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As a former employee with RTD Denver and SACTO Sacramento, I can tell you that the Capitol Metro is indeed the laughing stock of the transit world outside Texas. Many other agencies throughout the country try NOT to make the same mistakes financially as Cap Metro. It was kind of funny, before I moved down here, I lived in Kansas City. Although I didn't work for KC Metro directly, I did contract work with them. A couple of buddies of mine at KC Metro asked where I was moving. I told them to Austin, TX. They immediately said to watch out for those city buses being driven by the high school students! I had NO IDEA what they meant until I moved down here and experienced the literal financial meltdown that is Cap metro. Now I see the humor!! I have since gotten emails over the past 2 years from several people at RTD Denver and KC Metro asking how many people the new "light rail" has run over and how many millions of dollars have been wasted.
About four good reviews to your one, I'm going to have to believe the one good one.
About four good reviews to your one, I'm going to have to believe the one good one.
Perhaps it is less about believing some and not others, and more about the reviews themselves coming from individuals with different needs, looking from different perspectives.
When a decision is made to cut service to people who do use it, because they believe that increasing service somewhere else will attract more riders who do not now use it, I have to question the motives and goals (or maybe just the decision making ability) of those making such a decision.
But as long as you do not live where service is cut, and the places you need to go are well served by buses you can easily access, you will probably find the system to be good.
Just make sure that if you buy a place to live, it is close to town or close to a light rail stop.
If you rent, you can move when the area is no longer served.
I know of multiple people who are feeling they need to just that, in January, when their service is cut.
I truly wouldn't be surprised if CapMetro completely ceased operations in the next few years. They continue to loose millions every year and they haven't done anything to fix it. Perhaps a call to Slick Rick for some assistance might foot the bill???
Quote:
Originally Posted by FLAboy5
About four good reviews to your one, I'm going to have to believe the one good one.
Perhaps it is less about believing some and not others, and more about the reviews themselves coming from individuals with different needs, looking from different perspectives.
When a decision is made to cut service to people who do use it, because they believe that increasing service somewhere else will attract more riders who do not now use it, I have to question the motives and goals (or maybe just the decision making ability) of those making such a decision.
But as long as you do not live where service is cut, and the places you need to go are well served by buses you can easily access, you will probably find the system to be good.
Just make sure that if you buy a place to live, it is close to town or close to a light rail stop.
If you rent, you can move when the area is no longer served.
I know of multiple people who are feeling they need to just that, in January, when their service is cut.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eepstein
I truly wouldn't be surprised if CapMetro completely ceased operations in the next few years. They continue to loose millions every year and they haven't done anything to fix it. Perhaps a call to Slick Rick for some assistance might foot the bill???
I'm not moving until next summer. I'll check back then and ask this same question.
I ride the buses in Austin. I don't own a car. I've always ridden the buses here, but not by choice. Unless you live within Ben White and say, maybe Anderson Lane, (that's North/South) and between Burnet/N. Lamar and Red River/Congress (essentially East/West), expect to find yourself waiting for buses which never arrive, waiting for buses which are often 15-20 minutes late (but strangely, at less than half-capacity), expect to be greeted by rude drivers who have no knowledge of the routes they themselves are tasked with driving. In other words, expect to be disappointed.
Service to West Austin is pretty non-existent (as most West Austinites own cars and don't see much need to use public transportation, or so it would seem). The 19 Bull Creek runs out there but is usually always empty. The 14 Travis Heights (another more affluent part of town) was recently canceled as was the 29 Barton Hills. Capital Metro's solution is to extend pre-existing routes, thus causing longer waits and still not encouraging what CapMet calls "high-value" boarders to ride.
Service to East Austin exists but the buses are usually very crowded and don't always go where you need them to go. The 17 Cesar Chavez, 2 Rosedale, and 37 Colony Park can be caught from downtown, but as mentioned, they are usually at capacity and running late. After a certain time they do become less crowded, but then they usually only run every 30 minutes.
