Project Connect
Austin’s Project Connect Funding Safe for 2025
The light rail project is moving ahead with plans to finalize its environmental impact review by late 2025.
Austin’s Project Connect Gains Key Budget Approval
The light rail project can move forward with the engineering and design phase, with a groundbreaking expected in 2027.
Austin Transit Agency Backs Down on Electric Bus Pledge
Technology problems, short ranges, and supply chain issues hinder Cap Metro’s ambitious electrification plan.
Austin’s Project Connect Under Fire From State Attorney General
A new lawsuit could delay the massive transit proposal into the next legislative session, where anti-Austin lawmakers could kill it altogether.
Texas Attorney General Calls Project Connect Funding Scheme Illegal
The massive transit project’s unique funding scheme could run afoul of state law.
Austin’s Project Connect Faces More Hurdles
Two proposed bills in the Texas state legislature call for more voter oversight of the mass transit project, which could imperil the transit expansion approved by voters in 2020.
Controversial Highway Widening Breaks Ground in Austin
Texas’ transportation priorities were on display in March—a few days after the gutting of a transit plan, a highway expansion broke ground depite years of local opposition.
Austin’s Project Connect Transit Plan Drastically Reduced
The details of drastic reductions to the proposed building program for Austin’s Project Connect long-range transit plan are now open for public comment.
Texas Legislation Would Add More Roadblocks for Transit Funding in Austin
A former Austin city councilmember, now at the Texas State Legislature, is trying to make it harder for Austin Transit Partnership to borrow money to fund Project Connect, the Austin region’s big, ambitious transit investment plan.
Revisions Looming, Austin’s Project Connect Reveals the Obstacles of Transit Planning in 2023
A once sprawling and singularly ambitious capital investment plan for the Capital Metro system will soon be reduced in size and scope. The episode is more evidence of an emerging era of transit planning austerity.
Austin Preparing to Trim 'Project Connect' Long-Term Transit Plans
Increasing costs and an understanding about taxes are reducing the scope of the long-term transit plan in Austin, Texas.
Light Rail and Buses and More, Oh My!
A light rail bridge proposed for Lady Bird Lake, still pre-design, is causing controversies about whether adding buses to the bridge would be too dangerous for the other non-automotive modes.
Coming Soon to Austin: More Electric Buses, Two New High-Frequency Lines
Austin's transit agency is accelerating its move toward an all-electric fleet with the addition of 200 new electric buses.
Austin Hopes to Buck Tradition with Anti-Gentrification Measures in its New Transit Plan
Project Connect promises to prioritize equity and inclusion with $300 million dedicated to anti-displacement efforts.
Transit's Big Day at the Ballot Box
Even with the fiscal uncertainty of the pandemic, voters around the country overwhelmingly supported new funding for public transit projects.
TxDOT Wants to Build the I-35 Capital Expressway to 20 Lanes
After releasing "public scoping" details for a massive widening project in Downtown Austin, a writer slams the Texas Department of Transportation for its car-centric approach to transportation planning.
State and Local Votes Reveal Widespread Support for Public Transit
There's a narrative to be built from the results of state and local elections on issues of public transit funding: voters continue to support more funding for public transit projects and programs.
How COVID Impacts the Future of Light Rail in Austin
The budget for Austin’s massive transportation plan was cut by nearly a third in the wake of the pandemic, but a tax rate increase to help pay for it is still on the ballot for November.
Property Tax Could Fund $7 Billion Transit Plan in Austin, Displacement Mitigation Included
A $7 billion transit investment plan for Austin would include $300 million toward preventing displacement of communities in neighborhoods located near planned transit investments.
Transit Galore in Capital Metro's New Transit Plan for Austin
New light rail lines, dedicated busways, and expanded bus and commuter rail service are on the Project Connect menu.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
