What are your views of new Austin commuting initiatives? Rail, RapidBus, Streetcars etc.. (Leander: to rent, house)

[AustinCommuter]

I am curious as to what peoples views are on the cities new commuting initiatives to improve traffic congestion by implementing commuter rail, rapidbus, streetcars, and bike paths in Austin? Do you think people will embrace these new modes of travel to the capital to reduce traffic wait time as commuters do in the big cities?

Are Central Texans educated enough in these new modes of commuting to understand the value they bring and money/time potentially saved instead of driving?

I do believe with transit oriented development communities around stations, the commuter rail will be very successful in Austin. I just do not know if it will be an immediate success when it launches in late 2008. Mainly because most central texans are just not familiar with effective commuting alternatives like most citizens in big cities. I think that Austin is still young enough (population wise) to implace effective commuting systems to reduce congestion on highways and think this is a smart investment for the city to make now before prices continue to rise.

Only time will tell if these initiatives were worth every penny paid with taxpayer dollars. Maybe if we are lucky, Austin can become the model commuting program for other cities the same size or bigger currently without these modes?

Have a great day!

[texastea]

I hope so...that'd be great. Then there'd be room on the road for this old lady's big SUV : ) JK I'd actually like to live in Leander's TOD.

[jwb123]

I will say again, coming from two major metro areas - I am FLOORED that Austin doesn't consider HOV lanes as a serious method of combating congestion. I think they are ignoring a huge (and easy) impact on traffic.

[neddy]

We picked leander to rent a house in to see how often we would use the rail once it starts up. Station is about a mile from us right now and there will be a station right by dh where he goes to work (IBM) so we shall see. And well my son is just looking forward to the ride!

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

I will say again, coming from two major metro areas - I am FLOORED that Austin doesn't consider HOV lanes as a serious method of combating congestion. I think they are ignoring a huge (and easy) impact on traffic.

I know on 35, there's no more ROW available because it butts up against the State Cemetery. An HOV lane on 35 would mean one less regular lane. No idea about 183 or Mopac though.

[twange]

Coming from the Great Lakes(where public transport is built for the least common denominator), I will totally embrace better public transportation. We will use it as much as we can, provided it's useful. Every larger city I've ever been to that's worth a damn long-term, has good public transport. Austin is becoming a large city(good or bad) and if they don't do this right, I think the city will start to really suck and we'll have to leave. The hope of a comprehensive system is what's keeping me positive about Austin's future. If it continues to grow and they don't address this, we'll move on.

[mimimomx3]

HOV lanes would make sense...they cut down on the number of cars, emissions, etc. The only problem? They don't make money for the state like toll roads do....that's why we'll never see them.

[fil]

Suburbia life requires transportation flexibility that mass transit cannot provide.

So single guy life, I worked, ate out, went to the gym, maybe quickly shopped, stopped at a buddy's, ate out some more, went to a girl's place, and then went home. Mass transit was not an option.

Now goes it married with kid with activities (e.g. swimming, baseball, soccer, martial arts, piano, whatever) and between said reduced single-like life patterns above, adding in the child and commuting to-from-between activities makes mass transit not an option yet again.

[Txstar]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

I will say again, coming from two major metro areas - I am FLOORED that Austin doesn't consider HOV lanes as a serious method of combating congestion. I think they are ignoring a huge (and easy) impact on traffic.

Just browsing the Txdot website and saw that there are plans to add "managed lanes" to Mopac. Not sure if that is the same as HOV, but it looked like the same things on thier renderings.

[jwb123]

Managed lanes? Not sure what that means...

HOV means "High occupancy vehicle" in which anyone more than a single driver will get access to a basically wide open lane for travel. High fees are usually associated with being caught driving in these lanes without the required 2 member vehicle. Motorcycles are usually ok though.

Many states have it so those lanes are open for any car during 'off peak' travel times.