BIKE: New Cap Metro long-range plan

[Mike Dahmus]

I mentioned this offline to Lane, but since then I found that it's 
already on the web:

http://allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/

entails:

commuter rail down the Austin & NW line from Leander to convention 
center (no urban core service for Austin; even if there were stations 
between Mopac and downtown, it's unlikely they'd be big enough for us to 
drive and park at). Provides substantial benefit to the people who 
didn't want to be part of Cap Metro to begin with (it was not easy to 
get it through these peoples' heads that somebody in Cedar Park could 
just drive a mile down the road to the Northwest Park-n-Ride and ride 
the train even though Cedar Park is not in the service area). The Austin 
redevelopment opportunity is completely lost, since the existing rail 
ROW goes through neighborhoods hostile to additional density (and 
there's no way Airport Blvd is ever going to be as attractive for this 
stuff like Guadalupe/Lamar would have been).

The urban core gets 'rapid bus', except that the only thing it provides 
over existing #101 service is the ability to hold a green light for a 
little while. This does nothing for reliability, of course, since if car 
traffic has packed the road as it usually does, the bus can turn lights 
green all day; it's still not going anywhere until the cars in front of 
it clear.

No provision for right-of-way (i.e. bus lanes). No provision for queue 
jumping (they mentioned it as a future option, but this would require 
expansion of roadway at stations which they are now claiming they won't 
be doing).

Additional bike relevance: in many other cities, it's much easier to 
stick your bike on a train than it is to stick it on (or under) a bus. I 
don't expect it to be any different here.

The Statesman covered it today, but no point linking (registration 
required). On the front page.

I talked to the Statesman reporter today and we might see a followup 
soon, in response to Lee Walker's claim that "It's so sensible and 
cost-effective, unless you're an extreme ideologue on the left or the 
right, it's going to be difficult to vote no"

In a one-sentence summary: This is Cap Metro doing what Mike Krusee 
wants it to do, even though most of his constituents are not in the Cap 
Metro service area, and don't pay any Cap Metro taxes.

Regards,
Mike Dahmus