Capital MetroBlog

A few words about productivity…

February 2, 2012 by Lawrence

In the transit business, one of the most common ways to evaluate how well a route is doing is by measuring its productivity. There are several ways to measure a route’s productivity, such as cost per rider, riders per mile, etc. One measure that we use often around here is riders per hour, which is the number of people that ride a route per hour of service provided. For example, if 30 passengers ride a route that operates for two hours, the productivity is 15 passengers per hour.

So, what are Capital Metro’s most productive MetroBus routes?

1) Route 1L/1M (39 passengers per hour) – Continuously ranks 1st or 2nd in terms of productivity, which is one of the reasons why Lamar Boulevard, Guadalupe Street and South Congress Avenue were selected as the alignment for our first MetroRapid route.
2) Route 300 (37.5 passengers per hour) – Connects North Lamar Transit Center and South Congress Transit Center and serves many ridership generators including MetroRail stations, Reagan High School, multiple HEB grocery stores, and a Walmart.
3) Route 20 (37.1 passengers per hour) – Serves the very busy and growing Riverside corridor, as well as Manor Road.
4) Route 331 (36.7 passengers per hour) – Operates between ACC Riverside and Westgate Mall, mostly along Oltorf. ACC Riverside and Travis High School are major ridership generators. When they are in session, Route 331 can outperform Route 1L/1M.
5) Route 325 (35 passengers per hour) – Connects the densely populated Rundberg corridor with two shopping areas: Northcross Mall and the Walmart Shopping Center at Rutherford. It also has the highest percentage of Spanish-speaking passengers by far (44%).
6) Route 7 (33.8 passengers per hour) – Experienced ridership growth after it was extended to the St. John’s neighborhood in August 2010. Also serves the Dove Springs area in southeast Austin.

Did you notice that half of the highest performing routes listed above are local routes serving downtown and the other half are crosstown routes bypassing downtown? This reflects people’s changing travel patterns. Not everyone works, shops, or seeks medical services in downtown anymore. The implementation of Capital Metro’s ServicePlan 2020 has done a good job of meeting these changing patterns and improving overall productivity on our bus routes.

Service planning doesn’t only pay attention to our most productive routes, we also monitor the least productive routes. We then evaluate ways to improve productivity including rerouting, restructuring with surrounding routes, changing frequency or hours of service. To get a better idea of how we evaluate routes and make changes, check out the recording of our Service Standards & Guidelines and Spring Service Analysis webinars.

See you on the bus.

Dinita Caldwell appointed Vice President of COMTO

January 31, 2012 by Erica

We want to congratulate our very own Dinita Caldwell, who has been appointed vice president of the local chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). Dinita is Capital Metro’s interim business development manager and disadvantaged business enterprise officer.

COMTO creates professional and educational opportunities for minorities working in the transportation industry and promotes careers in the field.  The Austin chapter provides between $2,000 and $3,000 in scholarships each year to support its members.

Dinita will serve a two-year term and joins President Blanca Juarez (UT Parking and Transportation), Treasurer Cris Lopez (Veolia Transportation) and Secretary Alta Alexander (TxDOT) on the executive board.

31K Portraits of Peace/Retratos por la Paz

January 19, 2012 by Erica

Portrait by Diego Huerta for 31K Portraits for Peace exhibition.

Something special is coming to Austin beginning next Friday: 31K retratos por la paz/portraits for peace, a powerful exhibit featuring the photography of Diego Huerta that opens Jan. 27 at the Mexic-Arte Museum.

The 31K project chronicles the hope for peace that still remains in Mexico despite the ongoing drug wars that have killed 31,000 people. From the Mexic-Arte website:

Diego Huerta and project partner Daniela Gutiérrez have travelled throughout Mexico and arrived at cities like Guadalajara, Campeche, Tamaulipas, Michoacán, Ciudad de México, Mazatlan, and Baja California.

For over 180 days Diego and Daniela have cataloged their project on both their website and Facebook pages providing followers with current photos and video diary excerpts from their national journeys throughout Mexico. 31K’s large-scale vivid photographs portray the breadth of lives lost and the hope for peace that still remains in Mexico. With each 31K photograph Diego presents the panoply of Mexican life. Each colorful image captures a vignette of the Mexican people from students, families, street performers, artisans, businessmen, and priests.

A visit to 31kproject.com is a chills-inducing experience, with poignant video diaries and photos from each day of Diego’s and Daniela’s travels. While you’re out and about around town or onboard the bus, you might see the exhibit preview on both the outside and inside of some of our buses. Capital Metro is a supporter of this fantastic exhibit.

Here are the details of the opening reception:

January 27
6 -7 p.m. Members Reception
7 -9 p.m. Members and General Public Reception
Admission: Free for Mexic-Arte Museum Members/$10 for non-members
Getting to the museum: Mexic-Arte Museum is on the corner of 5th and Congress. Ride 1L/1M, 5, 7, 10, 20, 30 and 101

Follow Diego and Daniela’s 31K Project on their official website and on their facebook page.

Resolve to Ride in 2012

January 2, 2012 by Erica

Happy 2012!

