AUSTIN (KXAN) — Starting Tuesday, Capital Metro will host one-hour long virtual meetings to discuss two of the four new MetroRapid routes: Pleasant Valley and Travis County Expo Center. They routes are part of the $7.1 billion Project Connect voters approved in November.
The Expo Center route stretches from East Austin to the University of Texas at Austin and downtown. While the Pleasant Valley route will take riders from Mueller to the soon-to-be Goodnight Ranch Park & Ride: One of the nine new Project Connect’s Park and Rides. CapMetro officials said the two new MetroRapid routes will provide the connections the overall program needs.
“The light rail, the tunnel those are really important, those are the big projects that can really get the system moving and move a lot of people but they can’t exist in a vacuum,” said Jackie Nirenberg, the director of community engagement and involvement for the Austin Transit Partnership. “The local bus service, as well as the MetroRapid service, will help facilitate peoples connections to these light rail lines.”
The two new bus routes will mark a first for MetroRapid in these areas. Some people like Joe Guerrero said the new Pleasant Valley route could save him time due to the limited bus stops as opposed to the frequency of stops on MetroBus routes.
“Sounds good because I might need it,” Guerrero said. “My car right now is broke.”
CapMetro officials said they want to create these bus stops and put in the amenities the community wants and needs from the expected such as seats and lights to maybe the unexpected.
“It could include solar lighting any other amenities like perhaps a place to have art on the bus stop — information system like we got some of our stops it’s like a tablet where you can see where the next bus is, when is it coming, what are all the routes that serve this station,” Nirenberg explained.
The Pleasant Valley and Travis County Expo Center stops are just two of the four new MetroRapid bus routes CapMetro plans to create. The other two new routes include the Burnet Route from The Domain to Menchaca and Oak Hill along South Lamar and the Gold Line from ACC Highland to South Congress and Ben White. Transit officials said they plan to begin discussing those two new bus routes with the community this summer.
Construction is expected to begin by the end of the year and CapMetro expects the Expo and Pleasant Valley MetroRapid lines will begin service sometime in 2023. The Burnet corridor and the Gold Line could be ready sometime between 2023 and 2024.
The first virtual meeting with take place tonight starting at 6 p.m. Tomorrow, the meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. and the last meeting on Thursday will be hosted at 6 p.m. in Spanish.
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