The only buses which run with any consistency (but are still often tardy) would be the 1L/1M North Lamar, although the 1L, which runs the full span from Tech Ridge Park and Ride to Slaughter (proof of Austin's continuing sprawl and amoeba like growth) is almost always late. Don't believe me? Try waiting for this bus downtown during rush hour and see how long you stand there as two 1Ms and perhaps two 101 "express" buses pass you by.
The few "flyers" and express routes which run are usually not much faster as traffic brings them to a snail's crawl and they essentially mirror the regular routes.
And then of course, there is MetroRail. Well, unless you live in Northwest Austin, there's not much to say about MetroRail.
In short, the public transportation options in Austin are limited for any who do not reside outside of Austin's "central" locales, locales which are the most desired and also the most expensive. The people tethered to Capital Metro's abysmal service are either the poor or the desperately bohemian. Routes are rigid and inflexible insofar as they fail to provide multiple avenues at which to arrive at one's destination. The few cases in which one can say, "Well, if I miss the 3, perhaps I can catch the 5 and still get within walking distance to my destination" are in neighborhoods that don't even utilize Cap Metro to any high degree. Otherwise, it's one bus or no bus and if you miss that bus, either get to walking or have money for a cab. I've spent more than money than I care to think about on cabs I had to pay for because Capital Metro buses didn't show up, even though I was at the bus stop some 15 minutes before the scheduled arrival times. Oh yes, the schedules, with rare exceptions and during slivers of time, they are mostly fiction.
Capital Metro is notorious for its inability to really provide service which can encourage traffic decongestion and encourage individuals to ride. I see people on the bus all of the time looking at AutoMart guides because they long for the days when they can own a car and not be at the tortuous whims of this dreadful transportation authority. Notice that I've made no mention of their blatant fiscal mismanagement as I am more concerned with the fact that they provide lackluster, indeed forgettable, service for a community which claims it is committed to encouraging "green living". Austin claims it wants to model itself on cities like Portland. (Have a look at a few Austin Chronicle pieces making these absurd parallels.) But that will never happen. Never. The community support isn't there and the current foundation (i.e. the Red Line) is a poor, poor way to even pretend to start. Consider this: There was supposed to be a plan for urban rail, genuine urban rail, on the ballot this November. The mayor decided to take the plan off the ballot because he believed there wasn't a concise enough plan to put before the voters and he knew they would vote it down. There's some truth to that, but there's also the fact that Capital Metro's debacle a la the Red Line had created enough negative sentiment so as to heighten the likelihood of voters giving a big "Hell No!" to any and all prospective rail. Instead, you have a very half-ass proposal for sidewalks, the widening of roads (because Texans love their roads), and bike trails.
Capital Metro is not and never will be The Max. Austinites are not Portlanders, which I am sure is fine by those who enjoy driving to work, or even have the option of driving to work, as such there is no genuine commitment to addressing the failings of public transportation in this community.
I have actually found the flyer routes to be not only faster but also less crowded than the normal routes. Quite often when I rode the #110 flyer it would pass the non-flyer #10 bus on S. First.
You are right though about the propose urban rail in that metrorail shot it in the foot, but it also should be noted that the proposal will cost a lot more than the measly $110 million for the red line.
How is the Austin Bus system? Could I get to work and back using strictly mass transit? Because of my age I wouldn't want to own a car in the city due to atrociously high car insurance rates. It's a simple question for people already living in Austin; could I easily get around using the bus system?
Could you get around with the bus system? Yes. Could you get around easily? No. Austin is not an easy city to get around without a car. It can take an hour on the bus to get somewhere that takes 15 - 20 minutes by car. The buses in Austin are notoriously unreliable, and the city is sprawled to such an extent that public transportation is not as practical as it is in more compact cities like New York or San Francisco.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FLAboy5
I plan on moving sometime early next year and I'll be very excited to officially start making plans
My main goal will be to advance in a music career and currently I don't see any other city as good of a fit for a musician then this city. Is it truly as diverse as advertised? I'm a light rock, acoustic singer/songwriter solo artist, I truly believe I can bring something new to the table in the Indie Music Industry. We will see. Overall just looking for a better life and a good time.
Well, I certainly hope you can bring something new to the table because Austin is overflowing with acoustic singer/songwriter types.
