Bus Riders Union of Austin, Texas | El Sindicato de Pasajeros

At public hearing, agency urged to resist State Preservation Board edict on key 11th Street stop.

By Ben Wear
Austin American-Statesman
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Capital Metro should "show some backbone" and resist the State Preservation Board and Gov. Rick Perry's demand to close a key bus transfer point on 11th Street at the Capitol, speakers told the transit agency's board at a public hearing Monday.

"Does it belong to the governor? Does it belong to the Preservation (Board)?" transit rider Diane Bomar asked the board. "Heck, no, it belongs to the people. ... I'm shocked that Capital Metro is just laying down and letting them run over us like this."

The board probably will vote in May on the closure of the Capitol transfer center, part of several "service changes" that would take place in August. Those changes include scaling back the Dillo system from five to two routes and concentrating more frequent service downtown.

The Capitol transfer center serves 25 routes, including three Dillo routes that would be consolidated into one. The agency estimated that about 2,900 passengers a day get on or get off at the Capitol stop, the fourth-busiest among the agency's 3,000 or so stops.

Under the proposed changes for 11th Street, all but two of the routes stopping there would instead pick up and let off passengers a block south at 10th Street and Congress Avenue (some on Congress, some on 10th). Two suburban routes, the 171 to Oak Hill and the 935 to far Northeast Austin, would simply lose that stop.

Despite the complaints Monday, it is not clear whether any sort of spine-stiffening would make a difference. Capital Metro has been negotiating with the board for months and had suggested alternatives on 11th. All were found wanting until Capital Metro suggested moving operations to 10th.

The board in November, citing security and traffic concerns, notified Capital Metro that it had a year to close the stop. The board has jurisdiction because the Capital grounds technically extend to the middle of 11th Street.

Eight legislators — the entire Travis County delegation — in January wrote Perry and the board and asked that the stop be allowed to remain open. The lawmakers said in their letter than none of them had ever seen a bus blocking the 11th Street gateway to the Capitol.

To no avail.

"There is no security issue here," said Dave Dobbs, executive director of the Texas Association for Public Transportation. "The Capitol in Washington is surrounded by buses every day."

bwear@statesman.com, 445-3698