Free parking is now available at the Kramer Station on the street at Brockton Drive, which is the street parallel to the tracks at Kramer Station and just before you reach the station itself. This free parking is available on Brockton from Kramer to the curve of Brockton only and is on a first come, first served basis without time limits.

Now you can feel free to meet friends or family for lunch or coworking around town, take the kids to the Austin Children’s Museum, the lake, or a downtown park without the hassle of MoPac traffic or downtown parking.

The Regional Day Pass, which covers 24 hours from the purchase time of the ticket, includes all the MetroRail and Bus service you need. Other passes are available as well and are listed here.

The previous 240 bus route with two stops on Amherst has been rerouted. Now the more commuter-friendly 142 bus, or Metric Flyer as it is commonly known, serves the Milwood neighborhood.

For additional information not covered here, visit the Cap Metro web site.

January 2011 Proposed Service Changes

Capital Metro is seeking public feedback on several proposed changes to its transit system. These changes are in accordance with Capital Metro’s Service Standards and are based on recommendations from ServicePlan2020, a 10-year plan to improve bus service. The proposed changes will improve route directness and connectivity while increasing efficiency of the system.

We are aware that there is concern about the changes to Routes 984 and 986 and have organized a community conversation about this proposal in Leander for Thursday, August 26, at 6:30 PM in the Leander Public Library at 1011 South Bagdad Road . This will be an opportunity for MetroExpress Riders and CapMetro Planners to discuss the proposal and get their questions answered.
Click the link to download the Proposed January Service Change Brochure.

Route Modifications/Improvements
· 1M North Lamar/S Congress (via metric)
Realign route from Rutland to Rundberg to improve route directness and reduce transfers. This change would reduce transfers between Route 325 Ohlen and Routes 1L/1M.
· 142 Metric Flyer
Realign route from Lamplight to Amherst and adjust schedule to reflect ridership patterns.
· 214 Lago Vista Feeder & NW Dial-a-Ride
Consolidate both routes and begin flexible service. Route 214 Lago Vista Flex would improve efficiency and offer new and improved service to Cedar Park and Lago Vista.
· 240 Parkfield
Realign route from Parkfield and Braker to Rutland and Burnet. Improve frequency and add weekend service.
· 243 Wells Branch
Shorten Route 243 at Howard Station and increase frequency to maximize efficiency and ridership potential in high density areas.
· 333 William Cannon
Realign service along Bluff Springs and William Cannon and extend route further east to Thaxton Rd.
· 987 Leander/NW Express
Add three morning trips and three afternoon trips to provide additional commute options for 984 and 986 riders. Schedule would also be adjusted.
· 990 Manor Express
Realign route from I-35 to Lamar and Guadalupe to provide improved access to major employers; and remove service from Harris Branch due to low ridership. Add one morning and afternoon trip and adjust schedule.
· Capital Metro is planning a new Manor Park & Ride to meet demand and offer more capacity. CARTS will continue to operate this route and begin the service in Elgin before connecting to the Manor P&R.
· Capital MetroRail
Schedule adjustments and possible trips added to MetroRail service. Adjustments would also be made on rail connector routes (460-466) to coincide with the new proposed rail schedule.

Route Eliminations
· 174 Burnet Limited
Remove route due to low ridership and service duplication. Alternative service would be provided by Routes 1M, 3, and 240.
· 984 Northwest Direct/ 986 Leander Direct
Eliminate routes due to duplicative service in Northwest US 183 corridor. Alternative service would be provided by Route 987 and MetroRail.

Community Outreach
With any service change, Capital Metro seeks feedback on the proposed changes before submitting a final proposal to the Capital Metro Board of Directors for approval. Customers and the community are welcome to attend the following meetings:

Neighborhood Meetings
Leander Public Library, 1011 South Bagdad Rd.
Thursday, Aug. 26, 6:30-8pm

Public Meetings
Capital Metro Transit Store, 323 Congress
Tuesday, Sept. 7, 12:00-1:30pm
Served by downtown routes

Tech Ridge Park & Ride, 900 Center Ridge Rd.
Tuesday, Sept. 7, 4:30-6:00pm
Served by Routes 1L, 1M, 243, 392, 935

Capital Metro Transit Store, 323 Congress
Wednesday, Sept. 8, 12:00-1:30pm
Served by Downtown routes

Austin Community College Northridge, 11928 Stonehollow Dr .
Wednesday, Sept. 8, 5:30-7:00pm
Served by Routes 1M, 142, 174

Leander Station, 800 N. Hwy 183
Monday, Sept. 13, 5:00-6:30pm
Served by Routes 983, 986, 987

Lakeline Station , 13701 Lyndhurst St.
Tuesday, Sept. 14, 4:30-6:00pm
Served by Routes 214, 383, 983, 984, 987

Public Hearing
Capital Metro Headquarters, 2910 E. 5th St .
Monday, Sept. 20, 11:00-12:00pm
Served by routes 17, 300

Based on feedback from customers, employees and the community, Capital Metro will refine the proposed changes and seek final approval from the Capital Metro Board on Friday, Sept. 24. If approved these changes would take effect Jan. 16, 2011.

