Traveling Texas

Council approves funding for Lone Star Rail from Georgetown to San Antonio

The passenger rail would run from Georgetown to San Antonio.

Courtesy of Lone Star Rail

KVUE — Lone Star Rail moved one step closer to alleviating traffic issues along the Interstate 35 corridor after the Austin City Council voted to support the funding to maintain and operate a regional passenger rail line.

"I think it's a feasible way to fund a transportation system without having to go to property tax and I think we ought to look at it," said Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell.

Lone Star Rail District manager Joe Black said Thursday's vote by the council is important. "This was a really big deal for us," said Black.

The Lone Star Rail District was formed in 2003 to bring solutions to Central Texas' transportation problems. Black said voters refusing Austin's Proposition 1 in November disappointed him, but this project would be different.

"Urban rail was kind of a hybrid light rail, street car project really meant to handle more close-in traffic," said Black. "What we are, though, is a much more regional system. We'll be serving counties all the way from Williamson County to Bexar County."

The project would need about $1.8 billion to be completed, and before the state and federal government provides the money, Lone Star Rail needs to prove they have the money to operate and maintain the system.

Austin City Council agreed this week that if Lone Star Rail builds its seven to eight stops, they can have 50 percent of the increased property tax value to put towards running the line.

"You can arguably say those improvements would not be there without the rail so you're getting 50 percent of something instead of 50 percent of nothing," said Black.

Austin's support is not a sure thing. Before the rail system can break ground, they need the support of both Hays and Travis Counties as well as small cities within their limits. This will be their goal for 2015.

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Read the full story and watch the video on KVUE.com.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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