Locale Austin, Texas, U.S. Number of lines 2 Chief executive Linda Watson | Transit type Bus service Number of stations 43 | |
Owner Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority | ||
Capital MetroRapid is an bus rapid transit service in Austin, Texas that is owned and operated by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It currently consists of two routes which run north-south served by stations designed by McKinney York Architects.
Contents
- Description and Headways
- Criticism
- Route 801 North LamarSouth Congress
- Route 803 BurnetSouth Lamar
- References
Service on the first route, MetroRapid North Lamar/South Congress (Route 801), began on January 26, 2014. It replaced existing bus Routes 1L and the 101 Express, which traveled along the same corridor (1M was renamed Route 1 Metric/South Congress, while a local version of the northernmost portion of former route 1L was created as Route 275). Before the original Route 1 North Lamar/South Congress was split into 1L/1M in 2006, it was the busiest line in the Capital Metro system and peaked at 10 minutes headways Monday through Friday, with wider headways on the weekends. (The current Route 1 has wider headways, resulting in overcrowding buses.) Route 801 serves 43 stations between Tech Ridge in North Austin and Southpark Meadows via the University of Texas and Downtown Austin.
A second route, MetroRapid Burnet/South Lamar (Route 803), serves a total of 34 stations between The Domain and Westgate. It began operation during August 2014, but the original Burnet/Manchaca Route 3 remained in service at slightly reduced frequency.
Description and Headways
As both Routes 801 and 803 run north to south, each travels down North Lamar Boulevard and Burnet Road respectively, from their northern terminuses. Approaching the Guadalupe Street corridor, both share stops from 38th Street along Guadalupe into the UT area, The Drag and downtown. Both lines then diverge at Cesar Chavez Street, and the 801 and 803 continue along South Congress Avenue and South Lamar Boulevard respectively to their southern terminuses.
Capital MetroRapid operates from 5 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, with both lines operating high-frequency service of 12–15 minutes during the day. On Saturdays, it operates from 6 a.m. to 12:30 a.m., and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Weeknight and weekend daytime headways consist of every 20 minutes, and on weekend nights, every half-hour.
Criticism
The premium fare structure recommended by a consultant causes problems for the agency. It does not collect as much money back from the fare increase as was originally expected. Other BRT systems in Texas such as San Antonio and El Paso intentionally price their BRT system for local fare. The MetroRapid bus fare was lowered to regular bus prices on January 8, 2016
The agency experiences additional MetroRapid problems. People cannot easily get a connecting local route at the Domain MetroRapid station. Nearest local routes are located well away on Burnet road. Customers using the 801 to the North Lamar Transit Center must walk to the local buses, they do not connect to the terminals—or covered shelters.
Route 801 - North Lamar/South Congress
north to south
Route 803 - Burnet/South Lamar
north to south