Austin's urban rail initiative is moving forward, and it is possible that a plan could be completed in early 2014 and potentially put before voters in a 2014 election.
A working group made up of stakeholders held its first meeting June 26 and will continue to meet this summer. Mayor Lee Leffingwell said the group will go through the public hearing process to allow for citizen comments, and the group would report back to the Transit Working Group, which is providing input on the planning of Project Connect.
"We talked about setting a tentative wrap-up date of mid-February, which would enable the city of Austin, if it chooses to do so, to put this on the ballot in the May election," Leffingwell told members of the TWG on May 10. "It's not necessarily my preference. ... November is the other option, and I know that gives us a lot more flexibility. I think it would be good to set that target and timetable to achieve that target."
Leffingwell spoke with Kyle Keahey, urban rail lead for Project Connect, before Keahey was hired about the possibility of meeting that timeframe.
The TWG was formed by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization to evaluate and provide input on regional transportation plans. The TWG has been meeting during the past two years to lay out the framework of the Project Connect regional public transit plan, which includes urban and commuter rail.
Keahey said one of the next steps in the urban rail planning is to look at a range of alternatives for rail alignment and to explain where it would be more expensive to put rail and where ridership would improve.
"That's been a very important message we've heard from the community in our conversations over the past few weeks here," he said.
He said planning will also involve analyzing ridership and travel demands of the rail alignment as well as how and why the Project Connect team is selecting a particular route. There will also be a robust public involvement program, Keahey said.
"We've got a lot of work to do in a short amount of time," he said. "We don't have the time to be distracted, and so you're going to see in our project efforts a very clear focus on the objectives moving forward."
On June 7, the TWG approved the framework for funding, organizing and mapping out the vision of Project Connect. The Project Connect plan ultimately will go to CAMPO for approval and inclusion in its 2040 long-range plan. Project Connect partners may begin seeking endorsements from cities and counties that could help fund the plan.
The plan also includes five corridors that will each have their own study for a more detailed view of transportation projects and services in that area as well as to flesh out details of funding and organization.
