I’m going to bore the heck out of most of you today. I’m going to briefly discuss the Austin Texas transportation debacle. But what the heck, the weekend is upon us, so grab a glass and indulge me.
Project Connect is the moniker for the newest pipe dream, er, I mean area mass transit proposal designed to help address the roadway congestion that plagues Austin and Central Texas. It’s a nightmare to get around this city and it’s a joke that a metropolitan area of this size should be in this quandary.
The history behind the transportation mess is sordid and involves many colorful characters in the public and private sector who failed to develop and implement a common vision over several decades. While little was actually accomplished, more than a million people moved to Central Texas and so here we are.
(Admittedly, this is a gross oversimplification, but it’s not that far from the truth.)
Project Connect is a partnership between four Central Texas transportation agencies aimed at implementing the high capacity transit component of the CAMPO2035 Plan. It involves a mix of
Existing Commuter Rail
Commuter Rail
Bus Rapid Transit
Express Lanes
Urban Rail
Regional Rail
As you can see, the backbone of the plan is rail, a low-cost, quick-fix solution to be sure. No question it has few obstacles and will garner wide-spread support across all demographics and economic groups. Let’s start snapping the rails down.
Now, to get to what motivated me to write this post: a spokesperson in support of the concepts behind Project Connect asserted that, while she would be willing to ride a train, the vast majority of Austin residents would be absolutely unwilling to give up their cars.
I disagree. I suggest many would be happy to leave the driving to others if the transportation solution was
Affordable
Convenient
Efficient
Clean
Safe
That’s it. It’s really very simple. But those behind the planning will continue to conduct studies, hold public meetings, pay buttloads of money to consultants, revise the plan, talk about it, massage it, pay more consultants, publish an updated plan and then gladly hand Project Connect off to others when their time is up. And the new owners of the plan will initiate their own study, hold public meetings, pay buttloads of money to consultants and continue the cycle.
So I’ll be sitting in my car crawling along the same Austin roads in even worse traffic years after Project Connect was supposed to be a reality wondering why it never came to fruition.
It’s enough to drive Austin and Central Texas residents crazy, but due to the congestion, you can’t get there from here.
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