Austin — Streetcar Update

Rail Transit Online, June 2006

More details of the Austin Circulator Project, a proposed downtown streetcar line, were revealed on May 15 during a meeting of the Capital Metro board of directors.  A preliminary blueprint, released at a directors’ retreat on Apr. 14, suggested a 6.5-mi. (10.5 km) route starting near the Seaholm Power Plant and serving the Capitol and the University of Texas campus before terminating at the former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, site of a redevelopment project.  It is now estimated that the project would cost $233 million and would be ready for revenue service no less than four years after approval by voters.  Average weekday ridership would be about 10,000 in 2017.  Cap Metro staff will present a final version of the circulator project at the board’s June meeting along with a request that the agency apply for federal funding.  The board will also have to decide when the issue will appear on the ballot.