Kicking off what will be an 18- to 24-month study, transportation leaders are asking for public input to identify the biggest mobility problems from Georgetown to Lady Bird Lake between MoPac and extending east of I-35.

Project Connect, a collaboration between the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, a regional transportation policymaking body; the City of Austin; Capital Metro; and the Lone Star Rail District, is holding an open house June 21 at the Austin Energy assembly room, 721 Barton Springs Road, from 11 a.m.–1 p.m.

The open house will not include a presentation, and people are invited to come and go at their convenience.

The study will consider several solutions to improve congestion and increase travel capacity in the corridor. According to officials, an option already rising to the top is adding an additional lane to I-35 that would likely be reserved for rapid-transit buses and could potentially be tolled, much like the managed lane that will be constructed on MoPac. Capital Metro will roll out a rapid-transit bus service, MetroRapid, on North Lamar Boulevard and Burnet Road in 2014.

Additionally, the agencies are looking at building a regional train service on the former MoKan rail line, east of I-35. However, that plan is already receiving opposition. The Pflugerville City Council voted unanimously June 12 against the use of the MoKan right of way for a rail line, saying the path would not only split the city but would also not be the best place to put a rail line through the city.

"What we're wanting to do in Pflugerville is look to the future, we're not wanting to look back 100 years when the MKT (MoKan track) line was laid out," Pflugerville Councilman Darelle White said.

It is that location council members oppose, they said, not rail in general.

In addition to the two open house meetings, there will be an online open house available on www.connectcentraltexas.com during the next few days that people can access at any time to provide their input.

Most of the $1.97 million study is funded by a Federal Transit Authority grant.

Blake Rasmussen contributed to this report.