Capital Metro is in the midst of planning its largest service change in its history—slated to occur June 3—and the board will vote on changes Nov. 15. Proposed changes to bus routes are a result of the Connections 2025 10-year service plan that board members approved in February. Some changes, including the elimination of the MetroRapid premium fare and increased MetroRapid bus frequency—have already been implemented. Of Capital Metro’s 82 bus routes, 38 routes would not have changes under the proposal, Capital Metro planner Lawrence Deeter said. Some routes will see minor changes, such as increased frequency or slight realignments to make them straighter. However, others will have more significant changes, such as eliminating duplicate routes. “We see a lot of benefit for our customers,” he said. “Our customers asked us for a network that is easier to understand.” In Northwest Austin an initial proposal called for combining routes 383 and 392, but after receiving customer feedback, Capital Metro updated the proposal to retain Route 392 and eliminate Route 392 service in areas that overlapped with Route 383, Deeter said. “The frequency on Route 392 would then be proposed to operate every 40 minutes, and the route would end at Burnet [Road] instead of Great Hills­ [Trail]—that’s how we cost-balance this out,” he said. One of the most significant changes would be increasing bus frequency on 10 routes that will become part of the agency’s high-frequency network. On these high-frequency routes, bus service will run every 15 minutes seven days a week. The exception is on MetroRapid routes 801 and 803, which already offer service every 10 minutes on weekdays. “This [high-frequency network] is really the cornerstone of the proposed new network,” Deeter said. Only one new route in the Northwest Austin area is proposed to be added to the network—Route 325 on Metric Boulevard and Rundberg Lane. Improved frequency, Deeter said, means riders will not have to check bus schedules because they would wait only a few minutes for a bus versus 30-40 minutes currently. “It means better access for our current riders,” Deeter said. “Four out of five would be within a short 10-minute walk to frequent service. That’s 80 percent of current riders benefiting and having better access to jobs and education.”