What’s happening?
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, awarded the city of Austin a Climate Pollution Reduction Grant for $47.9 million on July 22 to help individuals throughout the region adjust to major construction projects slated to break ground in coming years. These include TxDOT’s I-35 overhaul and the city of Austin’s light rail project.
The city is expected to see more than $20 billion in mobility infrastructure investments over the next 10 years, according to a news release from the Austin Transportation and Public Works department.
Major construction projects that impact traffic often lead to an increase in vehicle miles traveled, which translates to increased air pollution, the release states. The EPA grant funding will be used to help mitigate disruptions in travel as a result of construction.
"This grant will help promote and provide cleaner ways for people to get around the Austin region," Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax said in a statement. "Our residents and visitors will be able to make informed choices about how they want to travel. That aligns with the city’s goal to improve the quality of life for people who live and work here."
Plans for funding include:
- Expanding Capital Area Rural Transportation System, or CARTS, to offer more frequent services, as well as more vanpool services to Austin suburbs, like San Marcos, Bastrop and Taylor.
- Increasing Capital Metro north-south bus frequency for those routes near street construction, including small-scale shuttles through construction zones.
- Creating new or improved mobility hubs at high-use mobility transition points to make carpooling, biking and public transit more accessible.
- Expanding the city’s Bikeshare program.
- Implementing visible air quality monitors, which also collect data, at mobility hubs.
- Providing incentives for individuals to stop driving alone, specifically targeting low-income transit users.
- Creating a regional mobility website to help coordinate travel throughout the metro, including multilingual options.
"The Austin region is on the brink of an exciting and positive new era of mobility with the infusion of billions of dollars into transportation projects," Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said in a statement. "But transformational change will bring some disruption along the way. Working with our regional coalition of transportation agencies, we plan to use this grant to make our transition a little easier and more pleasant for our residents with timely traveler information while also promoting adoption of transit, carpooling, and active transportation, leading to long-lasting impacts on congestion and achieving our mobility and pollution reduction goals."