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Originally Posted by FLAboy5
Any feedback is truly appreciated! Thanks in advance and sorry for half starting another "I'm a musician and I'm moving to Austin thread" you all are probably quite sick of it by now.
As a fellow musician, I can tell you that you'll be severely limiting your career opportunities if you don't have a car in Austin. How do you expect to get to rehearsals/gigs and haul equipment if you're only taking the bus? A lot of other musicians won't take you seriously and might think you're a flake if your transportation situation is not reliable and you're asking other people for rides all the time. I seriously encourage you to rethink your stance toward getting a car. It's expensive, sure, but necessary and worth it.
I wish you the best of luck with your move. Send me a private message if you'd like to talk more about the music scene and a musician's life in Austin.
I rode the bust almost exclusively during my first two years at University and when I worked at the Capitol. I found it just as expedient as driving, and far safer, as I didn't have to park in some dark garage that I'd have to walk into alone at 3 a.m. Also, don't like the concept of pay to park. It's cheaper.
But, I've always lived in Central Austin, aka "downtown" or around U.T., where buses were plentiful. It makes sense to increase routes in the central neighborhoods, to my mind, and decrease those in the outlying areas. If one lives far from the city center, it stands to reason that they moved there because they don't mind driving or commuting --?
I rode the bust almost exclusively during my first two years at University and when I worked at the Capitol. I found it just as expedient as driving, and far safer, as I didn't have to park in some dark garage that I'd have to walk into alone at 3 a.m. Also, don't like the concept of pay to park. It's cheaper.
But, I've always lived in Central Austin, aka "downtown" or around U.T., where buses were plentiful. It makes sense to increase routes in the central neighborhoods, to my mind, and decrease those in the outlying areas. If one lives far from the city center, it stands to reason that they moved there because they don't mind driving or commuting --?
You're kidding, right? It has nothing to do with people "not minding a commute or driving", but more to do with the fact that more and more people are being priced out of Central/East/South Austin (i.e. the places in which the routes are more often available). There are many people who live in the outlying, sprawly sticks of Austin who don't own vehicles (myself included), but would very much appreciate more extensive, persistent public transportation. We don't even get the luxury of a crappy Night Owl out here. The principle behind comprehensive, accessible, and useful public transportation is that any community which supports the system through taxation and is within the boundaries of the system, should have equal access to routes and should not feel unnecessarily marginalized. Even if it were not a question of providing good access on principle, what happened to providing people with a more ecologically-conscious, yet timely, source? I thought Austin was "green" and stuff?
From reading these posts it seems Austin's bus system is severely lacking for such a growing sprawled out Metro. Im very sorry for those that depend on it, and especially those that have no other means to get from A to B. It is like that in much of the USA primarily the southern and Southwest areas of the country and their large Metro's. Cities such as Austin, San Antonio, Jacksonville, Tampa, Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson to name some of them. These cities became car dependent decades ago, and have shown little interest in being any thing else. With the exception of Phoenix that is making some strides in building transit it is almost non existent in said cities.
Austins bus system is what it is because the attitude of having sufficient transit options is not strong in the sunbelt. It takes both citizens and politicians to address the need for it and take care of the problem. Transit is not being pushed enough and I believe has been voted down in previous years. The reason your bus company is faltering is because it is being allowed to falter.
I think for the person that is dependent on transit, cities such as Austin are not adequate considerations. The difficulty in getting from A to B is so compromised, by where someone would have to live to have the most limited transit makes it a very difficult life.
I've run into several people from the Austin area here in Portland, as well as people from other areas of America that live in Portland because of the transit. People that could not afford a car or do not want to own one. All of them from Austin and Florida another transit lacking location, said life was so difficult there without a car they had to leave. THey had to live somewhere and found the options so limited in Ameirca they live here. Not everyone can afford to live in NYC or Chicago etc, so they choose the very few smaller somewhat affordable cities in America with transit. Yes it definitely sounds like Austin is not a city for the person that needs to get around without a car.
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I have since gotten emails over the past 2 years from several people at RTD Denver and KC Metro asking how many people the new "light rail" has run over and how many millions of dollars have been wasted. 
