| Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority | |
 |
|
| Info | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Austin, Texas |
| Transit type | Bus, Bus Rapid Transit, Light Rail |
| Number of stations | Nine light rail stations |
| Daily ridership | 130,000[citation needed] |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 1986 |
| Operator(s) | CMTA |
| Transportation fares | $5.22 M |
| Contract revenue | $6.00 M |
| Freight rail | $7.27 M |
| Operating Revenues | $18.48 M |
| Labor | ($45.53) M |
| Fringe Benefits | ($31.98) M |
| Services | ($19.17) M |
| Materials and supplies | ($18.81) M |
| Operating Expenses | ($138.65) M |
| Sales and use tax | $135.92 M |
| Grant revenues | $19.59 M |
| Non-Operating Revenues | $160.28 M |
| Build Central Texas Program | ($8.76) M |
| Mobility Programs | ($16.37) M |
| Change in Net Assets | ($10.44) M |
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Capital Metro is a public transit provider owned by the city of Austin, Texas. It operates buses and will begin operating the MetroRail system on March 30, 2009. Capital Metro serves Austin and several suburbs in Travis and Williamson Counties.
Currently more than 140,000 passenger trips are made every day to more than 3,000 stops in 400 buses.[citation needed] In doing so, the agency boasts the highest ridership per capita in Texas and has experienced one of the fastest rates of growth of any major transit system in the nation.[citation needed]
Contents |
The creation of Capital Metro was approved in 1985 by the citizens of Austin with a one-cent sales tax. In 1986, the system was launched, taking over the existing city of Austin bus services.
In order to receive federal funding, pursuant to the Federal Transportation Act, the collective bargaining rights of its employees needed to be assured. Since Texas law prohibits collective bargaining by public employees, StarTran - a non-profit corporation - was created to operate Capital Metro's assets [2] and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1091 was created to represent the employees of StarTran [3]
In 1989, public perception was that too many buses were running virtually empty. The MTA tax was cut to 3/4 percent, and Capital Metro attempted to boost ridership by eliminating fares entirely. Although the program was wildly successful in attracting new riders, a perception created by a few in the media was that there were too many "problem riders" using the system.[4] Both of these footnoted references point exclusively to testimony by a former Capital Metro board member turned staffer, Lyndon Henry, whose assertions that ridership only increased by 10 percent of regular fixed-route riders, that operating expenses skyrocketed, and that vagrants drove away normal riders contradict documents from the period.[5]
Market research showed that "In only a couple of isolated instances are on-board safety or less than desirable passengers or anything else negatively attributed to the free fare program cited as reasons for discontinued use of bus service."[6] Despite the facts and widespread support -- general public approval of the fare-free program was 81%, even though 49% of respondents had never used Capital Metro services; among riders, it was 97% -- the political forces fearing the media farces reinstated fares in January 1991.
In response to the new ADA compliance rules passed in 1990, the system eventually became the first bus transit agency to have its entire bus fleet equipped with wheelchair ramps.
In October 1995, Capital Metro's board of directors increased the MTA sales tax back to its original rate of one percent, promising to set aside the additional quarter percent for future projects. This brought the annual tax burden up to $349 per household.
In 1997, Capital Metro's board of directors was "reorganized" just ahead of a performance review by the Texas Comptroller.[7] The review cited "ongoing criminal investigation" by the FBI, "irresponsible management", "expensive, embarrassing mistakes", "dubious contracting and purchasing practices", $118,000 spent on "food, parties, and presents for its employees" and culminated with "We have never, in all of the performance reviews we have conducted, seen an agency with such a lack of accountability."[8]
In 2000, Capital Metro proposed spending $1.9 billion for a light rail system with 52 miles of track on existing streets. The referendum was narrowly defeated at the polls.[9]
In 2004, Capital Metro added a trip planner to its web site. Riders enter their intended origin and destination, along with optional time, date, and other information, and the trip planner displays itineraries showing the stops, departure and arrival times, and times to get from the origin to the destination.
In 2004, after four years of additional lobbying by Capital Metro, a commuter rail plan — to be built on pre-existing freight rail lines — won voter approval. Capital MetroRail's new rail line will run from Leander through northwest Austin and east Austin before terminating at a station on the southeastern edge of downtown Austin, at the location of the Austin Convention Center.[citation needed] It was scheduled for completion by December 2008, but is now expected to open March 2009.[10]
Also, in 2004, and again, less than a year later, StarTran went on strike[11].
In September 2005 Stadler Rail won a bid to build six diesel-electric rail cars for the system.[12] Those six cars will carry up to 1000 commuters per trip, on five routes in the morning, five in the evening, with a handful of routes running during the midday. The initial cost for this rail line is $90 million dollars. [13]
In 2008, StarTran voted to begin a general strike, despite the fact that StarTran employees were already the highest paid bus operators in the state[14]. Begining on November 5, 2008, the strike caused the transit agency to reduce it's fixed and paratransit service levels, particularly impacting Austin residents who had to use public transit[15]. During the duration of the strike, the agency would initially provide only those routes on the contingency map for a reduced number of hours, but could add others as resources became available.
