Capital Metro plans to boost frequency on its MetroRapid bus routes as part of broader anticipated service changes coming soon. The agency’s board in February approved its service update plan Connections 2025, a plan that outlines anticipated changes that will be implemented in the next five years. “Under Connections 2025, one of the key points that we talked about was how to improve our ridership in the overall system,” Capital Metro planner Roberto Gonzalez said at Monday’s Capital Metro board meeting. “That is the investment in frequency of service. We have not only the idea to invest in MetroRapid and add more frequency, but also to look at the [rest of] the system and add several routes in the coming years to add frequency to those [routes].” To aid in the handling the increased, Capital Metro will also roll out 15 new MetroRapid buses. Capital Metro has already accounted for the MetroRapid expansion in its fiscal year 2016-17 budget. Additional funding is in place to add eight new station pairs on the two MetroRapid routes near areas that have experienced growth, Gonzalez said. Other service changes planned for August include route realignments and new trips on the agency’s Express bus routes that connect Northwest Austin and Leander to downtown Austin, the Capitol complex and The University of Texas. The routes will use the new MoPac express toll lanes, which the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority plans to open in August.

Increased ridership

Capital Metro also reports steadily increasing ridership on MetroRapid, including an increased bump in early 2017 after January’s fare reduction to $1.25 to match the price of a single ride on a local bus route. The agency saw ridership increase 26 percent January through March in 2017 compared with the same timeframe in 2016. In March, Capital Metro had a record number of riders at 347,022, mostly attributed to the South by Southwest Conference & Festivals. Here are some other statistics on MetroRapid ridership: