ShortCuts

By boondoggle=CapMetro

October 28, 2009 12:32 PM | Link to this

Can we get a REFUND on the TRAIN ?

By raised by 2 parents

October 28, 2009 12:38 PM | Link to this

Go ahead and hike the fair on the people the bus system was designed to help. We pay an extra tax so those who can not afford a car can ride the public bus system for a reasonable price. ENTER LIGHT RAIL. The new LIGHT RAIL has eaten up so much money the taxpayers are now on the hook for larger expenses. (TAXES) So, let’s raise the rate on the public (TAXPAYER) and the end user (bus rider), just so we can have LIGHT RAIL that has yet to be started and is behind schedule, over budget for how long??????????? The government can not spend your money fast enough!! And you want the GOVERNMENT TO RUN HEALTH CARE? You have to be kidding, right?

By jackie

October 28, 2009 12:51 PM | Link to this

That is totally ridiculous that seniors and people with disability should have to pay. I feel much more safer having seniors ride a bus then driving a car around Austin. Most of the people are on SSI and don’t receive that much money so for them to say they would have to pay is stupid! Cap Metro is **** up and they won’t admit it but we have to pay for it? We pay taxes to put them in business. We need to boycott this place to knock some since into them or get another company to do our public transportation because this is just outrageous!

By Get your facts straight

October 28, 2009 12:52 PM | Link to this

Rail that will serve the community for the next 50 years is costing $120 million for 32 miles. That is the cheapest rail in the country. That’s cheaper than 130 and, if you haven’t been on its empty lanes lately…

Those “poor people who can’t afford cars” are gonna be most of us by the time gas goes back up to $5 a gallon. Don’t be short sighted - public transportation might seem like welfare to you, but it is our transportation future.

The bus system is designed to help EVERYONE!

By Robin

October 28, 2009 12:56 PM | Link to this

I am one of the people who must ride due to disability. I am not rich—but I do support the ‘fare hike’.

Having previously lived in cities where a yearly pass cost $550 and a monthly pass cost $110, I do think that these proposed rates are fair—and affordable.

This city would not expect the same model of computer to be utilized for 20 years and it would not expect the same textbooks to be utilized in public schools for 20 years. So yes, a fare system must also be replaced at some point.

It too must meet the current needs of a growing city with an expanded population and growing needs which are different from 1985.

By Robin

October 28, 2009 1:02 PM | Link to this

I suspect many of the people ‘concerned’ about this proposal have not lived in and/or utilized the public transit systems in other cities for a comparison.

Once they saw the current/immediate historical rates of those fare items, they would also become advocates. We’re still making out very affordable.

By san miguel

October 28, 2009 1:07 PM | Link to this

I pay homeowner’s taxes but also take advantage of the free over 65 fares. I think that it would be appropriate to revisit allowing all seniors over 65 to ride for free. Perhaps a financial means test would preserve the ability of those below a certain level of yearly income to continue riding for free. Those whose incomes are above the designated level would have to pay the standard adult rate. The cards would have to be renewed annually with proof of income in the form of tax returns etc.

By Robin

October 28, 2009 1:12 PM | Link to this

I like the economic compromise idea. It would help people—while bringing in money. And official verification would prevent abuse of the poverty level test.

By Wooly

October 28, 2009 1:14 PM | Link to this

I just moved here from Silicon Valley, California, and the VTA there is crazy expensive! $80 for a monthly pass, $2 a single ride, $6 for a day pass that ends at midnight. And no free rides for anyone, seniors pay $1 a ride, $2.50 for a day pass (which is just shameful). Folks, it could be a LOT worse!

By djbf

October 28, 2009 1:16 PM | Link to this

In Oakland, CA it’s $1.75 to ride the bus. The proposed fare increases are entirely within the realm of compassionate reality. Paying a quarter to ride the bus is not going to break anyone’s bank.

I wonder if a zero-emissions bus fleet is on on Cap Metro’s horizon…

By Famous Original Bob

October 28, 2009 1:22 PM | Link to this

If you work for Cap Metro or a contractor and you post on this board, please identify yourself as such (speaking to you, “Get your facts straight”).

Fact is, the commuter rail line has all but bankrupted one of the richest transportation agencies in America — all to serve a few hundred commuters a day (who were doing just fine on the express bus). And this at the expense of tens of thousands of riders are now subsidizing this boondoggle through taxes and fare increases.

“Cheapest rail line in the country”? Don’t make me laugh.

By jwa1968

October 28, 2009 1:44 PM | Link to this

Shame on the Captal Metro board and the previous General Manager for their ….ups of the past eight(8) years. Now that the consequences of their budget decisions are back to bite them on their behind… they want all the taxpayers and busriders to bail them out AGAIN. To prevent this reocurrence replace ALL the board members with more experienced mass transit and budgetry matters. I am hopeful the the Sunset Commitee will re-commend to have these board members replaced.

