austin transit

KUT – Richard Garriott On Personal Pods

Jude Galligan | May 15, 2009 |

If I’m at home, then there is probably public radio playing in the background. We are blessed here in Austin, Texas to have KUT – a truly terrific local public radio station. Last week they aired a story in cooperation with “Texas Monthly” based on their May ideas issue. Ideas to change the world.

“If you were going to change the world, you could pick a worse place to start than Texas. We approached dozens of Texas thinkers and got ideas from the sublime to the futuristic.”

The segment with Richard “Lord British” Garriott is my favorite as he envisions an over head tram network of personal pods to shuffle people around Austin. He’s even considering putting money behind the idea! (fast-forward to 7:30).

Via PRX.org (audio is 59 minutes and worth a listen)

-Jude

Car2go spotted in downtown Austin

Jude Galligan | May 7, 2009 |

Yesterday, leaving the office on W 5th, I noticed a car2go branded smart car out front of Austin City Lofts. Maybe Mayor Will Wynn was getting a test drive? Earlier this year the Statesman reported the car share initiative would work like this:

“The city will set aside urban-core parking spaces for 200 of Daimler’s “Smart” cars. Rather than paying for the spaces, Daimler will let city employees use the cars for a number of hours that’s equal to the monetary value of the spaces. (That amount hasn’t been determined yet; it will be negotiated over the next few weeks, city officials said.)…The program will start in October and run for six months. Daimler will pay for fuel, maintenance and insurance during that time, said the city’s transportation director, Robert Spillar.”

I’d like to point out that Austin’s first viable car share program, Austin Car Share, was ~~developed~~ assisted by city council ~~candidate~~ elect (!) Chris Riley.

-Jude

[Thanks to Mark for the clarification: Chris Riley was an active board member of Austin Car Share]

Golf Carts v Pedi-cabs

Jude Galligan | April 17, 2009 |

KVUE.com is reporting that pedi-cab operators are none-to-thrilled about the fancy golf carts now competing with them for downtown Austin transportation. Capital Cruises now has two golf carts moving people around town. Next time you decide to walk, remember that you are competing with pedi-cabs.

Thanks to DANA’s Roger Cauvin for the tip!

A Vision For Rail

Jude Galligan | April 17, 2009 |

Obama’s high speed rail initiative is being covered across the web today. This is not surprising as informed Americans recognize that construction of more roads, along with the commensurate increase in cars for those roads, is the wrong path towards a sustainable and connected Union.

High speed rail is designed to be a substitute mode of travel within a defined economic corridor. Air travel will remain the primary mode of transportation; however, rail system will be vastly more convenient and accessible for most people. For instance, it will not require thousands of acres of scorched earth suburban development as airports do. Rather, a train station, a single building, could be placed inside the urban core of the connecting cities.

Of course, it’s easy for me to be excited about this vision since Austin is one of those connected cities. Notice the “fly over” states? What is their incentive to support this vision? Pheonix, Denver, and Las Vegas are three large cities that are NOT connected in this vision. That’s a significant oversight, IMO.

-Jude

$0.10 Gas Tax Freakonomics

Jude Galligan | April 10, 2009 |

A 2007 U.S. Census estimate places Austin’s population at 743,074 people. We’ll use 0.85 as the multiplier to approximate the number of vehicles per capita in the State of Texas. Assume the average car owner drives 12,000 miles a year and gets 24mpg. That person will purchase 500 gallons of gas each year. By employing a $0.10 gas tax per gallon, for the driver this equates to $50.00 per year, or only $4.17 per month. But, the City could collect over $31.6MM in a single year. (The City could realistically expect much more from drivers passing through.)

$31.6MM is more than half the cost of Portland’s, Tampa’s, or Seattle’s budget for their street car system (article, pdf). A real world case study in streetcar economics yielded enhanced property values, connectivity, 400 new businesses (90% locally owned), the majority of these businesses are owned by women and minorities.

Even I, an economic conservative, can identify with the social value generated by $4.17 per month towards paying for an Austin streetcar. Food for thought for our next City Council.

-Jude