The city of Austin’s public transit agency is gathering input on proposed changes to its bus and rail service in an effort to provide greater frequency and connectivity.

The first of these changes could begin in January after Capital Metro finishes a yearlong study of its bus and rail network and approves a 10-year service improvement plan called Connections 2025.

“With the changing demographics and new mobility options that are out there, for us to grow ridership we have to be more convenient, and frequency is a very big part of that as well as the notion of having this network,” said Todd Hemingson, the agency’s vice president of strategic planning and development.

Service-oriented

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In September 2015, Capital Metro’s board of directors hired consulting firm Transportation Management & Design Inc. to develop the Connections 2025 plan. Capital Metro began public outreach this spring and used that input to create a draft plan.

“We heard overwhelmingly that frequency is what our customers desire most,” agency planner Lawrence Deeter said.

Proposed changes include boosting frequency on existing bus routes, eliminating duplicate bus service, consolidating the fare structure and adding more MetroRapid bus routes, which offer faster service than local bus routes.

TMD founder Russ Chisholm said Capital Metro could implement proposed changes within the agency’s existing budget. This is because some changes would involve reallocating service hours and buses from duplicate routes along MetroRapid lines to other bus routes.

“It’s combining the best of both types of service into one that works better for people more quickly [and] provides good access to stations,” he said.

During its Oct. 24 meeting, Capital Metro and TMD staffers will update the board about any changes stemming from the public outreach events in September. The board is scheduled to approve the service plan at its Nov. 16 meeting.

Phased approach

After approving the service plan, Capital Metro would then create a phasing plan to implement the changes.

“We want to implement as much as we can as soon as we can, but some of it, because of other factors, will have to phased,” Hemingson said.

This includes adding bus-rapid transit to I-35 because the agency would have to wait until the Texas Department of Transportation builds the new lanes for the service. Hemingson said some of the changes, such as consolidating MetroRapid Route 801 and part of Route 1 bus services and adding more MetroRapid routes, would require additional public input. He said TMD recommended eliminating route duplication as a means to provide faster service and operate more efficiently.

“Unless you have density like in big metros and strong ridership, it’s better in a sense to operate one route at a high level instead of two routes with one being an overlay,” he said.

Phasing the service plan is a different approach than the city of Houston took when it overhauled its entire bus system overnight in August 2015, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County. After restructuring its bus routes and extending service, the agency reported a 6.8 percent jump in ridership and 4.5 million more customer boardings from September 2015-July 2016.

Frequency favored

Crestview resident Tedd Holladay said he is fortunate to have several options for commuting downtown near the Capitol and usually takes MetroRapid Route 801 or local Route 5.

“It’s a lot easier than finding parking or dealing with traffic,” he said.

Other proposed changes would allow his wife, Lindsay Lamb, to commute downtown for work via public transit. If the changes are implemented, he said they might be able to use just one vehicle.

He supports getting rid of the higher MetroRapid fare because it is unfair to riders who cannot afford the cost and had to ride on older buses on local routes.

Holladay said more frequent buses means less stress in using public transit.

“Frequency is the biggest thing,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about missing [the bus] because another one will come.”

Matthew Ludlum said he commutes to downtown Austin via MetroRail a few times each week. He said he would love to see more frequent rail service that also runs later and has more capacity as well as Park & Ride lots with more parking.

“It certainly doesn’t make [my commute] faster, but it locks in the total commute time,” he said. “It’s a 50-minute, door-to-door trip pretty reliably.”

Ludlum said he attended a few of the Connections 2025 open house events in the spring and is pleased the proposals include more multimodal options.

“I’m excited to see some of the new plans coming out, and Capital Metro is doing a great job trying to address some of the problems,” Ludlum said.