Inner City Rail
Inner City Rail
2000 Capital Metro Light Rail Election
Capital Metro requested voter approval for a Light Rail proposal on November 7, 2000. Their request was for approval of concept only; the rail line construction would be paid for with the 1 cent portion of the sales tax already allocated to Cap Metro. RECA supported the proposal, but the light rail proposal failed to pass.
2006 Capital Metro Proposal - Streetcars
As a component of a future connections study for the All Systems Go long-range plan, Parsons Brinkerhoff completed an Alternatives Evaluation in November, 2006 as required by federal law to determine the most cost effective and efficient means to connect the commuter rail project to other key areas to include the Mueller Redevelopment project, the Seaholm redevelopment, Manor and other areas of interest. Capital Metro staff's recommendation for a Central Austin Circulator, based on consultant work and community input, is an electric streetcar system that would connect the Leander commuter line terminus on 4th Street with extensions to Seaholm via 4th Street and to downtown, the Capitol complex and UT on a northbound route on Congress Avenue shifting to the east along 9th or 10th to San Jacinto Boulevard. Capital Metro s taff and consultants also reviewed other methods to serve this need, including buses, but have determined at staff level that streetcars are the best approach to meet the Goals and Objectives developed as part of the community involvement process.
As envisioned, the streetcar would proceed northbound through the UT campus (San Jacinto alignment must be approved by the Board of Regents) and then proceed east bound along Dean Keeton and Manor Road to the Mueller redevelopment area up to 51st Street. Initial estimates for capital construction costs are $233 million with annual operations and maintenance costs of $3-5 million.
Capital Metro, which reports that its 1-cent sales tax is largely committed for operations of its bus system and the commuter line from Leander to the Convention Center, will require funding partners to fund some of the cost of construction. Likely partners include the City of Austin, Travis County, University of Texas, State of Texas and/or developers along the route.
The Congress Avenue streetcars will be placed on rail lines constructed in the center lanes of the three lanes traversing north and south. Cars could travel in the middle lanes along with streetcars. The north and south-bound streetcar lines would both run in San Jacinto Boulevard along with south bound car traffic. Most of the buses currently operating on Congress would be removed from Congress, probably to Brazos Street, running north bound and south bound on Brazos.
The streetcars would be operated by overhead electric wires and would run frequently; (6-10 minute headways have been analyzed) dependant on demand for service and time of day.
If the Board selects the streetcar system as the "locally preferred alternative" for the circulator, Capital Metro would be required to hold a referendum to get voters' permission to operate the system. For a map of the proposed alignment, click here.
In August 2006, Charles Heimsath presented a report titled "Downtown Circulator Service Economic Impact Assessment" to Austin Assistant City Manager Laura Huffman. The report assumes a fixed rail solution ("fixed guideway") for the downtown streetcar system, but does not address or compare the economics of the same kind of system by bus. In May 2007, WHM/HDR in association with PB Americas, Inc. presented its final report Austin Streetcar Financing Study.
For more information about the All Systems Go Future Connections Study, i.e., how to connect the current commuter rail starter line to other destinations by rail or bus, visit www.allsystemsgoconnections.org. To review completed reports related to the streetcar proposal, go to http://www.allsystemsgoconnections.org/get_more_info/library/.
CAMPO DECISION TREE
On Monday, May 5, 2008, the CAMPO Transit Working Group approved a final version of an analytic framework called a decision tree to use when evaluating transit proposals. The decision tree is designed to evaluate proposals in terms of cost, financing mechanisms, governance, purpose, and benefits, including the Austin Urban Rail Corridors project.
After CAMPO staff conducted a technical review of the document, City and Capital Metro staff presented the proposed inner city rail project to the TWG on January 5 and January 12, 2009. After review and discussion, the CAMPO TWG endorsed the Austin Urban Rail Corridors project and requested that additional information regarding design and financing of the project be brought back to the CAMPO TWG as it becomes available.
City of Austin staff plan to seek City Council approval to initiate preliminary engineering and environmental studies, and begin to develop potential financing strategies for the proposed Austin Urban Rail Corridors project. In addition, the rail project will continue to be discussed and refined as part of the on-going Downtown Austin Plan – Phase II. Go to RECA's Austin Urban Rail Corridors web page for more information.
Urban Rail TWG Submittal Briefing to the Austin City Council (November 6, 2008)
Austin Urban Rail Corridors: Central Austin Circulator- Long Center Spur and East Riverside ABIA: Modern Streetcar/LRT Proposal (November 6, 2008)
Downtown Austin Plan Transportation Maps (October 2008)
Urban Rail Council Briefing (July 24, 2008)
DRAFT Potential Urban Rail Project Map by ROMA Austin, April 2008
NEWS: New commuter rail plan to be unveiled Tuesday - KVUE
It’s baaack: A proposal for light rail - Austin Business Journal
ROMA to recommend 14 miles of light rail in Central Austin - Austin American-Statesman
Light Rail Route Outlined - Austin Business Journal
New light-rail plan rolls into Austin - Austin American-Statesman
Final Report: Austin Streetcar Financing Study by WHM/HDR in association with PB Americas, Inc., May 2007
Final Report Central Austin Circulator Alternatives Evaluation by Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc., November 20, 2006
Downtown Circulator Service Economic Impact Assessment by Capitol Market Research, Inc., August 16, 2006
Capital Metro Web site (Click on "All Systems Go!" to see additional information regarding the Capital Metro staff-proposed transit vision)
