Transportation

Lyft drivers in the Austin area now have a one-stop shop for vehicle services and driver support. 

Drivers for the rideshare company can access services like oil changes, tire rotations and battery replacements, as well as rent cars to use for Lyft or take a break between rides at the Austin Driver Center, 6375 E. U.S. Highway 290.  

The Austin Transportation Department has identified several railroad crossings in need of safety improvements for cyclists and pedestrians. The findings come after a citywide review requested by the City Council in September based on recommendations from the city’s Pedestrian Advisory Council and Bicycle Advisory Council.

Billy Brewster loved lawnmowers. Autistic and nonverbal, the 15-year-old would sometimes just admire them from afar.

“Billy sometimes wouldn’t even want to use the lawnmower," his mother, Mia Brown, said. “He just wanted to stand there and look at it.”

It’s been a few months since buses started going against the flow of traffic on a small stretch of Guadalupe Street near UT Austin. The lane the buses use is painted red to denote that it’s off-limits to cars. Painting the lane require federal approval – and it wasn’t easy to get.

The Four Points intersection at RM 620 and RM 2222 in western Travis County has been a source of growing frustration for drivers over the years.

City of Austin workers began changing street signs Wednesday on the road commonly pronounced "MAN-chack." The new signs say "Menchaca" instead of "Manchaca." (The second letter is an E instead of an A.)

The Austin Transportation Department is recommending a 15-cent per-trip fee for every ride on a shared dockless scooter, bicycle or moped to help pay for staff to regulate and monitor them.

The Austin City Council voted Thursday to begin the process of possibly taking over portions of some of the city’s most prominent roads that are currently controlled by the Texas Department of Transportation. The move could make it easier to make infrastructure and transit improvements, by removing a step in the process.

The City of Austin is examining ways to make parking in the South Congress area less of a mess.

“It doesn’t work well for the residents, it doesn’t work well for the business owners and their employees and also can be hard to find for visitors heading to the South Congress district,” Anna Martin, consulting engineer with the Austin Transportation Department, said.

Millions of Texans are expected to either fly or drive to their holiday destinations this year. Here are some ways to avoid headaches or at least make things easier: 

At 1 a.m. Oct. 11, 52-year-old Sylvia Figeroa lost control of her sedan in Lubbock. At 8 a.m. in Midland County, 44-year-old Gerardo Pérez couldn’t stop in time and collided with a semi towing a tractor. Later, at 11:20 a.m., Nedward Davidson, 62, crashed against a Freightliner truck southeast of Valley Mills. And at 2 p.m., Deputy Matt Jones of the Falls County Sheriff’s Office was struck by a car while helping another vehicle that had slid off the highway.

On weekend nights, Rainey Street can be crowded with cars, scooters and pedestrians. Pretty soon, only one of those groups will be allowed on the street.

Capital Metro isn't yet sure whether to favor light rail or rapid bus service as it expands its network, but an analysis shows adding trains would cost more, while buses would move fewer people.

It wasn’t that long ago that there was no regular transatlantic non-stop service from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport; there will soon be five destinations.

The latest one is Paris. 

Austin could be getting its first HOV lanes.

For the next two weekends, the annual Austin City Limits festival will bring thousands of people to Zilker Park. By planning ahead, getting to and from the park – or avoiding it altogether – can be much less stressful.

The Austin Municipal Court is hosting one last driver’s license recovery clinic Friday to help residents who have lost their licenses for failure to pay Department of Public Safety surcharges.

The City of Austin is unlikely to reach its goal of zero traffic deaths or serious injuries by 2025, according to a new report from the city auditor.

Austin will become Ford’s third market to test self-driving vehicles, the company announced Wednesday. The company cited the region’s fast growth and history of innovation as reasons for choosing Austin.

The Austin City Council approved a round of speed limit changes, the latest tangible sign of the city’s efforts to make streets safer.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport officials said they’re working to let airline passengers know new security standards are coming.

ABIA and other airports across the nation will take only REAL ID-compliant licenses and driver licenses beginning Oct. 1, 2020.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority Board is moving forward with plans to add managed toll lanes to part of U.S. Highway 183 in Northwest Austin. The CTRMA board voted Wednesday to authorize final negotiations with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to complete the $500 million project.

The project would add two tolled lanes in each direction for nine miles, from State Highway 45 to MoPac. Tolls on the new lanes would go up and down depending on demand, and would connect to the existing MoPac Express Lanes, which have the same variable tolling.

The daily commute has become a bit crowded for some riders on Capital Metro’s MetroRapid buses. They report severe overcrowding at some points, with buses even passing stops because they’re too full to pick up any more passengers.

Another weekend has passed, and for some people in Austin that meant tailgating at the UT-LSU game or heading to local bars. Many used ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft to get home, presumably in an effort to avoid drinking and driving. Places like Rainey Street are often clogged at closing time with people looking for their rides.

Starting Friday, geofencing will reduce the speed of rented e-scooters when they enter restricted areas in Austin. Riders will be alerted before they enter an area where scooters are not allowed, such as the Butler Hike and Bike Trail.  

Capital Metro’s app-based Pickup service is expanding to four more sections of Austin over the next two weeks, after launching in Manor in June. It works like the pool function of other rideshare services. People can use the Pickup by Cap Metro app to request a ride from their home to anywhere within a certain zone.