8th September, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
This past month I’ve been riding the express bus, and one of the main benefits of riding, aside from the green aspect, has been all of the reading I’ve gotten to do in the last month.* In case you are on the fence about trying out the bus, I thought I would share some of the books I’ve gotten to read in the past month so you can be jealous of my bus-riding experience:
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd – got this one at the Austin Library Recycled Reads book store for $1 after hearing a lot about it. I thought it was not worth the hype. I know a lot of people whove said they’ve loved it, but I thought it was ok. I didn’t think it was written extremely well and it had a lot of cliches in it, and it was predictable. It would probably be good for a teenager or pre-teen to read though.
Karl Marlantes’ Matterhorn, which I read about in this NPR review of under the radar reads, was one of the best books I’ve read in years. I reserved it at the library and didn’t know much about the book before I started reading it other that it dealt with the Vietnam War. I’ve never read a war book, and I thought I wouldn’t enjoy it so much once I read the book cover and actually realized that it was purely a war book, but it was so good that at times, I couldn’t put it down. There were a lot of characters in this book, and they were all guys, so it was hard to keep track of them, and there was a lot of marine lingo (although there was a vocabulary reference at the back of the book, which I discovered halfway though), but I stuck with it and learned a lot about the war, and also the book really helped me to empathize with the men who fought in that war in a deeper way than I had before. The book is written by a marine who served in Vietnam and he did a phenomenal job capturing what it was like there, down to the nitty gritty of dealing with leaches and the humidity.
All that Follows by Jim Crace, which a friend recommended to me. I had a hard time getting into this book because I couldn’t relate to the main character at all, but as I kept reading I started to understand him better, and even though we don’t have a lot in common, the author did such a good job developing the main character’s personality that I could empathize with him by the end of the book. Plus part of the book takes place in Austin so that’s interesting. It took me about half way through the book to get into it, but once I did, I really enjoyed it.
The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson. It seems like everyone is reading these books now so I read the first one just to be in the loop, and now I’ve checked out the 2nd book from the library. I think they are interesting, quick reads, but not great literature and I didn’t take much away from the first one, and I doubt I will with the 2nd one. But they aren’t very complicated and are entertaining. Technically I only read 1/3 of this one before my month of riding the bus ended.
So there you have it – I was able to read 3 132 books in 1 month that I otherwise would have taken ~10 months to read. Hurray for the bus!
*not to sound like a cranky old person, but green/reading benefits or not, if Cap Metro raises the price over $63 a month for an express pass, I’m not sure I’ll ride it any more.
3rd September, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
KUT also has a story about the proposed Cap Metro Budget:
If the proposed 2011 budget passes, Cap Metro will begin charging the elderly and disabled for bus fare for the first time in the agency’s history. Adam Schaivitz, a spokesperson for Cap Metro, told KUT that the new 50 cent fare is consistent with the practices of other transit agencies nationwide.
But as those fares go up, the price of a Metro Rail ticket would actually decrease. Currently non-reduced fares cost between two to three dollars….
But not everyone agrees.
“Capital Metro could run trains every minute on the minute, and not see a substantial increase in ridership,” said popular transportation blogger Mike Dahmus.
In his blog Dahmus calls the Red Line a failure that could spoil Austinites’ desire for an urban rail system.
“The problem is that people don’t want to go two miles east of the University of Texas and then ride a shuttle bus to UT, that’s ridiculous. The problem is that people don’t want to go to the convention center and then walk half a mile to a mile to their office,” Dahmus told KUT.
I agree completely with this Dahmus guy! I really don’t think it’s fair to punish bus riders for the failure of the metro rail, which was poorly planned.
2nd September, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Check out this Statesman article, which says that:
Some rail riders, those who take shorter “one-zone” rides, would see their costs drop 50 percent or more. Those who take longer trips between the outlying stations on the 32-mile line and Central Austin would see about an 8 percent cheaper fare.
At the same time, people 65 or older and people with disabilities, who long have been able to ride Capital Metro buses without paying, would have a 50 cent one-way fare and a $15 charge for a 31-day pass.
Approval of the budget, which the Capital Metro board will consider on Sept. 24 after holding a Sept. 20 public hearing, would not constitute approval of the fare changes, which also include increases in 31-day passes for regular and express bus rides, and for door-to-door paratransit rides for people with qualifying disabilities. Instead, the board later in the fall would have to hold public hearings and take a separate vote on what would be the agency’s third fare increase since October 2008 .
Check out the full article for more details
26th August, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
The Austin Business Journal has this article about public meetings scheduled to discuss proposed changes to the 2011 Cap Metro route schedule, which include ending routes 174 Burnet, the 984 Northwest Direct and 986 Leander Direct. Here are the meeting locations and times from the article:
- Leander Public Library, 1011 South Bagdad Road, Aug. 26, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Capital Metro Transit Store, 323 Congress Ave., Sept. 7, noon-1:30 p.m. and Sept. 8 from noon to 1:30 p.m.
- Tech Ridge Park & Ride, 900 Center Ridge Drive, Sept. 7, 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Austin Community College Northridge, 11928 Stonehollow Drive, Sept. 8, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
- Leander Station, 800 N. Hwy 183, Sept. 13, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
- Lakeline Station, 13701 Lyndhurst Street, Sept. 14, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- Capital Metro Headquarters, 2910 E. 5th Street, Sept. 20, 11 a.m. to noon
24th August, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
The Statesman has this story today which states that:
With MetroRail ridership lagging far below original projections, officials with the agency said Monday that they want to eliminate two express bus routes that directly compete with the commuter rail line.
That announcement, confirming stories that had been circulating for weeks, dismayed at least some who regularly ride the 986 bus from Leander to downtown Austin and the 984 bus from near Lakeline Mall to downtown. The lines would be cut in January. Those 90 or so people would face a longer commute, either on MetroRail or on a remaining express bus route that makes more stops along that corridor.
The article also notes that the people who regularly ride the 986 and 984 are pretty upset. Check out the whole article for details on public input on the proposed change.
Photo credit
23rd August, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
Today marks the beginning of changes to several cap metro routes, which you can learn more about from this KUT article. Some routes are being discontinued because of low ridership, while others are being added to serve new needs. For those of you who work near the Domain but are on the new rail line, now there will be a bus waiting at the Kramer Station to acccommdate people and employers in that area.
7th July, 2010 - Posted by carsi - No Comments
Car2Go’s registration will be free until July 18th, and after that the registration fee will be $35. If you haven’t already, get on over there, sign up, and save yourself the 35 bucks before this deal ends! And be sure to check out our post about our first Car2Go experience to get an idea of what driving one of those little guys is like.
7th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
As promised, I have a wrap up of my month of riding the express bus. My experience was chronicled, in probably too much detail, here, here, here, and here. My daily fare ended up being $2.63 each day, which is probably about the same I amount I would have spent daily in gas. However, it was nice to not have to worry about all the strange noises my car was making on the commute to work, and instead just sit back in the AC and read a book or fall asleep on the person next to me. I will definitely try to take it every other month – I think it’s a nice change of pace and committing to one month at a time is very doable. If I had to ride it every single day I would probably get agitated with the time spent waiting for the bus, but it’s a nice break to not have to drive myself in stop-and-go traffic for roughly 1.25 hours a day.
Some tips for riding the express bus:
- use this trip planner to figure out what bus you need to take.
- the buses are not always on time, so get to the bus stop a few minutes early just in case.
- make the most of not having to drive by bringing a book or your laptop (the buses have free wi-fi!)
- bring a sweater if you get cold easy – I usually found that unless I brought a sweater, I would be too cold to fall asleep.
- wear some comfy shoes for the walk to and from the bus stop
- Keep an umbrella in your car (if you drive to the Express bus parking lot, which is what I did) and in your office/locker or backpack/purse so you don’t end up having to wait in the rain for the bus.
- Plan to get the most bang for your buck by trying out the bus during a month where you aren’t going to be missing work or school to go on a vacation.
28th June, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
Last week was my 4th straight week of riding the express bus. I was able to finish the novel I was reading and start a new one, and I had several glorious naps on the ride home. It was pretty dang hot waiting for the bus some days though for the ride home. Several times I left m office right at 5:00 but still missed the bus and had to wait for the bus that comes around 5:24. Twenty minutes standing outside waiting for the bus normally wouldn’t be a big deal but at this time of year it’s so hot. Next week I’ll have a wrap up of my bus riding experience, including the final daily cost for me and tips for riding the bus!
21st June, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
According to the Statesman, starting this fall, “for residents who commute to Austin for work and Austinites working in Round Rock” Round Rock will offer bus services that will link up to CapMetro services. The article also notes that “the routes are needed because Round Rock is not within Capital Metro’s service area,” and that ”the city estimates that 261 people will initially use the bus routes.” Round Rock has not yet determined what fares will be.
21st June, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
My third week of riding the express bus has ended, and it is still going pretty well. I’m now on chapter 22 of the book I’m reading, which never would have happened if not for the reading time I’m able to have thanks to riding the bus. There were a few days there when I got pretty hot while waiting outside for the bus after work, and one day the bus that picked us up was having some mechanical problems so we had to wait for the next bus. Also, on Friday I had to bring in a dessert for a monthly potluck we have at work, and it was difficult to carry the dessert and my purse on the bus. But over all it’s been going well still – I still feel like its overpriced for what I’m getting but I will probably do it on and off in the future just because it’s a nice change of pace from driving everyday, and it’s better for the environment and the longevity of my car.
16th June, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
As part of National Dump the Pump day, tomorrow all Cap Metro Rides will be free if you print out a coupon. Check out their website for more information and look below to find the link for the coupon.
Cap Metro’s website notes that:
Thursday, June 17, is National Dump the Pump Day, and Capital Metro encourages you to be Ozone Action Hero and leave your car at home.
You can ride Capital Metro (MetroBus, MetroRail, and MetroExpress) free with a coupon on National Dump the Pump Day.
Download your coupon
Did you know that during rush hour, a full bus takes 35 cars off the road? Let’s fill the bus! Plan your trip now using Capital Metro’s easy online trip planner.
Walking, biking, or riding public transportation instead of driving is the single most effective way to reduce your carbon footprint and improve our region’s air quality. In fact it’s the number one heroic ozone action identified by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.
All of Capital Metro’s buses and trains accommodate bikes on a space available basis, providing even more flexibility in using our services.
Thanks for the tip Eric! And I highly recommend using this opportunity to try out the express bus if it works with your commute. Check out my recent posts on my bus riding experience.
14th June, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
Inside one of the fancier express buses - notice the deep padded seats
So last week was my second week of my month of riding the bus- here’s a recap of my week:
Pros:
- It’s green to ride the bus
- Had a conversation with 2 non-coworker fellow bus riders. They were both very nice and normal
- Read 5 chapters of the book I’m reading now (The Jungle by Upton Sinclair)
- felt pretty relaxed about my commute
- was on time to work most days. When I drive I’m normally always a few minutes late, so then I have to stay a few minutes late
- took one short nap
Cons:
- missed a bus by just 30 seconds in the morning so had to wait another 15 for the next bus – so frustrating!
- realized that the last express bus of the night comes around 6:30, so if I ever have to work later than that I would be stranded
- because I realized the last bus was at 6:30, wasn’t able to shop with Carsi after work for very long (Buffalo Exchange – one of my new favorite stores! Look for a post sometime soon on my buy!)
- several times was looking forward to a nice nap on my ride home, only to be picked up be either one of the city buses that don’t have padded seats, or by a bus where the AC is turned so low it’s uncomfortable
- had a new bus driver one day who didn’t know about the usual shortcuts, so got to work late
But all in all, it’s still been a pretty good experience I would recommend trying!