Members –

The Planning Commission had asked that I submit comments on your consideration of the North Burnet Gateway (NBG) plan. I apologize that I have other commitments today that will not allow me to attend your meeting, I hope written comments will suffice.

I am the president of the Milwood Neighborhood Association, and a recent addition to the Urban Transportation Commission. I have been involved with planning for the NBG plan for a long time, and Molly Scarborough is a great ambassador of the city and I commend her leadership on this project. I want to acknowledge the many positive aspects of this plan, and the need to plan to accommodate our future growth, and the logical role that NBG can and should play in our city.

The prime reason for my involvement in the project is interest in the impact of increasing density to accommodate upwards to 80,000 people into a slice of land that has three freeway exits, two of which are characterized by very dangerous and traffic sensitive weaving patterns. Closest to the heart of my neighborhood, the current entrance to the Domain off of the Duval exit approaches comically unsafe in the weaving patterns it requires. If this is to be a major residential property, someone will eventually die in this weave. The Domain could consider alternate entrance locations in their expansion, and you could help facilitate that conversation. This topic is a particular interest of the Milwood Neighborhood if you have interest in learning more.

Functional commuter rail, including commitment to new feeder bus routes into the nearby neighborhoods, will be a strong determiner on the capacity of these roadways to absorb some but certainly not all of this traffic. I am unaware of actual current plans to extend bus circulators into neighborhoods like Milwood, although there may be the intent. Commuter rail cannot accommodate all of the cars in the new planning zone, but the lack of success will certainly ensure a traffic disaster.

Another critical aspect of this plan we would ask you to please focus on and be our advocates for is the contemplated buildout of a flyover connecting 183 and 360 you will find in the plan. Today, 183 from Burnet continuing north is all but impassible at the end of the workday. Residents of the neighborhoods north and west of the 183/Mopac interchange would simply ask that you help us get home after work. Not addressing this issue – while adding zoning that is effect establishes of a second downtown – makes us envision a future of snarl on 183 that makes us long for the pain of today. Please consider early commitment to finding a way to make that a reality.

Finally we would ask for you to consider how the TIA process for future TODs considers not only the designated planning area, but the neighborhoods that surround the planning area. While Molly Scarborough accommodated our interest, the city must realize you cannot create a gravity well with 80,000 people in a piece of land and not have impacts on the surrounding pieces of land. The TIA process should also be opened in some way to allow neighborhoods to express concerns or observations based on their experience. Today in my experience the TIA does not involve community input, and once it is delivered is used as a reason for why there is no longer reason for community input. I’m not proposing that the TIA cease to be an engineering document, but given the political reality that it is often used as the reason why there is no longer the need for discussion, it cannot only be an engineering document.

The other aspect the Planning commission asked me to forward to you was the importance of this area to bike commuters. The primary bike route north is Shoal Creek. At the point one gets to Steck and Shoal Creek, a variety of unsafe and probably illegal actions have to be taken to get north of 183 and MoPac. If this plan had a way to emphasize making Burnet or a similar path bike friendly early, and accommodate a logical connection of a route from Shoal Creek to that solution, you could truly establish a corridor that encourages multimodal transportation.

Thank you for your service and your commitment to our city. If you have questions for me I’d be happy to work with you in the future.

Best Regards,

Dustin Lanier
President, Milwood Neighborhood Association
Member, Urban Transportation Commission

1) continued patient concern about the weave in front of the Domain on the frontage road;
2) importance of considering nearby neighborhoods when planning these kinds of centers;
3) importance of connecting neighborhoods to the transit centers created by the plan;
4) importance of bike lanes, someday that connect North Austin to Shoal Creek

If you have alternative points of view you can let me know, or attend yourself and let ‘em know what you think!

The image to the left shows projections for “activity centers.” Here they show North Burnet Gateway and Howard Lane projects as medium, an the equivalant size to Round Rock(!), while the new Mueller project is rated as a small center. Medium centers in the report are targeted as 9,000 to 75,000 people with 9,000 to 40,000 jobs.

The public can comment on the Revised Draft CAMPO Growth Concept between now and June 22, 2007. Comments can be directed to Campo Liaison Stevie Greathouse.

Cap Metro has a new community newsletter out on their website. The two interesting things I took out were:

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1. In November 2006, Capital Metro launched Mobile WiFi service on Express buses to provide internet access for passengers. The pilot project began with service on nine MCI coach buses serving express routes. The buses are white with a red stripe down the middle.

The WiFi-enabled buses, numbers 9301 through 9309, feature Capital Metro “WiFi To Go” decals to let boarding passengers know they are riding buses with WiFi capabilities.

I’m asking to see if there is any way to know which routes and what times specifically.

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2. The newsletter included the map to the right of the commuter rail routes.

While we’ve seen it before, it is interesting because the location of the station in the Burnet/Domain area has been in flux for a while. Since this is in a CapMetro, publication it is somewhat more interesting because I have found them to consistently caveat potential locations on Burnet.

