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City staff announces 2016 Mobility Bond start-up activities
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Following the affirmative vote for City of Austin Proposition 1 on Nov. 8, 2016, City staff released a memo providing information about activities staff will undertake in the next 90 days to launch implementation of the 2016 Mobility Bond Program.
With the goal of completing the 2016 Mobility Bond Program in the time-frame desired by Council and to meet voter expectations, City staff is immediately beginning implementation planning for the 2016 Mobility Bond Program as well as performing start-up activities in support of accelerated delivery, as per City Council direction. Read the memo here and visit the Austin Mobility Bond website here.
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Introducing the Ride Report "comfort map" of Austin
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Ever wish you could ‘ping’ the City as you’re biking, to report troublesome street conditions? Now you can! Track trips, rate your ride and help the City improve our now-live “comfort map” with the Ride Report app. Provide crowdsourced feedback to help us improve biking routes in Austin and make them more “high-comfort, low-stress” for riders young and old, novice to experienced.
Ride Report is continually building a stress map of Austin streets and trails to show routes that cyclists have ridden and rated (see a screenshot above). Just download the iPhone app (an Android version is in beta testing), turn it on, and Ride Report runs in the background. After each trip, take a moment to rate the physical conditions along your cycling route – click either “Great” or “Not Great.”
Benefits
- The app logs your trip length, trip duration, route maps and average speed to help you keep track of your rides.
- Ride Report allows you to highlight awareness of the routes you most use and care about.
- Get encouragement to ride more. Ride Report sends you kudos for things like a three-day ride streak and braving the heat. Use the crowd-sourced comfort map to choose your route before you ride. By following the green routes, you’re more likely to enjoy a low-stress ride.
Benefits for Austin
- The City is gaining the first-ever view of Austin’s biking network showing both stress and level of use. You can check out the map here.
- Ride Report feedback will help to inform how the City prioritizes investments in the bicycle network – every “not great” rating tells the City where dollars may be needed, and best spent.
- Trips by car are also logged; this helps city staff see short car trip patterns and identify where safe bicycle routes could be implemented to attract riders.
For more information, read the developer’s FAQ page online.
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Get involved in Travis County transportation planning
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Image courtesy of Travis County.
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Travis County is developing a locally focused transportation plan to identify transportation needs and solutions, incorporate future options and choices, and prioritize improvements in areas outside of Austin's city limits. The plan will define priorities through the year 2045 with an emphasis on what the Travis County needs today and what it will need in the future.
Travis County is looking to the community for input as part of the planning process, which involves idenfitying needs over the next 30 years. There are multiple ways to get involved: take a survey, attend a meeting or invite the County to your meeting.
In order to make the process more convenient, Travis County is offering a brief version of the survey as well as a more detailed version. Read more here.
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New employer-sponsored mobility pilot launched downtown
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Recently, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), in partnership with Movability Austin and Capital Metro, launched its first implementation project: the Market District Mobility Suite Pilot.
The project is being carried out as part of the Mobility Transformation Program, which is an active partnership between the City of Austin and RMI to catalyze and demonstrate a holistic, scalable approach for transforming personal mobility by leveraging the power of emerging technology and business innovation.
For the pilot, RMI developed an integrated commuting solution for employees of Whole Foods Market and GSD&M in the Sixth Street and Lamar Boulevard area. It encompasses a first/last-mile shuttle service between company offices and downtown Austin transit hubs, as well as on-demand mobility options (in the form of carshare, bikeshare, and ride-hailing services) integrated together as a single package. Read more here!
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CAPCOG puts accurate mapping in emergency responders’ palms
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Craig Eissler, CAPCOG GIS program manager, explains how the Emergency Locator Map app works during a meeting with stakeholders in October. Photo courtesy of CAPCOG.
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The Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) region’s 9-1-1 County Addressing Coordinators are testing a brand new mobile application to let emergency responders know they are responding to the correct location anywhere in the 10-county region. Developed by CAPCOG’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Program with guidance from its GIS Planning Council, the Emergency Locator Map gives first responders the same mapping information that 9-1-1 call-takers see on their screens when receiving a call. Read more here.
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TxDOT urges drivers to ‘End the Streak’ of daily deaths
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Through its #EndTheStreakTX campaign, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is reminding drivers to stay alert, obey traffic laws and take personal responsibility behind the wheel. According to TxDOT, at least one fatality has occurred each and every day on Texas roadways since Nov. 7, 2000. Read more here.
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TxDOT is also inviting the public to share personal stories of loved ones lost in car crashes on its social media pages using photo and video testimonials with the hashtag #EndTheStreakTX. Click the image above for a campaign video.
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