9th June, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
If you’re interested in learning more about how Cap Metro spends its money and would like to take a survey on the 2011 budget, check out this link:http://capmetroblog.com/2010/06/04/budget-video-and-survey/. I’m a little skeptical about how much weight they will actually give the surveys when they set the 2011 budget, but I took it anyway. I think their main goal is more to get you to watch the video and do some PR trying to eliminate the misconception of how much money is spent on the metrorail, but it’s still interesting.
7th June, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
Last week I bought a one month bus pass for the express bus and thought it would be fun to document my experience in case anyone else is interested in trying it out. So every Monday for the next 4 weeks I’ll give a little Monday recap of my prior week’s bus experience.
First, a little more about the cap metro express bus. I first tried it out last June when my car’s transmission was dying. I was pleased to discover an express bus stop only a mile from the house we were then renting – I had driven by the stop many times but just never looked into it. I was also very pleased to discover that the month bus passes were about $34 a month, which was a pretty good savings for me. My car gets about 25-28 miles to the gallon, and the drive to work at the time was about that round trip. So I was able to save about $$15-20 a month by riding the bus.
I knew nothing about the express bus at that time, but here’s the deal: the buses make limited stops (usually about 4 up North) then the bus gets on the highway and makes limited stops once it reaches UT (about 6 stops before I would get to my stop). Also, for whatever reason, maybe to attract more upper middle class people to ride the bus, the express buses are often the large charter buses that have big comfy seats that recline. Sometimes if you are riding at a time of the day that has fewer riders, the regular city buses will be used, but I’ve always felt that they’ve been clean.
Furthermore, the type of people who ride the express bus are mostly students at or employees of UT, and some professionals who work downtown. Everyone is polite on the bus and hygienic. In the 5 months I rode the bus starting last June, I never sat next to someone who smelled bad and only twice had to sit next to someone who overlapped into my set – both common complaints I’ve heard about the UT buses and city buses. So I had a pretty good experience riding the bus during that 5 month span – I enjoyed being able to relax on the bus and take a nap on the ride home, and I definitely was able to read more. But the cons were that it added maybe 15-20 minutes round-trip to my commute, it was annoying to just miss the bus by a minute and have to patiently wait for the next one, and I lost the freedom of being able to do errands on the way home. And after being with people at work all day long, it’s nice to get in my car and have some time alone, which obviously doesn’t happen on the bus.
I would have continued riding the bus though, but cap metro increased the rates for $64 for a month pass. I find it incredible that it’s cheaper for me (if you’re only counting gas money) to drive my car to work rather than ride the bus. I realize there’s extra wear and tear costs on my car by driving in, but still, it’s pretty crazy how much more it costs in immediate expenses to ride the bus.
However, I did feel guilty riding my car in every day by myself, and decided to try the bus again for a month. Maybe it’s something I can do on and off, which will still be better for the environment than me driving in my car every day. So here’s my recap of my bus riding experience last week:
pros:
- was able to start and finish a short book (‘food rules” by Michael Pollan)
- had 2 naps
- had a long telephone conversation with my parents, which normally would occur while driving (not as safe)
- had 2 long conversations with a coworker who rides the same morning bus in, which I otherwise wouldn’t have had
cons:
- missed an evening bus by a minute and had to wait 10 minutes for the next one
- had to get up about 20 minutes earlier each day than I would have otherwise
- on Wednesday afternoon, was anxious about missing the evening bus when I had to be somewhere right after work
So all in all, it was a good experience so far. And if you work at UT or are a student there, you get to ride for free, so if you have that advantage I really recommend it.
