Capital Metro's Red Line opened March 22

By Kelsey Wilkinson Friday, 19 March 2010

Service from Leander to downtown Austin set to begin after several delays due to safety concerns

LEANDER — Capital Metro will open its passenger rail service March 22, six years, $105 million and one contractor change after the project was first approved in November 2004.

“The community is ready to open this, just like we are,” said Erica McKewen, Capital Metro communications specialist. “There is a lot of anticipation for this new way to commute.”

The MetroRail Red Line commuter rail runs on 32 miles of existing freight tracks between Leander and downtown Austin, offering service every 35 minutes during morning and afternoon rush hours. The passenger rail service is expected to be faster than express buses that operate similar routes through the area because the rails are not affected by Austin traffic. McKewen said Capital Metro expects 1,700 to 2,000 riders per day using the new rail system.

The Red Line ultimately cost Capital Metro and taxpayers approximately $4 million per mile, said Doug Moss, interim CEO for Capital Metro.

Some are concerned with the costs and logistics associated with the commuter rail.

“Most fixed rail has no flexibility; once you put it down, you are stuck with it,” said Jim Skaggs, a member of the Coalition on Sustainable Transportation. “Austin is an adolescent city, and we don’t know what we are going to be like when we grow up. To make some of these decisions about fixed rail and spending billions of dollars is just not logical.”

Pricey though it may be, the Red Line is part of the broader All Systems Go Long-Range Transit Plan, which also includes expanded local and express bus service and improved park-and-ride lots.

“This can’t be all we do,” Capital Metro Chairman and Austin Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez said at a March 5 press conference. “This is worth it as long as we keep working on comprehensive transportation.”

Leander Mayor John Cowman, who is also on the Capital Metro Board, said the cost of the rail is offset by the value it adds to the region. In addition to being a new form of transportation, the Red Line will reduce highway traffic, increase worker productivity, boost civic pride and promote economic development.

When Leander officials began planning for a Transit Oriented Development, an acre sold for about $10,000—today, land sells for closer to $90,000 an acre, Cowman said.

Leander leaders have been negotiating the terms of an agreement to bring a hospital, college campus and major employers to town, which Cowman said would not be possible without the Red Line. He expects similar opportunities around all nine stations along the commuter rail’s path.

“To those people who say it’s not worth it, maybe it didn’t create value for them personally, but this is about the community,” Cowman said. “It’s like seeing the cover of a book and saying, ‘I don’t like it.’ There’s still a long way to go with this story, and it’s the story of value and opportunity for the region.”

The Red Line initially was scheduled to open in early 2008, then again in late 2008, and again in March 2009. But a variety of factors, including safety violations by then-contractor Veolia Transportation, led the transit organization to push back the start date yet again.

“We weren’t going to compromise safety,” McKewen said. “We made a decision internally that we weren’t going to open the system until everything was worked out.”

Since then, the transit organization has made the necessary safety and efficiency improvements to the commuter rail line. Capital Metro officials elected to open the rail to the public after they received positive feedback from the Federal Railroad Administration in early March.

Until demand is established, seven southbound trips and three northbound trips in the morning, and seven northbound trips and four southbound trips in the afternoon are scheduled each weekday. Weekend trips are not available, but might be part of a future service expansion. Free fares will be offered the first week of service, March 22–26.

Riding the Red Line? Quick Facts to know before you go

• The trip from Leander to downtown Austin is expected to run just more than an hour.
• The Leander, Lakeline and Howard stops all have a park-and-ride area.
• The trip is divided into two fare zones: one comprises Howard Station and all stops to the north, and the other contains Kramer Station all stops to the south. If a trip crosses the boundary, riders pay an All Zones fare.
• A one-way fare ticket is $2 for one zone and $3 for all zones; reduced fare (for students under 18 and active members of the military) is $1 and $1.50 respectively.
• Tickets will be checked by officers on board the trains.
• For info about multiday passes and the full Red Line schedule, visit www.capmetro.org/metrorail.