The CapMetro Board of Directors has released its plan to overhaul the city of Austin’s public transit system, prioritizing alignment with Project Connect through enhanced bus routes, improved infrastructure and light rail integration.
Transit Plan 2035 contains ambitious plans to improve existing transit systems, building off the foundation set by Cap Remap implemented in 2018. The city plans to use the plan to achieve goals set by Project Connect – the city’s definite effort to expand transit options by building a light rail system, enhancing commuter rail service and expanding bus routes.
The plan’s vision will provide the city with a series of guiding principles and goals to meet the needs of Austin residents. This will include developing a plan targeting those with the highest need, equitably distributing resources to address transit hurdles and implementing a multimodal network connecting riders with jobs, services, activity centers and other critical amenities.
Now officially approved by the board, Transit Plan 2035 will tackle transit challenges over the next 10 years, dividing key capital initiatives into a phased implementation framework.
In the next five years, CapMetro will target bus route improvements to fulfill as-of-yet unfulfilled promises laid out in Project Connect. These will include full implementation on transit initiatives such as Rapid 800 and 837. These initiatives will boost bus frequency to ensure a vehicle responds to the new lines every ten minutes, opening park-and-rides at select stops in the city and adding a new Red Line stop near the Domain.
Additional efforts will include enhancing rail services, extending rail operation hours and improving related infrastructure. This will include plans to complete the North Burnet/Uptown Station. Officials anticipate breaking ground on the project this November.
In the five-to-10-year mark, plans are in place to fully integrate Austin Light Rail into the transit network, providing essential light rail service to all residents. Additional goals laid out in the plan include improving additional bus routes, implementing two new and modifying five existing Pickup Zones and expanding regional connectivity.
The long-term plans going beyond a decade revolve around full integration of Project Connect. Additional work revolves around establishing strategic partnerships to better support a connected regional express network.
Austin’s bus network will be among the first to undergo significant changes as the primary focus of the plan’s short-term efforts to enhance services while cutting costs. CapMetro plans to streamline the bus network by shrinking it from 70 to 55 routes. While criticisms have been levied against this decision, the authority will compensate for the reduced routes by increasing bus frequency, adding more connections and extending hours of operation.
CapMetro will officially kickstart the plan in 2026. The authority will review and refine the plan in 2030 to update goals and implement long-term recommendations.
Photo by Steven Polunsky, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, from Wikimedia Commons