21st May, 2010 - Posted by carsi - No Comments
Today, car2go launches publicly, and they are celebrating with their Rock, Register, and Drive party this evening from 4-10 at Republic Square Park. Recently, car2go was awarded the 2010 EPA Clean Air Excellence Award from the US Environmental Protection Agency for its innovative car sharing program designed to reduce the number of cars on the road. The car2go program has been in a test phase since November, but the company recently announced it will stay in Austin permanently and will now be open to anyone who wants to join. Normally, there will be a $35 registration fee, but for a limited time the registration fee is waived if you sign up on the Rock, Register, and Drive website or at the event this evening. You’ll also be able to test drive a car2go at the party, as well as listen to some great local bands and snack on some tasty treats. Get in on the free registration while you can–car2gos are easy, fun to use, really useful, and a green way to get around. If you haven’t already, check out our post about our first car2go experience for an explanation about how the program works.
28th April, 2010 - Posted by carsi - 2 Comments
If you haven’t gotten the chance to ride the new MetroRail, this weekend might be a good time to start! Capitol Metro is putting on a Rock and Rail weekend to celebrate and promote the commuter rail. There will be a free customer appreciation party on Friday afternoon at Brush Square park with music by Cienfuegos and W.C. Clark. Three rail connector bus routes that serve the Downtown Station will be free to the public to make getting to the party free and easy: 460 Downtown/Congress, 461 Downtown/Guadalupe, and 462 Downtown/Riverside.
Also, CapMetro is opening up the MetroRail for special service on Saturday, May 1. Normally, the MetroRail line doesn’t run on Saturdays, but you can ride anytime from 11:00 am to 11:30 pm on this Saturday only. Standard fares apply ($6 for a 24 hour pass), and be sure to check the schedule to plan out your trip. Also check out this handy guide on how to ride the rail if you need a few pointers. This would be a great way to get downtown this weekend without having to deal with parking, and there are quite a few events going on to make for a fun Saturday trip. Here are the events that CapMetro listed on its website:
- Pecan Street Festival – Ride MetroRail to the Downtown Station and walk a two blocks to the event on sixth street.
- Cinco de Mayo at Fiesta Gardens – Ride MetroRail to Plaza Saltillo and walk ½ mile to Fiesta Gardens.
- Cinco de Mayo with La Mafia at Austin Music Hall – Ride MetroRail to the Downtown Station and walk 8 blocks to the music venue.
- University of Texas Big 12 Tennis Championship and Texas Invite Track Meet – Ride MetroRail to the MLK, Jr. Station and catch Route 18 to campus. (Service on Route 18 will be increased to accommodate MetroRail passengers traveling to the UT Campus.)
- City of Austin’s One Green Step Event – Ride MetroRail to Plaza Saltillo and walk three blocks to the Pan Am Recreation Center.
13th April, 2010 - Posted by carsi - No Comments
Check out the Texas Tribune’s coverage of Car2Go here. And get excited because the Car2Go program goes public on May 21, so everyone will be able to sign up and try it out. Also, the company will throw a launch party at Republic Square Park that same day and announce statistics on the success of the program so far.
5th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Last week was the second week of the metro rail running. As this Statesman article notes, during the first week after the metro rail opened, when fares were waived, ridership was doing pretty good, but now that riding is no longer free, ridership has been down to about 1,000 daily boardings. The article also notes that “In Houston, ridership on the downtown light rail line (which opened in 2004) grew almost 50 percent between the first year and the second,” so there’s still hope for the metro rail increasing its passengers as more people try it out. The rail isn’t helpful to Carsi or I since I would have to drive a bit to get to the nearest station, and Carsi lives downtown and can just walk to work. But it seems much more convenient than driving for those who do live and work near the line, and I’ve heard good things from some people who have tried it out. Let us know if you’ve tried it out and how you think it measures up to driving to work!
23rd March, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
According to this Chronicle article, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization has scheduled a series of opportunities for the public to review and comment on its draft 2035 transportation plan.
The article states that as an alternative to urban sprawl, the plan could “direct new density toward live-work-play nodes accessible both by major roads and by expanded transit…As drafted, the multimodal plan includes roadway, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities, supporting a regional goal of reducing vehicle miles traveled and emissions of both air pollutants and greenhouse gases.”
You can read the draft plan here, and attend one of several open houses this week and/or attend a public meeting on April 12th. Check here for more details.
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