Austin's slow-evolving light rail is one step closer to finally becoming a reality thanks to a federal funding recommendation, as reported by the Austin American-Statesman. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) gave the first phase of the project a "medium" justification rating and a "medium-high" financial commitment rating in its Annual Report on Funding Recommendations.
A light rail is a passenger train with a lighter capacity than a commuter rail, which Austin already has heading toward Leander. The first phase as presented by the Austin Transit Partnership will have 15 stops at places like the airport, Pleasant Valley, South Congress, Cesar Chavez, the University of Texas, and as far north as Crestview (bounded by Burnet Road, West Anderson Road, and North Lamar Boulevard). It will also add a bridge over Lady Bird Lake.
The FTA report broke the project up into categories that each got their own confidence rating. For the justification rating, the highest-rated aspect of the light rail were congestion relief and economic development, both receiving a "medium-high" rating. The portion that inspired the least confidence was cost effectiveness, which was given a "low" rating. Environmental benefits, mobility improvements, and land use were all rated as "medium."
The overall medium-high rating means that the project is on track to receive funds from the Capital Investments Grants (CIG) Program, "the Federal Government’s primary financial resource for supporting transit capital projects that are locally planned, implemented, and operated," as the document explains it. The CIG Program would cover 49.4 percent of the light rail's Phase 1 work.
Altogether, the project is expected to cost $7.1 billion and start construction in 2027. The current timeline has the system opening to the public in 2033.
Austin's transit landscape is in a state of flux that some people are pulling forward and others are pushing against. Since mid-November, Austin's CapMetro has approved a plan through 2035 that will add six new lines and punch up more than 40 others, as well as asked the public for input on four options for cap-and-stitch designs (public gathering places) over Interstate 35.
