Bus or rail? It is a question council members say will be at the center of discussion throughout the next two years as City Council prepares to bring a bond for a high-capacity transit system—one that operates outside of traffic—to voters in November 2020.

“We have an urgent need for real choices in how we get around,” Kitchen said. “There’s no greater transformative change for Austin than creating a complete transportation system connected to high-capacity transit, and I’m committed to making that change.”

Kitchen and Adler said City Council will make decisions early in 2019 with implications for the 2020 bond. Those decisions include the city’s first strategic mobility plan, approval of a plan to spend $482 million in 2016 Mobility Bond funds on street corridors and approval of Capital Metro’s Project Connect, which will include a plan for a potential high-capacity transit system.

Kitchen said public outreach for the 2020 bond begins now, as a high-capacity transit system will need to be what the voters want so there is no repeat of the 2000 and 2014 rail bond rejections.

Adler said if all these pieces fall into place, then mobility in Austin “moves to an entirely different world.”

“We weren’t poised to do that one to two years ago, but now the pieces are in place,” Adler said. “If we don’t get this done now, then everyone should be voted out of office and never let back in again.”