The University of Texas' shuttle system, operated by Capital Metro, is the largest university transit system in the United States. In 2004, the system carried about 8.1 million riders on 87 vehicles and 19 routes [16] and earned Capital Metro nearly $15 million dollars ($5 million from student fees and $10 million in grant money from the United States Department of Transportation) [17].
The history of the shuttle system can be traced back to 1969, when Transportation Enterprises, Incorporated (TEI) was contracted to manage a shuttle system for the University. There had been attempts to create a working shuttle system prior to even that, but none of them met with much success.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1549 was created, in 1972, to represent the interests of the bus operators[18][19].
In 1983, the University of Texas received six bids to manage the shuttle system. ARA Transportation Inc. ultimately won, underbidding the incumbent TEI by $1.9 million [20]. At that time, the shuttle system consisted of 10 routes, operating over 64.1 miles, with 18,000 riders, per day [21][22].
Capital Metro entered into the picture in 1988, when the University contracted out to them. Capital Metro, in turn, then subcontracted out to Laidlaw International, Inc., who had, up to that point, operated orange and white school buses [23][24] for the university on a contractual basis. Rather than use Laidlaw's existing bus fleet, however, Capital Metro used their own. In so doing, Capital Metro brought air conditioning and wheelchair accessibility to the shuttle service for the first time [25]. The transition, however, was not without controversy. Among the other contested issues was the fact that these new shuttles didn't have a stereo system [26][27]
In 1991, Capital Metro canceled its contract with Laidlaw and contracted out with DAVE Transportation, instead [28][29].
Amidst allegations of union busting, in 1999, Capital Metro canceled its current contract and instead contracted out with ATC/Vancom, instead [29][30][31].
Six years later, in 2005, Capital Metro, citing concerns over the comparatively low wages ATC/Vancom paid, negotiated a contract with First Transit to operate the UT shuttle buses[32].
Capital Metro's operating budget has increased almost 60% over the past five years.[33] This generous funding supports future projects such as the high-tech MetroRapid bus rapid transit. Capital Metro plans to reduce congestion for MetroRapid riders in two ways. First, these buses will get signal priority; as they approach an intersection, traffic signals will automatically stop cross-traffic sooner (or longer) than the normal cycle.[34] Second, Capital Metro hopes to convert existing lanes into bus lanes (dubbed "near-term managed lane facilities") "to improve mobility". [35]
Capital Metro has a customer service advisory committee which meets to provide feedback to the agency on how to continue improving service and facilities.
The fares for Capital Metro's services are as follows:
| One-way fare | Adults | Students* | UT students, faculty, and staff; senior citizens; children under six |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dillo (bus trolley) | $0.50 (two-hour pass) | $0.25 | Free |
| Metro, Flyer, UT Shuttle, Limited | $0.75 | $0.35 | Free |
| Express and Northwest Dial-A-Ride | $1.50 | $0.75 | Free |
* Students twelve and older may be required to show school ID to receive student fares.
31-Day Metro Adult-$18 31-Day Metro Reduced-$9 31-Day Express Adult-$36 31-Day Express Reduced-18 7-Day Metro Adult, Child-$7
Capital Metro is led by a board of five elected officials and two (appointed) members-at-large. The board is composed of two council members appointed by the Austin City Council; one commissioner appointed by the Travis County Commissioners' Court; one mayoral representative appointed by the mayors of the suburban cities of Travis County, within the service area; one representative appointed by a panel made up of the mayors of the suburban cities, the Williamson County Judge, and the presiding officer of each municipal utility district; and two members-at-large appointed by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.
The original jurisdictions of Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Rollingwood and West Lake Hills have withdrawn from Capital Metro.[37]
Service to other areas in the Austin metropolitan area is provided by the Capital Area Rural Transportation System.
Capital Metro recently voted to allow a new policy that would allow new members cities to hire Cap Metro to provide transit service, without using the 1% sales tax.[38] Former member city Cedar Park is interested in restoring service, and nonmembers Round Rock, Elgin, Dripping Springs and Kyle are interested as well.[37]
Capital Metro's fixed route bus service includes 49 metro routes and eight Express routes as of 2008.
Normal Shuttles
Capital Metro claims that decreasing ridership on the Dillos has prompted Capital Metro to evaluate reducing the number of routes to two and increasing their frequency.[39]
Capital Metro has reccently reduced dillo services to two routes, concerning people who wonder if this is a step to eliminating the service all together. However, the implementation of fares for the previously-free dillos could mean that the service would be retained.[40]