Capital Metro & City of Austin release long-term vision for transportation in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas - Capital Metro and the City of Austin have a released a plan, Project Connect, to expand Austin's transit system. It's a long-term vision to fix transportation in the city and it comes with a pretty hefty price tag.

Austin Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza spoke about the plan with FOX 7 Austin's Jacqueline Sarkissian on Good Day Austin.

 The new plan is estimated to cost up to $10 billion.

One of the biggest take aways was one intersection model. The model shows dedicated transit lanes, regardless if it's a bus or light rail, that will transport more people. 

The argument against them is that putting buses or a train in the existing road with traffic will not help but add to gridlock.

The model shows more people can be moved in the special transit lanes without displacing car traffic.

Right now only about 126 people are moving per traffic light on average but if there's a bus or light rail in a dedicated pathway that number could increase to 235 with about 200 of them on transit.

Cap Metro says there are different options for when it comes to designing these kinds of streets for this type of transit. It could be underground, at street level or even elevated.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler says the plan is to nail down which option to pursue by January and then have the plan up for a public vote by November 2020. He spoke about the plan on FOX 7 Austin News.