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Austin Transportation converts Colorado Street to two-way traffic
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Crews kicked off construction on Wednesday, July 18.
View more photos of the conversion on Flickr and Facebook.
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Austin Transportation crews completed the conversion of a section of Colorado Street from one-way to two-way traffic on Friday, July 20.
Colorado Street is now one lane in either direction from Cesar Chavez to Ninth streets. Each intersection has signals, and turn bays have been provided at Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh streets. At the intersection of Cesar Chavez Street, there is now one southbound left, one southbound right, and one northbound lane.
The conversion provides a new north-south corridor in Downtown Austin for improved access to destinations along Colorado Street. Adding a northbound lane also provides Colorado Street users more route options that avoid congestion on Cesar Chavez Street.
This conversion was recommended in the 2002 Downtown Access and Mobility Plan and the Downtown Austin Plan adopted by City Council in 2011. Austin Transportation will monitor the new traffic pattern to determine if further changes are necessary.
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Austin to pilot INRIX platform for autonomous vehicle deployment
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Austin is joining select cities and transportation agencies around the world to pilot a new autonomous vehicle deployment platform called INRIX AV Road Rules. Connected car services and transportation analytics provider INRIX announced the platform on Tuesday, July 17, as a foundation for cities and road authorities to communicate with operators for the safe and effective deployment of highly automated vehicles on public roads.
“This pilot is a major step forward in Austin’s efforts to use technology to help solve our most pressing transportation issues,” said Jason JonMichael, Austin Transportation Assistant Director for Smart Mobility. “We’re excited to participate in the INRIX AV Road Rules program to foster more efficient and accurate data sharing between autonomous vehicles, their data providers and Austin Transportation. This will help us realize Austin’s autonomous future in the safest, most effective and most efficient way possible.”
Austin Transportation, through its Smart Mobility Program, seeks to foster creative, mutually beneficial partnerships to carry out real-world testing of smart mobility technology, such as shared, autonomous, connected and electric vehicles. Recent efforts include cooperation with Capital Metro and RATP Dev USA to pilot autonomous transit in Austin and participation in the Texas Innovation Alliance’s statewide automated vehicle procurement. Austin’s Smart Mobility Roadmap lays out a proactive and deliberate approach to new mobility that will ensure an equitable, affordable, prosperous and data-driven future.
INRIX AV Road Rules is the first platform that enables cities and road authorities to assign, validate and manage traffic rules and restrictions for autonomous vehicles operating on public roads. The platform also leverages highly automated vehicle data from roads to report infrastructure improvement needs, making the roads safer for all users. Read more about INRIX AV Road Rules in Austin.
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Smart Trips Eastside launches to help people explore transportation options
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Click the image above for a full-size view of the Smart Trips Eastside program area.
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Smart Trips Eastside launches this week, bringing the Smart Trips program to about 8,000 residents living in Central East Austin neighborhoods through November 2018. Some neighborhoods the program hopes to serve include Austin Heights, Blackshear, Blackland, Chestnut, Cherrywood, Foster Heights and McKinley Heights.
Households in the target area will receive a Smart Trips order form and survey by mail and can order a custom Toolkit full of transportation resources like maps, brochures, and more. Smart Trips Eastside Ambassadors will deliver these Toolkits to residents' doorsteps and have one-on-one conversations to help them discover what transportation options will work best for them. During the three-and-a-half month program, Smart Trips Eastside will partner with community groups to host events like walking tours, bike rides, and transit adventures.
Smart Trips Austin is a transportation demand management program that aims to increase trips taken by foot, bike, bus, or shared car, rather than driving alone. The City of Austin and Capital Metro are working together to encourage Austinites to consider more sustainable options for getting around town. The program includes participant surveys at the start and end of the program, which allows the program partners to understand what worked and what could be improved. Learn more about Smart Trips.
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Capital Metro autonomous vehicle testing to begin tonight
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Capital Metro will start testing autonomous vehicle technology, beginning around midnight tonight. The testing will take place between the Convention Center and Republic Square Park and this initial phase is expected to end on Sunday, Aug. 5. Vehicle safety, street signalization and the efficiency and performance of battery technology will be examined during this evaluation period.
The public will not be able to board the autonomous vehicles during the testing phase, and Capital Metro is asking people to keep a safe distance from the vehicles and leave the testing crews undisturbed, to ensure safe operations. RATP Dev USA (a Capital Metro service provider) and the vehicle manufacturers will also work with City officials to test signal components and on-street performance.
To accommodate this testing phase, Austin Transportation will implement rolling lane closures July 24 through Aug. 1. The closures will take place between midnight and 4 a.m. in order to be the least disruptive to the traveling public. They will take place along:
- Third Street, between Nueces and Trinity streets
- Fourth Street, between Trinity and San Jacinto streets
- San Jacinto Street, between Third and Fourth streets
- Trinity Street, between Third and Fourth streets
While each closure will go into effect at midnight, preparation work will begin at 11:30 p.m. The Austin Police Department will deploy officers to direct traffic during the closures. Capital Metro anticipates the selected pilot vehicles will be in operation later this fall. Learn more about the pilot.
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Help reduce waste this summer by helping students donate items
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Tired of seeing West Campus look like this each summer? Want to support local organizations? You can help! [Re]Move & [Re]Use is hoping to keep students’ reusable items out of the landfill. Help local reuse organizations accept materials at one of three drop-off stations from July 27 to Aug. 1.
The City of Austin, in partnership with Keep Austin Beautiful, UT’s Office of Sustainability and the State of Texas Alliance for Recycling, is making it easier for University of Texas students living off campus to donate their reusable items when they move out for the summer. And there's no need for them to rely on a personal vehicle or moving truck to do it!
Volunteer shifts will last 2.5 hours, and organizers will be giving out free cool-it towels as a thank you. Help keep material out of the landfill and off the curb, and put it back to work in our local community! Sign up to help at MoveOutATX.org/volunteer.
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Coming up in this week's mobility calendar
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2016 Mobility Bond: Loyola Lane Open House
Austin Transporation is evaluating Loyola Lane from Northeast Drive to US-183 for potential safety and mobility improvements for everyone who uses this street. The project team released the proposed improvements this month and will host an open house this week to ask the community for feedback.
This bikeways project is being coordinated with the Safe Routes to School Program, and this open house is a follow-up to the listening session held on May 31, 2018.
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