility Office to test their Connected Vehicle Pedestrian Crosswalk Warning System.

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