The Community’s Local Choice
Elements that make up a “Build Alternative”
ALIGNMENT
The Blue Line Corridor would cross Lady Bird Lake near Trinity Street or at a potential shared crossing with the Orange Line Corridor near S. 1st Street.
TRANSITWAY
The Blue Line Corridor would operate in a street level, elevated, or underground dedicated transitway.
MODE
Two options are being considered for the vehicle type that would operate on the transitway: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) or Light Rail Transit (LRT).
The Build Alternatives are compared to:
DOING NOTHING
As required by the FTA, we always carry forward a “No-Build” or “Do Nothing” alternative for comparison. For the Blue Line Corridor, this would include making no changes to the existing local bus services.
NEW METRORAPID
This alternative would upgrade local bus service by introducing a new MetroRapid route with transit priority treatments along the Blue Line Corridor alignment.
Transitway Options
Dedicated space for transit within the right-of-way
STREET LEVEL
» A dedicated transitway running along an existing street
» Operations are affected by conflicts with traffic signals, pedestrians, bikes, intersections, and other street level uses

ELEVATED
» A dedicated transitway built up above street level along an existing street
» Stations are above street level and are accessed by stairs, escalators, and/or ADA accessible elevators

UNDERGROUND
» A dedicated transitway under the roadway
» Stations are underground, and are accessed by stairs, escalators, and/or ADA accessible elevators

Alignment Alternatives
Two alternatives are being evaluated for crossing Lady Bird Lake: a crossing near Trinity Street or a potential shared crossing with the Orange Line Corridor near S. 1st Street.
Transit Mode
Both BRT and LRT vehicle fleets would be fully electric. Either mode would benefit from off-board fare collection, larger stations with level boarding, and intersection signal prioritization.
People on Board
Both BRT and LRT vehicles can carry large numbers of people at a time.
Level of Service Scenarios
High-capacity transit would help meet the mobility needs of Central Texas for many decades to come. As the region continues to grow, transit service could expand to keep up with demand. Increasing BRT and LRT service works in different ways.
Evaluating Project Goals
Following the FTA process, the Detailed Evaluation phase (Step 2) analyzes how well different combinations of alignment, transitway type, and mode meet the project’s goals.
Focus areas discussed today:

Customer Experience
What it means:
Increase efficiency, attractiveness and utilization of high-capacity transit service within the corridor.
How it’s done:
Provide a travel experience that is competitive with the automobile.

Reliability
What it means:
Provide frequent, reliable high-capacity transit service along transitways within the corridor.
How it’s done:
Efficiently use the existing transportation network, provide dedicated transitways for transit to operate free from other traffic.

Implementation and Operations
What it means:
Develop and select a community-supported high-capacity transit investment for implementation.
How it’s done:
Develop a project with strong public, stakeholder and agency support. Develop a project that balances costs and benefits.
Other areas:

Sustainability
What it means:
Contribute to a socially-, economically- and environmentally-sustainable transit network.
How it’s done:
Mitigate the rising cost of living by providing safe, affordable alternatives to car ownership, reduce energy usage and pollution while minimizing impacts to the natural, cultural, and built environment.

Land Use and Policy
What it means:
Support “compact and connected” land use and development patterns.
How it’s done:
Expand transit access to local and regional destinations, activity centers and employment centers.
Blue Line Ridership
Ridership forecasts estimate how many customers the Blue Line would draw. Many factors influence whether or not people ride transit. Studying these factors provides an estimate of how many people would use each Build Alternative on a typical day.

DENSITY
Ridership tends to be higher in areas with more people, jobs, and activity centers.

RELIABILITY
When people can depend on fast, frequent transit service, they tend to use it more.

CONNECTIONS
More people ride transit when it makes useful connections to other transportation services.

TRAVEL TIME
Faster travel times tend to make transit a more appealing transportation option.

QUALITY
When transit has great stations and vehicles, more people choose to ride it.

COST
People tend to make choices about how to travel based on what it costs.
POTENTIAL RIDERSHIP DEMAND
Travel Times
Four different types of trips showing how fast the Blue Line would travel
Building the Project
The cost to build the Blue Line includes:
- Building the transitway
- Building stations & station access
- Building a vehicle maintenance facility
- Signals & communications systems
- Building the power supply system (LRT)
- Relocating utilities
- Purchasing the vehicles
- Design and engineering
- Land acquisition

Operating the Project
The cost to operate the Blue Line includes:
- Paying vehicle operators
- Routine maintenance of buses or trains
- Maintaining the stations, transitway, and other supporting infrastructure
- Purchasing vehicle power
- Other general and administrative costs

Factors that affect operating costs
BRT systems are usually less expensive to operate per bus than LRT systems are per train, but they also carry fewer people per bus than LRT can carry per train. Operating costs for LRT would also be higher initially since LRT technology would require specialized operating capabilities that are brand new to Capital Metro.
Downtown Transit Tunnel
Results:
- Conflict-Free transitway
- Improved frequency
- Improved reliability
- Generational investment
- Portal location conflicts
Option 1:
- Trinity Street from Lady Bird Lake to 11th Street, 4th Street from Trinity Street to Guadalupe Street, and Guadalupe Street from Cesar Chavez Street to 9th Street
- Order of Magnitude cost: $2.3-$2.5B
Option 2:
- Exclude tunnel on Trinity Street from 4th to 11th Streets
- Order of Magnitude cost: $1.9-$2.0B

Blue Line Preliminary Results

TRAVEL TIME


POTENTIAL RIDERSHIP


COST TO BUILD


COST TO OPERATE

What Comes Next?
As we conclude the Step 2 analysis, we will incorporate your feedback, refine the alternatives and generate additional data to help us identify an alternative that best meets the project’s Purpose & Need. Capital Metro will release a preliminary recommendation for a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) in 2020, based on the feedback received from agency partners and the community.
The LPA Evaluation will consider criteria that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) uses to score the project for its competitiveness for receiving Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program funding.
How do I
Stay Informed?

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Visit the Project Connect Community Office located at 607 Congress Ave.
Stop by any time Monday - Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Talk with project staff, ask questions and provide feedback.