By jwa1968

October 28, 2009 1:45 PM | Link to this

Shame on the Captal Metro board and the previous General Manager for their ….ups of the past eight(8) years. Now that the consequences of their budget decisions are back to bite them on their behind… they want all the taxpayers and busriders to bail them out AGAIN. To prevent this reocurrence replace ALL the board members with more experienced mass transit and budgetry matters. I am hopeful the the Sunset Commitee will re-commend to have these board members replaced.

By Station Agent

October 28, 2009 2:14 PM | Link to this

CapMetro should not have the audacity to hope that the people will support this fare hike. They have consistenly mismanaged the entire system and made an abomination of the MetroRail train. If anything, CapMetro should be reducing the fares in order to encourage more ridership and to reduce the number of cars on the road. This proposed action of raising fares will backfire and further anger and alienate the public. Someone needs to stop this insanity for the sake of the good bus drivers and passengers that rely on this system every day.

By Willie

October 28, 2009 2:15 PM | Link to this

Hell yes raise the prices! Why not? Tax us more with less services. Who would deny Cap Metro this small increase after all the hard work they’ve done in the past. And they are such an efficient organization.

By Tom A

October 28, 2009 2:19 PM | Link to this

From the comments and visibility this has - a legitimate question is - what if we suspend the light rail service indefinitely to maintain public transit for people who really NEED it - current Cap Metro riders to work, students - etc. and tie any fee hikes to a 10% salary reduction for the top levels of Cap Metro management, not the hourly workers who actually run the service - once you hit executves in their wallet you may get a more sober approach to financial responsibility.

By Get your facts straight

October 28, 2009 2:39 PM | Link to this

Hey, Original Bob, put up or shut up. Find me a less expensive rail system per mile than Capital Metro in the US (built in this century, too).

Find me a cheaper rail system in the United States at $1 a ride (may go up, I know).

Find me another city in Texas with rail that let’s the homeless and elderly ride free.

Don’t slam me because you can’t get your facts straight. Come on…put up or shut up

By Michael

October 28, 2009 2:48 PM | Link to this

I live in Phoenix, a city with a high concentration of low-income and seniors. The basic local fare is $1.75. Reduced fare (for ages 6-18, seniors 65 or older, people with disabilities, and Medicare cardholders) is 80¢. A day pass is $2.50. Monthly passes are $45 for local service and $68 for express routes. Many employers subsidize bus passes making the cost to the passenger lower.

In Las Vegas, another city with a lot of seniors and low-income people, local base fare is $1.75, seniors pay 75 cents. This is going up in January to $2 base fare and $1 for seniors.

A city the size of Austin, and with the growth in population and stature, can handle seniors and disabled paying 25 cents a ride, and a $28 monthly pass.

By T.F.K.

October 28, 2009 3:00 PM | Link to this

Fares in Oakland are now $2.00 (with no transfers). But! AC Transit, while still grossly inefficient in a lot of ways, has BART, Amtrak, and CalTrain, etc. with which it connects. Capital Metro is not even in the same league as AC Transit or MUNI. Austin needs to stop comparing itself to regions that have had a longer history of implementing transit solutions … and creating rail systems that actually (gasp) WORK!

Is anyone going to the meetings?

By KMG

October 28, 2009 4:39 PM | Link to this

At $63 for a monthly Express pass, for a typical month with 21 working days, I would end up paying $3 a day for transportation to get to my job downtown. If I drove from my house, which is right by the Pavilion park-and-ride, a round trip is about 26 miles. My car gets about 26 MPG in stop-and-go traffic, so I end up using a gallon of gas a day if I drive to work. At the current price of gas, it would become cheaper for me to drive my car rather than take the bus. I realize that I avoid wear-and-tear on my car by taking the bus, so the cost to drive in each day ends up being roughly equal to the cost of the proposed bus fare when you add in the maintenance on my car I would have to pay with the increased mileage. But with the cost of taking the bus being so close to the cost of driving my car, I would choose to drive rather than pay for a bus pass.

Driving my own car is certainly more convenient: riding the bus takes longer than if I drive myself, plus I can’t leave for work and come home whenever I want to or run errands on the way home from work when I take the bus. Since I have to pay car insurance anyway and I have a free parking spot through work, I don’t get any benefit (other than feeling like I am doing something positive for the environment) from taking the bus if the fare increase goes into effect. I know my situation is shared with many co-workers who similarly will switch to driving if the fare increase goes through.

By jim

October 28, 2009 5:09 PM | Link to this

In the same column as the one about the pervert driver.

By Michael

October 28, 2009 5:23 PM | Link to this

“CapMetro should not have the audacity to hope that the people will support this fare hike. They have consistenly mismanaged the entire system and made an abomination of the MetroRail train.”

