Photo courtesy Gary J. WoodBeginning March 23, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority will extend the hours of its MetroRail Red Line service on Friday and Saturday nights after an approving vote by the Austin City Council on March 1.
Council approved the $5.7 million interlocal agreement by a vote of 6-1, with Councilwoman Kathie Tovo opposing the measure.
The expanded service allows trains to run every 60 minutes between 7 p.m. and midnight on Friday and every 30 minutes between 4 p.m. and midnight on Saturday. While service on Friday will run to the Leander station, Saturday service will start and end at the Lakeline station.
Under the agreement, the City of Austin is paying for the service up front on a quarterly basis. Capital Metro will reimburse the city.
The deal ends Jan. 1, 2014, when the option of a second term will be available.
Capital Metro already approved weekend service for four Fridays and two Saturdays in March for the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference. The transit authority also tested weekend service in March 2011 for SXSW and saw boarding numbers increase to about 5,000 people per day, staff reported. Capital Metro sees about 1,800 boardings per day for weekday service.
According to Robert Spillar, director of the City of Austin Transportation Department, performance measures will be reported monthly.
Prior to the decision, Tovo asked for clarification from Spillar about how the hours were selected and why night hours were chosen as opposed to daytime hours on Saturdays when many events in Austin occur.
"I'm still trying to understand how the hours were selected," Tovo said. "If part of the intent is to cultivate a culture of ridership, it seemed to me there was an opportunity to expand that audience by selecting earlier hours on Saturday."
Spillar said the agreement allows for modifications if council decides that would be beneficial.
"We can always go negotiate a change," Spillar said. "It [the agreement] asks that if changes are going to be made, that it be timed with their normal change of service which happens two times a year."
By mutual agreement, Capital Metro may operate additional services during special events and festivals on an event-by-event basis. Additionally, marketing and promotion of the extended services will be the responsibility of Capital Metro under a third-party agreement.
For schedule information, visit www.capmetro.org.
Local taxicab operators inch closer to additional permits
City Council also voted, during a second reading on the issue, to grant more taxicab permits to the Lone Star Cab Company and renew a taxicab franchise to Austin Cab Company that would also allow additional taxicab permits. Lone Star Cab would see 30 additional permits, while there would be 15 more for Austin Cab Company.
Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole said while the Urban Transpiration Commission has reviewed the issue, she is curious about the formula that is used to determine how many additional permits to award.
"I think it's important that we really delve into the formula, which I hope we can do on third reading." Cole stated.