I’m not sure if the fact this is in a CapMetro newsletter without a “tbd” means a location has been decided. I’ll ask them for some clarity.

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The goal of the meeting was to start to raise awareness of neighbors about potential services, parks, and transit opportunities that may be coming, as well as increased density that these dissimilar but overlapping efforts will bring.

The material presented was a good overview of the two efforts. From the City we learned about proposed density zoning overlays, likely sites for commuter rail transit stations in the development area, and recommendations for some highway improvements providing some traffic relief at the 183/360 interchange, and the likely inclusion of bike connectivity through the zone. From the Domain we learned about density in the next phase, their emphasis on mixed use, and the likely inclusion of parks and connecting trails in future buildouts.

An equally important goal was to begin to help them understand the neighborhoods in the North Travis Triangle have concerns about the traffic impact on Duval that predate them – and the calls for more comprehensive traffic planning only get louder with the potential for a second downtown at the mouth of Duval.

First, the Domain. The immediate concern for many residents is that northmost entrance to the Domain is 600 yards or so from the exit ramp, and 450 yards or so from the entrance ramp. The Domain’s own filed Traffic Impact Analysis(TIA) in 2004 shows traffic backups from people attempting to leave this driveway could be at unacceptable levels with the infrastructure currently on the ground, and the density they intend to add is substantial. The concern that best case this entrance and exit generates three lane weaving, and worst case will cause accidents as impatient people try to cross three lanes from a dead stop.

In this, I truly believe the neighborhoods and the Domain actually have unified goals. Neither neighborhoods nor prospective retail want dangerous access points, or awkward freeway access. The Domain obviously will seek to build a substantial community of residents, all of whom will have the same expectations of reasonable access to their homes as the neighborhoods. Their own development plans have an additional entrance and exit ramp north of the current driveway that could be part of a win-win solution. So I’m hoping that we can begin a conversation about the future of this couple of thousand foot stretch of frontage road that starts from a goal of common interest.

Secondly, the North Burnet Gateway planning area. It is a planning overlay, not a redevelopment plan, and it does have a very long thirty year time horizon. However the dramatic density that will come in this area as large as current downtown will bring a substantial traffic impact on those trying to use 183 and MoPac in the area. Even in the most wildly optimistic rail scenarios, this area from mopac east in the plan has only three highway ingress and egress points that will see substantially increased use – Burnet, Braker, and Duval.

Is traffic going to come anyways? Yes. Will the density envisioned make it come faster, and with more certainty? In my opinion yes.

I’d like to see an additional level of study done that deeply considers the following questions:

1. Is there a point where new traffic potentially coming into the area would cause us to look at any additional plausible ways to realign or reorient entrance and exit ramps and frontage roads in this area. What is that point, and what are the remotely plausible ideas that might be considered.

2. Where is Duval today in terms of its traffic capacity, given the extensive use of Duval as a traffic cutthrough from Cedar Park and Leander to MoPac and major employers like IBM and National Instruments. What will be the projected impact of new VMU designations, the Domain, and North Burnet Gateway on Duval traffic? What if anything can be done about that?

3. The Domain TIA references the potential to expand the frontage road that parallels the development by an additional lane in one of its projections. What factors drive the decision on when a lane such as this would be considered?

If a study like this could be done, it should be done with independence from the team currently working on the North Burnet Gateway plan to eliminate any potential perception the study would be done to justify the work already in place.

More to come…

(note 1: We’re still validating the borders of the other neighborhood associations, so it may not yet be fully accurate.)

(note 2: I’m using a phrase North Travis Triangle to denote the triangle formed by Mopac/183/Parmer because I don’t know of another name that exists for this area and I think it needs a shorthand name. If you know of a historical name that is better/more accurate please let us know.)

North Travis Triangle Map

I expressed concern a year ago about the northmost entrance/exit to the Domain being too close to both the on and off ramp of the freeway, and the weaving it was (and is) going to cause. But it is very difficult to make traction on expressing concern when you have at least 3 players in the game – the city, TxDOT, and the developer (which itself is split between two companies and multiple teams within those companies).

The North Burnet Gateway plan both accentuates the traffic concern, and gives a clearer venue to express that concern, so potentially now we can have a bigger voice in shaping how traffic related to this “second downtown” flows. Also we can get involved in issues such as looking at commuter bus lines closer to the neighborhood and bike access to downtown from North Austin.

In my opinion, Parmer is basically unpassable at the end of the workday, and if Duval is not well planned, and is set up to be one of the main mouths to the “second downtown,” it will reduce the value of our properties, and raise the daily agitation level of everyone trying to get home. Conversely, if it is planned for, and we can still get home without waiting and waiting and waiting at the last leg, we have a lot to look forward to in what Domain and North Burnet Gateway will bring.

Your chance to be involved is our general meeting on the 24th at 7:00 at the Milwood Library. Andy Pastor from the Domain will attend, and Molly Scarborough from the city is going to try to attend. I’ve also mentioned the meeting to Brewster McCracken and Mark Strama. Please come out and give us a good showing and get involved in an issue that affects you.

Northburnetgateway.com

City site discussing NBG.

ABJ article on plan