I’ve been following the MetroRail train progress. I’ve been following the Cap Metro board and governance. It all comes down to realizing that Austin is no longer a sleepy little college town any more and acting accordingly. Austin needs a world-class mass transit system, and badly. Austin needs competent leaders to operate such system. Have Austinites really brought pressure to bear on the elected officials and the “good ol’ boy” system to get real change going? Or will it take some of the California transplants you people hate so darn much, to make things really happen???? Something’s gotta give, folks.

By linna

October 28, 2009 5:46 PM | Link to this

NO. The people who ride, the people who really need this transportation should not be having to pay for Cap Metro’s mismanagementS and boondoggleS. NO.

By Michael

October 28, 2009 5:49 PM | Link to this

KMG, does your employer offer a reduced monthly pass for employees? Not sure if Cap Metro has that but transit systems in many cities around the country (including Phoenix) have it where the agency offers reduced passes to employees; part (and in some cases all) of the cost is borne by the employer.

In Arizona, we are under federal court order to reduce vehicle emissions, so major employers (50 or more employees) are required to implement a Trip Reduction Plan, which includes telecommuting and mass transit among other things. Noncompliance means companies can get fined.

By Oy Vey

October 28, 2009 5:57 PM | Link to this

According to the proposed fare increase chart Cap Metro plans to charge a $4 one way fare to ride Metrorail from Leander to downtown Austin. The train will take you to the Convention Center, which is okay if you work in that area, but if you need to go to the Capitol Complex, you’ll have to hoof it or take another bus. Is anybody really going to use this goofy thing?

By Derrick

October 28, 2009 6:02 PM | Link to this

It is increasingly and painfully more apparent than ever that the senior and disabled citizens are being led down a slippery slope by the blind administration at Capital Metro. Further, by their continual mismanagement of funds and perpetually nickle and diming the poor by placing interest on dollars and not common “sense.” I think their latest display of capitalist integrity shows how much they are incapable of operating a transportation system that is both economical and practical for the fiscal budget and seniors and disabled.

By Michael

October 28, 2009 6:03 PM | Link to this

Can someone tell me why MetroRail is 1) not a true light rail system like almost every other city in the West that has built one recently and 2) doesn’t pass through the UT and State Capitol corridors???? Sacramento’s light rail goes right past the California Capitol building/grounds and all the California state office buildings nearby.

By Famous Original Bob

October 28, 2009 9:23 PM | Link to this

Couple things on that, “GYFS”:

1) Cap Metro built the commuter rail line on existing trackbed — meaning, no condemnation costs (a major expense normally), and track and grade crossings already in place (insufficient, but there). This is why the “yes on commuter rail” folks advertised that after a little federal money came in, it would be free. Not $120 million (which really only reflects part of the cost), but FREE.

2) Cost per mile is a meaningless statistic by itself. You can build a rail line in the middle of nowhere, that serves no one, very cheaply per mile. But it would be worthless. The relevant statistic is cost per PASSENGER mile. That figure is currently infinity (no passengers = no denominator). Even when fully operational, at a mere 9 roundtrips per day, the cost per passenger mile will still be astronomical. Like, crazy big numbers. Like you could buy every passenger a new car for cheaper. EVERY YEAR.

I noticed you never denied that Cap Metro butters your bread. I will take that as an admission by silence.

By Fiftycal

October 28, 2009 9:28 PM | Link to this

Let’s hear it for LIGHT RAIL! MMM MMMMM MMMMMMMM Please sir, can we have another? $150 MILLION to move about 600 people a day. What a BARGAIN! WOW!

By The 'Ol 786

October 28, 2009 9:57 PM | Link to this

For those who think this is such a sweet deal, how long has it been since you moved here? I bet you haven’t noticed the high number of service jobs(low pay, usually no benefits), the currency worth around 85% less and a out of control cost of living. A recent study for a Living wage was $22 an hour. How many people who ride Mass Transit now make that much? Wanna bet?

By eye see thru u

October 29, 2009 12:48 AM | Link to this

get your facts straight: The Rail is a failure. A complete bust.Millions of tax payers dollars down the drain.Your friend Fred ( Fat Rat) screwed us all. Just watch and see what the new board does with this boondoggle.

By Agent/Officer Thomas A. Porter D.P.O. MED. RET. A.P.V.

