Compact + Connected
The Invest in a Compact and Connected Austin priority program calls for coordination of capital investments, incentives, and regulations in order to support the vision of Imagine Austin. This priority program focuses primarily on:
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investing in a transportation system that supports the Imagine Austin Growth Concept Map and decreased dependence on driving
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using the City’s economic development toolkit and partnering with the private sector to leverage more beneficial development in support of Imagine Austin
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aligning the overall Capital Improvement Program with Imagine Austin
Game Changer
Project Connect
In November 2016, 2018, and 2020, voters in the City of Austin approved several transformative mobility propositions.
In 2016, the City of Austin voters approved a mobility bond package that included funding for Regional Mobility projects, Corridor Improvement projects, and Local Mobility projects. At $720 million, the 2016 Mobility Bond Program marked the largest one-time investment in the city’s transportation and mobility system.
In 2018, an additional $160 million was approved providing funding for the City to address issues with existing transportation infrastructure, including street, sidewalk, and bridge reconstruction and rehabilitation; traffic signal upgrades; pedestrian safety improvements; intersection safety projects; and improvement of public spaces through approved Neighborhood Partnering Program projects.
In 2020, voters approved two additional mobility propositions. Proposition A approved the City’s property tax rate, dedicating 8.75 cents of the operations and maintenance portion of the tax rate towards the implementation of Project Connect, the City’s first high-capacity transit system.
Federal funding is anticipated to provide approximately 45% of the program’s estimated $7.1 billion capital cost. The property tax revenue will provide funding for the rest of the capital cost plus operations and maintenance of the transit system once built. The proposition also included $300 million for transit-supportive anti-displacement housing strategies.
The dedicated property tax revenue, along with Capital Metro revenue and Federal funding, will be directed to the Austin Transit Partnership, an independent government organization formed to oversee, finance and implement Project Connect.
Proposition B allocated an additional $460M in general obligation bonds for transportation infrastructure including sidewalks, transportation-related bikeways, urban trails, transportation safety projects (Vision Zero), safe routes to school and substandard streets.
These voter approved investments in mobility are unprecedented, and have already begun changing the transportation landscape across Austin. The City’s All Ages and Abilities Bicycle Network reached a major milestone at more than 50% complete, which adds up to over 220 linear miles of bike lanes. The Sidewalk and Safe Routes to School Programs have delivered miles of new sidewalks and safe crossings. In 2021 alone, the Sidewalk Program completed over 30 linear miles of new and rehabilitated sidewalks throughout Austin. This represents a 50% increase from 2020 and is double the amount of annual sidewalk work that was completed just three years ago. The City’s Vision Zero Program is seeing significant reductions in fatal and serious injuries at intersections with safety improvements implemented and is also pursuing projects systemically through a number of safety initiatives aimed at focusing attention on the highest priority needs. Additionally, the Corridor Construction Program is delivering mobility, safety, and connectivity improvements on nine major roadways throughout Austin. Soon Austin will see the first investments from Project Connect with new MetroRapid Routes in service in the summer of 2023.
Highlights
Austin Strategic Mobility Plan
The Austin Strategic Mobility Plan (ASMP) is the City of Austin’s first locally-focused, comprehensive, multimodal transportation plan. Called for by Imagine Austin, the ASMP was unanimously approved by the Austin City Council on April 11, 2019 after a two and a half year planning process. The process to develop the ASMP was applauded by City Council for its vision of a 50-50 city, where 50% of Austinites drive to work and 50% use another mode of transportation, as well as the ability to elevate the voices of members of the community who have not been historically heard in planning processes. The ASMP provides new direction for mobility in Austin through its comprehensive set of policies and actions and sets priorities for future decisions.
The ASMP incorporates all modes of transportation for the future of Austin’s transportation network. The ASMP is needed for Austin to achieve the mobility outcomes that will help to improve and sustain the quality of life desired by our community. Austin’s transportation network must be safe, accessible, affordable, and inclusive for all members of the community, and the ASMP positions current and future leaders to be able to make decisions toward those exact values. The ASMP presents goals to achieve, the policies needed for guidance, and the actions necessary to realize the community’s shared vision.
Vision Zero
Between 2017 and 2021, more than one-third of crashes in Austin that resulted in serious injury or death occurred at signalized intersections. Early data in a recent Vision Zero Analytics report shows promising results at completed and improved intersections.
Of the 13 intersections with at least one year of crash data following project completion, the annualized data showed a combined 30% reduction in total crashes and a 31% reduction in crashes resulting in serious injury or death. The serious injury or fatal crashes declined from an average of 12 per year to 8.3 per year. The Austin Transportation Department (ATD) also analyzed a control group of similar intersections across the city to better contextualize broader crash trends in Austin over the same period. At those locations, total crashes per year decreased by 4% and serious injury and fatal crashes increased by 8%.
Through funding from the City budget and the 2016, 2018, and 2020 Mobility Bonds, ATD is working to improve safety at dozens of high-crash intersections as part of its Vision Zero goal of eliminating serious injuries and fatalities on Austin’s roadways. Since 2016, ATD has completed work at 19 major intersections.
Undoing more than 80 years of vehicle-centric street design in a city of comprising approximately 300 square miles will take time, but the work continues as every avoided traffic fatality or serious injury is worth the effort. ATD teams finished upgrades to another major intersection at Cameron Road and Ferguson Lane in May 2022, and four more projects are scheduled to start construction before the end of 2022.
Colony Park Sustainable Community
The Colony Park Sustainable Community is a multi-year effort to implement the Colony Park Sustainable Community Master Plan, adopted by Austin City Council in December 2014. Since 2014, the City of Austin has been working with the community to secure a Master Developer partner for 208-acres of city-owned land in Northeast Austin. In October 2018, City Council unanimously selected Catellus Development Corporation as the proposed master developer for the Colony Park Sustainable Community and City Staff are currently in active negotiations with the developer.
The project team has also been working closely with partnering agencies and interdepartmentally to coordinate nearby adjacent and supporting projects. These efforts include the Colony Park District Park, Walter E. Long Master Plan, and Capital Metro TOD Green Line Study for which Colony Park is being considered as a station area. A critical initiative to support these efforts is the Colony Loop Drive project, which will provide a continuous complete street between Loyola and Decker Lanes through the existing and future Colony Park neighborhoods. Preliminary engineering and design for Colony Loop Drive are underway through the 2016 Mobility Corridor Program.
Challenges
The Austin Strategic Mobility Plan lays out the biggest challenges we face in trying to achieve our vision of a mobile, safe, and interconnected Austin by:
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Lowering the risk of travel-related injury and protect and promote public health;
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Supplying a multimodal transportation network that can meet the demands of a growing region while providing equitable access to transportation choices, opportunities, and services;
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Preparing for and leading in leveraging rapidly evolving technology in transportation;
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Ensuring a financially and environmentally sustainable transportation network; and
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Collaborating effectively with agencies, organizations, and the Austin community around mobility decision-making
Learn more about the strategies developed to address these challenges in the ASMP document.
Program Champion:
Cole Kitten
Corridor Program Office
Public Works
Housing and Planning
Economic Development
Austin Transportation
Watershed Protection