Austin’s Cap Metro recommits to Opening Day
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief Seemingly overriding its own pessimistic assessment offered only last week, Austin, Tex.’s Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority has reiterated its intent to open its initial 32-mile route on March 30, linking Leander with downtown Austin.
Cap Metro officials revised their outlook as the authority gave some of its own staff members, along with media representatives, a demonstration trip on the route.
The authority had feared that some mechanical problems, including the timing of at-grade gates and glitches in the line’s signal pre-emption, might curtail or postpone the introduction of service. Cap Metro initially plans to hire Austin Police Department officers to staff problematic intersections, and manually operate gates if necessary, until all problems are corrected.