October 29, 2009 1:53 AM | Link to this

October 29th, 2009 - Thursday

Cap Metro should provide for the Disabled & Senior Citizens Living On A Fixed Income. We live below the Poverty Line. Living on a fixed income, that when there is ever an increase, the cost of living eats it up to not benefit any other cost savings. When Medicare has a yearly increase, the increase of S.S. & S.S.D. is equal to the cost of the increase in Medicare. Wal-Mart & every other Big Box Stores & Chain Stores know the increases on Social Security & Social Security Disability are the same. So they raise their prices to profit more when they are already making a huge profit. When it comes to the Disabled & Senior Citizens in Austin or any other city that provide Public Transportation, should not cause more damage on us who can not afford an increaase, due to living on a fixed income. If you cut those riding Cap Metro who are Disabled & Senior Citizens on a fixed income from getting to Medical, Grocery, Drug Stores & Retail Stores you cut the Tax Revenue to the City and State Treasury. So any cost increase to Disabled and Senior Citizens is a lost revenue to the City and State Tressury. We already Rob from Paul to pay Peter every month to begin with. Don’t cause more stress & hardship we can not afford. We worked & paid for the Social Security & Disablity. It is an Insurance we paid into for the many years we worked to have when we Retired or became Permanently Paralyzed & Disabled from In The Line of Duty. There are over 1 Million + Permanently Paralyzed & Disabled Law Enforcement Agents & Officers in America I can speak for.

Signed, Agent/Officer Thomas A. Porter D.P.O. MED. RET. A.P.V. Retired National Outreach Chairperson The National Paralyzed & Disabled Police Officers Association

By discouraged but still fighting

October 29, 2009 5:45 AM | Link to this

Please stop referring to that boondoggle of a train as “lite rail”, it is a commuter train, plain and simply does not work. What the board fails to recognize is that the tail (management) is wagging the dog (the board). Cap Metro has one of the best “spin machines” I have ever seen. Is there a school for that? Their main incentive is their hefty salaries, without remembering who actually pays them. We, as the taxpayers, need to stop complaining and speak out at those board meetings. I was appalled at the public hearing last night, which was scheduled between 5 and 7 and ended at 6:15, because no more people had come to speak. The same happened with the budget hearing, last month, there were very few people present. If people want this to change, we must organize and overwhelm the board with our presence. Cap Metro is ours! We pay for it, we MUST own it! Things will keep going downhill until we can organize and be a stronger force than the downtown alliance.If you look at the percentages for each service of the proposed January fares, you will notice that they are from 67 to 75%, while the base fare for the bus stays the same. There are many inconsistencies. These have to be pointed out to the board, because they are not posted in the documentation that Cap Metro gives them.

By discouraged but still fighting

October 29, 2009 6:11 AM | Link to this

The vote on higher fares will take place next Wednesday, November 4. This is your last chance to sign up and speak out before the vote is taken. This has not been posted on their calendar, but should be updated later today. I don’t know what time the meeting will be: either 11:00 or 1:00. I would prefer no fare increase in January, but if they insist on one, it should consist of moving the approved August 2010 fare increase to January, and promise no more fare increses for another year. Also, because the train has not started, and those who don’t ride the bus, like the chamber of commerce, Association of Realotors, and others who support the higher increase because they want more money for the train, should be on board with the proposed train fares for January. They are significantly higher that what was proposed in August 2008, but the train is still not running, and there have been unexpected expenses that have increased the overall cost. So, keep the train fares at the proposed January numbers, because that would not really be a fare increase or have an impact on people, because they have not been paying the fare anyway, although expenses have been incurred on their behalf. Still, the train fare will have a lower recovery rate than what the bus will have under the approved August, fare colection.

By Billness

October 31, 2009 5:16 PM | Link to this

All of you have been drinking the koolaid. The agency will reluctantly admit the project is up around $115 million in costs. What you don’t know, and are about to find out, is the $200 million is reserves was spent on the rail project and identified as “transit projects”. The commuter rail line has already cost us over $300 million. That’s the truth and remember Billness told you first—in a blog.

By Billness

October 31, 2009 5:17 PM | Link to this

All of you have been drinking the koolaid. The agency will reluctantly admit the project is up around $115 million in costs. What you don’t know, and are about to find out, is the $200 million is reserves was spent on the rail project and identified as “transit projects”. The commuter rail line has already cost us over $300 million. That’s the truth and remember Billness told you first—in a blog.

By eye see thru u

October 31, 2009 9:11 PM | Link to this

Just because the Fat Rat has left the building does not mean all is well. The ongoing AUDIT will show just what kind of incompetent fools are at this agency. Very possible criminal intent occured, and all should and will be held responsible.All others need to be shown the door. A new management team at Srar-Tran is needed and needed NOW.

By Robin

November 4, 2009 8:32 AM | Link to this

Whether it’s ‘sweet’ or not—a fare increase is reality.

We do not expect to use the same computer os for 20 years. We do not expect to use the same school textbooks for 20 years—and still have these items to be effective. We’d demand newer models. But those newer models would have to be adequtely funded.

Looking at other cities (including other capital citites) across the nation, people with disabilities are charged fares to ride. This is not a quirk which Austin can continue to have.

There is a critical difference between being weird and being mismanaged.