For many people, New Year’s is a time of reflection and introspection. There’s something about wrapping up a year and anticipating the next that just lends itself perfectly to resolutions and goal-setting. What went well in 2011? What do I want to do differently in 2012?

If any of your resolutions for 2012 pertain to saving money, getting healthier, or being kinder to our planet, consider adding Capital Metro to your bucket list for 2012.

SAVE SOME GREEN
Conservatively, you can save a couple hundred bucks a month on gas by taking public transportation instead of driving your car. It costs just $1 per trip on the bus, and buying a multi-ride pass will bring the cost per trip down even more. Calculate your savings. Check out our low fares.

GET LEAN
I’m always fretting over my weight and trying to find time to incorporate more exercise into my daily routine. You may not immediately connect public transportation with exercise, but consider that every single transit rider starts and ends as a pedestrian. Think about it: you walk (or bike) to your stop, and on the tail end, you walk to your destination. Over time that walking adds up to pounds and inches.

GO GREEN
Recycling is great, but if you’re ready to take it to the next level, ride Capital Metro. Taking public transportation instead of driving your own car is the single greatest action you can take to reduce your carbon footprint. Calculate your carbon savings by riding public transportation.

If you want to make a difference in 2012 on the environment or on your waistline or bottom line, mosey over to Capital Metro’s online store and purchase a transit pass today. Here’s to a great beginning to 2012.

Be a Night Owl on New Year’s Eve

December 28, 2011 by Erica

Looking to revel downtown on New Year’s Eve this year? Capital Metro, in partnership with the Austin Police Department, wants to help you ring in the new year safely, and we’re offering FREE Night Owl service on New Year’s Eve.

Ride a regular local bus to downtown that night for $1, and catch a free return ride via one of six Night Owl bus routes, which begin service at midnight and run til after 3 a.m. Catch one of these buses at 6th and Congress, with service to neighborhoods throughout town.

This means your transportation costs for New Year’s Eve can max out at a mere $1–the cost of a one-way fare via Capital Metro’s regular local routes. Yes! No parking fees, no circling the block looking for a meter, and no worrying about the dangers of being out on the road that night.

You can plan your trip with our online trip planner, and check out the Night Owl maps, too, to see if our late night service will work for you.

APD is stepping up its DWI enforcement. Don’t chance it! If you’re flying late on New Year’s, get on the Night Owl.

Happy Holidays from Capital Metro

December 23, 2011 by Erica

Getting around town in 2012: by Train, by Bus, by Bike

December 22, 2011 by jolindamarshall

We want to encourage more people to use bicycles to connect to MetroBus and MetroRail.  We want to know more about how bicyclists currently connect to transit, and what barriers prevent potential bicyclists from choosing to ‘bike-and-ride’.

Capital Metro has been pleased to see an increase of transit ridership that includes more cyclists. We are looking at first/last mile opportunities to help cyclists and other passengers to connect to/from the trains and at bus transfer areas.  Information we get from this survey will tell us how we can provide better bike access to our services. 

While providing optimum services to all of our passengers, we want accommodate the needs of our passengers that connect by bike.   To do that, we are taking steps to address cyclist demand in a variety of ways:

We do allow for folding bikes on the buses. Standard bikes are not allowed on the interior of our buses due to space and liability reasons.  We have researched practices of other transit agencies throughout the country and have found this to be true of most other transit agencies aboard standard buses.  We are instead working on convenient options that will enhance bike/bus connections.  

We will be adding secure/enclosed bike storage at some of our transit stations and park and rides soon.  The first one will be at Kramer Station this spring.  It will consist of a fully-enclosed parking area for 24 bikes that is accessible by a secured access card to provide a higher level of security and protection for bikes.  For some, it will offer a preferred alternative to transporting bikes on the trains and buses. Six more of them will be installed in 2012-13 throughoutAustin.  We are also working with the city ofAustin’s implementation of their bike-share program. 

Capital Metro continues to improve safety, access, and accessibility to stops and crossings, to add bike parking at key stops, and to implement special projects like the shared use ped/bike trail construction from Highland Mall (Denson Dr.) to Lamar Blvd. to enhance pedestrian and cyclist connections to transit options.  These and other efforts will enable more people to ride their bikes to connect to transit opportunities that can best serve their lifestyle.  Continue Reading »

James Ferguson takes his first MetroRail ride

December 19, 2011 by Erica

Fuel Spill Drill

December 16, 2011 by Misty

At 10 a.m. Tuesday, a group of four employees were told a fuel delivery truck hose failed and a large amount of diesel fuel was released on the ground next to the service island. Their job was to take care of the situation. This was just a drill, but nonetheless, they sprang into action.

A water tank was set up to act as a delivery truck leaking fuel. Five other employees were positioned around the scenario to observe and take notes. Continue Reading »

Our holiday tradition

December 13, 2011 by Adam

My favorite holiday tradition at Capital Metro is the annual caroling from our neighbors across the street at Brooke Elementary School. As a thank you to our employees who volunteer at Brooke and help needy families, each year the school puts on a holiday concert in our lobby. Without further ado, please enjoy the third, fourth and fifth graders’ rendition of Silent Night, We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad: