First Public MetroRail Ride

Today about 200 people got to ride Capital MetroRail as part of our testing. It was the first ride offered to people outside of Capital Metro, except for the news media, and so it was an especially happy event for us.

Today was the second of two days of passenger simulation testing. The engineers got a feel for how the train handles when it's full, as well as practice boarding and deboarding passengers at the stations.

Yesterday, Capital Metro employees played the part of passengers and got on and off the train at each station along the line. The staff were testing the timings of the stops in relation to the full schedule. Read more

Capital MetroRail Progress Report

Capital Metro is releasing its July progress report today. It's an anticlimactic report--we're not announcing a date just yet. Still, things are moving along. The full report is behind the jump.

CAPITAL METRORAIL PROGRESS REPORT – JULY 17, 2009

Capital Metro continues readying the MetroRail Red Line for a safe launch into full-service operations. The project is still in the final comprehensive operational testing phase, during which every component is tested in conjunction with the whole to validate the safety and consistent operation of the system. As Capital Metro staff discovers and resolves issues within this phase, we have also completed the detailed documentation work that will ensure smooth operations when MetroRail is in full-service.

Capital Metro staff and partners are also using the additional time to redouble their rail safety education efforts. While Capital Metro is not ready to announce a new opening date yet, the community will appreciate the extra efforts being taken now to ensure their safety both on and off the tracks.

Milestones Completed Since June 19

• Made adjustments to all crossings as needed to function as designed and improve reliability.


• Identified resolution to gate timing issue at the following crossings near the Kramer, Crestview and Highland Stations: Kramer, Braker, Lamar, Guadalupe, Denson. Resolution will adjust the amount of time gates are down when trains stop at nearby stations.


• Traffic signal preemption is complete and operational at these crossings, pending final optimization adjustments as needed:
  o 4th Street & Red River
  o IH-35 SBFR (near 4th Street)
  o IH-35 NBFR (near 4th Street)
  o IH-35 SBFR (near IH-35 lower deck)
  o 45th Street
  o 51st Street
  o 53rd Street
  o Denson Drive
  o Guadalupe Street
  o North Lamar Boulevard
  o Anderson Lane
  o Crystal Falls Parkway
  o FM 2243
  Signal preemption technology provides enhanced safety at crossings adjacent to intersections by turning traffic lights green and allowing traffic to clear before gates are lowered.


• Completed train engineers’ preliminary comprehensive contingency training.


• Completed comprehensive software inventory and documentation process for the entire system which will result in easier identification and resolution of any issues that may arise.

Remaining Milestones

• Complete full-service test runs to adjust and finalize rail service schedules.


• Complete train engineers’ final comprehensive contingency training, including passenger simulation tests (scheduled for July 17 & 18).


• Complete final signal technology adjustments and enhancements.


• Conduct final system validation. This process ensures consistent and reliable operation of all components working together.

When will service begin?

Capital Metro will announce an opening date when the entire rail system is demonstrated to be operating in a consistent, reliable and safe manner. We will report back to the community in mid-August. We will continue rail safety outreach efforts during this time to increase awareness about trains and prepare the community for MetroRail.
Read more

Capital MetroRail Update

Capital Metro has just released its June progress report on MetroRail.


While there's no date to announce, progress moves along, and there are just a few more milestones to reach before the Red Line can open. Read more

If You Build It...

Austin-based high tech company Valence is interested in building a new production facility in Leander. One of the company's big attractions is the proposed site's proximity to Capital Metro's passenger and freight rail line. Here are a couple of yesterday's TV news stories about it:



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MetroRail Media

Here's a sample of some of yesterday's TV news coverage about MetroRail.



You can see the complete stories on each station's web site:
KVUE
KEYE
KTBC
N8A



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Capital MetroRail Progress Report

Capital Metro just released its community report about MetroRail status and next steps. I may post more a bit later--we'll be at Howard Station later this morning to answer questions from the media, and I know you'll have some comments, too. Read more

Faster Trains Coming Your Way: "Look, Listen, Live"

As soon as this weekend, Capital MetroRail trains will be traveling more frequently and at higher speeds during testing along the 32-mile line from Leander to Downtown Austin.

MetroRail trains are much quieter and faster than freight trains. The passenger rail trains will soon be operating at speeds up to 60 mph in some areas.


Remember the three "L's" when you approach crossings: Look, Listen, Live. Please, too, remind children that tracks are for trains.

More life-saving tips are listed behind the cut.
When you're in a vehicle...
• Never stop your vehicle on railroad tracks. It is illegal to stop a vehicle on railroad tracks.
• Always obey all traffic signs and signals at grade crossings. The train has the right of way – look both ways before crossing.
• Never drive around lowered gates. It's illegal and deadly. If the gate is down, the road is closed.

When you're walking...
• Always stop, look, and listen for trains before crossing the tracks and be sure to look both ways.
• Never walk down a train track. It's illegal and dangerous. It can take a mile or more to stop a freight train, so by the time an engineer can see a trespasser or a vehicle on the tracks, it is too late.
• Cross tracks ONLY at designated pedestrian or roadway crossings and obey all warning signs and signals. If you cross at any other place, you are trespassing and can be ticketed or fined.

If you have children...
• Talk to them about railroads and teach the importance of crossing the tracks safely. "Stop, look and listen" is an important message for them to understand.
• Know the facts. Make sure that everyone in your family knows all these safety rules.

Visit allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/capital-metrorail-safety.shtml or stayoffthetracks.com for more information on Capital MetroRail safety.
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Capital MetroRail Update

Yesterday at the Capital Metro Board meeting, Executive Vice President Doug Allen presented an update on MetroRail progress. Capital Metro and Veolia have made significant headway to ready the Red Line for passengers.

* The agency has received the official waiver letter from the Federal Railroad Administration that allows Capital Metro to operate the system when all the components are ready.
* Train engineers have been certified on the operation of MetroRail vehicles, and dispatchers have been certified on the use of the Centralized Traffic Control system.
* Veolia has hired a new safety director, Randy Jamieson, with extensive experience in freight and passenger rail operations.
* Capital Metro has completed a comprehensive inspection of rail system components along the entire 32-mile line.

Doug also outlined the "critical path" to startup, as visualized in this chart.

The agency is working with the city to complete the installation and testing of signal preemption technology that will synchronize rail and traffic signals at several major intersections. In addition, Capital Metro is working to improve shunting, which controls the timing of the crossing arms and the ability of rail dispatchers to monitor trains along the system. Both shunting and signal preemption are key components to the successful operation of Capital MetroRail. Read more

Rail tweets

We've been playing with twitter over here. It's sort of an experiment, but we're tweeting about MetroRail--check us out.

Everyone's on twitter, it seems. Frankly I never really got the memo; or, perhaps more appropriate, I missed the train.

One of our executives had earlier suggested twitter as a potential tool for frequent MetroRail updates. And after playing with it, it is kind of interesting. Perhaps it could evolve into a mechanism for service announcements once the Red Line is operating full service. That's what Washington DC's Metro just did. Maybe I could become a reluctant twitter fan with practice.
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Facts on Finances

With plenty of confusion out there about Capital Metro finances, staff gave the Board an update at yesterday's meeting. The Board also received a favorable annual financial audit from an independent auditor, as one of the required elements of the agency's FY2008 Certified Annual Financial Report. Learn a bit more about both the audit and the budget presentation here.

In Fact Daily posted the following story about our finances this morning:

McCracken, Cowman defend Cap Metro decisions
By Kimberly Reeves
In Fact Daily

Board members Council Member Brewster McCracken and Leander Mayor John Cowman went out of their way to defend the financial decisions of the regional transit agency yesterday, saying Capital Metro was being prudent and responsive to unanticipated problems of dropping revenue and rising expenditures.

Much of the talk was a response to a recent article by transportation reporter Ben Wear in the Austin American Statesman, which accused the agency of going on a capital spending spree on rail lines and park-and-ride lots that depleted the transit agency’s reserves. At yesterday’s meeting, agency officials vigorously refuted implications the agency had been less than prudent with its expenditures, saying it had met all its obligations and payments.

While Wear wrote the agency owed various local jurisdictions up to $110 million, officials insisted the transit agency is current with its fiscal obligations. Capital spending was, as Wear wrote, upwards of $300 million over five years, but sales tax revenue for that same time period was $783 million, the agency’s financial staff noted in a pre-board meeting briefing.

Agency officials were so firmly committed to their numbers – and that recent dips in reserves were do to unexpected bumps in the economy that the agency had and would continue to deal with – that officials said the agency was open to a state audit and had requested a review by the State Auditor’s Office.

During yesterday afternoon’s board meeting, McCracken offered his own soliloquy about the solvency of the transit agency, saying capital project expenditures now were funded separately from the recent growth in operating costs the agency had faced. The agency was not caught flat-footed, McCracken said. Instead, agency staff had constantly hammered at the need for operating budget restraint.

In 13 months, Capital Metro saw unprecedented fuel costs growth, from $11 million to $27 million, McCracken said. Among transit agencies, Cap Metro had seen some of the lowest fare box recovery and the lowest fare prices in the state. The decision to stop Build Greater Austin – given the growing operating expenses -- was a tough but wise decision. And the board had finally taken a hard, but critical, vote on fare increases in an effort to address the rising operational costs.

Yesterday, Capital Metro announced a voluntary buyout program for agency employees as a potential cost-savings measure. Talking to a television crew outside the meeting, Cowman said he continued to be a proud member of the board of Capital Metro, a board that continued to be fiscally prudent.

“We have to make some tough decisions,” Cowman said. “We’re all facing shortfalls, all over the United States. We look for solutions. We accomplish those solutions. We’re a solution-based company.”

As sales tax and ridership goes down, the transit agency would make adjustments, McCracken said. That’s the only way to respond to tough economic times. And although the local union presented the board with a petition at its last meeting to remove CEO Fred Gilliam, after yesterday’s board meeting Cowman expressed continued confidence in Cap Metro’s top leader, saying that Gilliam had done – and continued to do – an excellent job for the agency.

In his comments, McCracken implied recent changes in the agency’s financial team were necessary for the agency to move forward. The improvement of the financial team, under the current leadership, had improved dramatically. The agency also had worked to create a separate capital budget so that operating expenses and the agency’s capital budget could be kept in perspective.

“That’s what happens when operating expenses increase faster than revenues,” McCracken said. “We started to lose our capital reserves. We had to cancel bus purchase orders. With the creation of a capital budget, we’re able to prevent the total erosion of our capital expenses before operating expenses eats it all up.”

Capital Metro also had been through a thorough peer review process from CAMPO with favorable results, McCracken said. That was like having a tough physical, twice over, to try to diagnose any problems with the agency. McCracken said he was confident the agency would implement many of the changes recommended by CAMPO in the coming months. Still, people are critical about Cap Metro right now.

“We get criticized – and people get mad at us – for spending money on a rail system after they told us to build it. Can you imagine what it would be like if they had told us to build it and we hadn’t spent the money?” McCracken asked his colleagues. “It’s hard to do something like a new rail system… Are we going to have to make some significant and important financial reforms into the future? Definitely.”

Cowman, who says rail service has strong support in the north, also bristled a bit at newspaper accounts over the weekend that said the start of MetroRail service was postponed indefinitely. Indefinitely implies no particular start date, Cowman said. There will be a start date for MetroRail, and it will be soon, Cowman said.

Work on the rail lines would be complete next week, Cowman said. While MetroRail faced a delay due to operator problems – the reason for the recent postponement – that problem would be resolved. It’s a positive thing that Capital Metro has caught a problem in advance and addressed it, not a negative thing, Cowman said. Read more

Canceling the March 28 celebration

We received some more disappointing news today, and in the interests of safety, Capital Metro has decided to cancel the community celebration next Saturday, March 28.

Here's the statement from President/CEO Fred Gilliam today:

“Capital Metro received notification today from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) of additional alleged violations against rail contractor Veolia Transportation. This is an addition to the previous violations we learned about last Friday.

At this time, I am not satisfied with the progress Veolia has made with safety and training. Capital Metro is absolutely committed to safety. Following extensive discussions with Veolia, the FRA, TxDOT as well as Capital MetroRail staff, I have just notified our Board of Directors that I am taking the following steps:

The MetroRail celebration event planned for Saturday, March 28 is cancelled.

Capital Metro has called for Veolia to replace its safety director.

Capital Metro is bringing in rail experts from Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to assist with startup operations and safety implementation. They have experience with thirteen previous rail launches.

Capital MetroRail staff will continue testing enhancements to the signal system.

By May 15, Capital Metro will report back to the community with the status of the project and an action plan.

Capital Metro is deeply disappointed over this delay, but under no circumstances will we jeopardize safety by rushing this process.”
Read more

<15 feet = $200!!

Last month, the Austin Police Department held a press conference to draw attention to the dumb (and illegal) things drivers do near railroad tracks, like drive around the gates, park on the tracks, etc. At the press conference, APD promised they would be cracking down on motorists who park on the tracks, first by giving warnings and then by writing traffic tickets.

Police officers are making good on that promise. Beginning this month, they've been handing out warnings to drivers who park too close, or on, the tracks. It's kind of a no-brainer not to park on the tracks, but you might not know that it's actually illegal to be within 15 feet of the rail. If you're closer than that, the crossing arm may be coming down right on your car if a train approaches.

APD's warning includes some lifesaving tips:

When you're in a car:
Be careful turning across train tracks — it's where more accidents happen.
Never race a train to a crossing — you will never have a second chance if you lose and even it you tie, you lose.
Expect a train on any track at any time — if a train goes by at a multiple track crossing, watch out for a second train on the other tracks, approaching in either direction.
Don't anticipate lights or creep out at rail intersections — and never, ever drive around the crossing gates.

When Capital Metro's Red Line begins full service, the police will start ticketing. That's the other important bit of info on the warning: if you do it again you might be shelling out $200! Read more

Red Line Debut Delayed

Yesterday, Capital Metro received notification from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) of allegations issued against our rail contractor Veolia Transportation. The allegations are in reference to incidents in February where two Veolia rail supervisors operating MetroRail trains entered a section of track without prior authorization during system testing.

Veolia is investigating this matter thoroughly and working with the FRA and TxDOT to address this issue.

Based on this incident and additional issues identified during rail testing over the past several weeks, Capital Metro will allow more time for Veolia to complete the training of engineers and dispatchers and additional testing of the rail line. Capital Metro is working with Veolia to establish a revised timeline for the start of service initially planned for Monday, March 30.

The ribbon-cutting communitywide celebration of MetroRail on Saturday, March 28, will move forward as planned. Learn more about the event on our Web site.

Veolia Transportation issued a statement about the FRA allegations. Read the statement here. Read more

June 2009 Service Change: Express Routes

We've begun shopping around Capital Metro's June 2009 service change proposal. One of the items in the proposal is changes to and the possible elimination of some express route trips in the Northwest corridor, on routes 984, 986 and 987.

After the Capital MetroRail Red Line begins full service, Capital Metro will evaluate ridership on both the Red Line and routes 984, 986 and 987 for some weeks to determine if any trips on these express routes could be trimmed. In particular, routes 984 and 986 parallel the Red Line. Those trips with similar departures as the Red Line could potentially be eliminated or consolidated with 987. However, we really won't know until after the Red Line has been in full operation a little while and we see where the ridership trends are.

Going multi-modal is a big deal, and while our planners have a lot of tools and expertise at their disposal to predict ridership patterns and need for service, it’s not a perfect science. It made pragmatic sense to go ahead and propose potential changes to 984, 986, and 987 now, so that we have the ability to make any needed changes after the Red Line begins to best allocate our resources and coordinate bus and rail services.

As with every service change (three times per year), it’s a public process, and we invite your participation. Capital Metro staff is hosting two community meetings this week, and the Capital Metro Board welcomes your input at a public hearing.

Public Meetings:

Thursday, March 12
11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Capital Metro Customer Service Center, 323 Congress Ave.

Thursday, March 12
5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Capital Metro Customer Service Center, 323 Congress Ave.

Public Hearing:

Friday, March 13
12:30 p.m.
Capital Metro Headquarters, 2910 East 5th St.
Read more

Rail Safety Poster Winners

Tonight, at the AISD board meeting, 12 Central Texas students will be honored for the artwork they submitted in the Capital Metro Rail Safety Poster Competition.

Becca Coplen, an eighth grader at Canyon Vista Middle School, is the grand prize winner for the middle school category.

Earlier this year, Capital Metro and its volunteer coalition GROW (Grassroots Rail Outreach Working Group) invited students to submit artwork in a rail safety poster competition. Three winning designs (one each representing elementary, middle and high school campuses) will be printed and hung in every school campus and public library located within two miles of the Capital MetroRail tracks.


Kayleigh Treanor, a senior at Austin High School, won the grand prize in the high school category.

Six first-place and six second-place designs were chosen. First-place winners will each receive a laptop computer donated by Dell. Second-place winners will each receive a pair of running shoes donated by RunTex.

Cindy Carrosco, a fifth grader at Blackshear Elementary School, won the grand prize in the elementary school category.

The poster contest is part of an ongoing rail safety effort that began more than two years ago and has blanketed the community with messages about rail safety. When the Capital MetroRail Red Line begins service on March 30, train traffic along the tracks will increase significantly, and MetroRail trains are faster and quieter than freight locomotives.

1st Place Winners
Kayleigh Treanor, Austin High School, Grade 12
Becca Coplen, Canyon Vista Middle School, Grade 8
Cameron Henderson, Kealing Middle School, Grade 6
Cindy Carrosco, Blackshear Elementary School, Grade 5
David Hernandez, Blackshear Elementary School, Grade 3
Jaylin Mason, Blackshear Elementary School, Grade 1

2nd Place Winners
Rene Salazar, San Juan Diego Catholic High School, Grade 11
Kristin May, Running Brushy Middle School, Grade 8
Gustavo Lang, Running Brushy Middle School, Grade 6
Gerardo Torres, Blackshear Elementary School, Grade 5
Jonathan Garcia, Blackshear Elementary School, Grade 3
Stella Behal, Maplewood Elementary School, Grade 2

Honorary Participant
Cristal Garcia Marchan, Metz Elementary School, Grade 5

The students will be recognized today, March 9, at 6:15 p.m. (before the AISD Board Meeting) in the Board Auditorium at the Carruth Administration Center, 1111 W 6th. St., Room B-100.

During the Citizen’s Communication portion of the Board Meeting (roughly 7:15), Capital Metro will acknowledge the contest winners and their schools. Read more

Media MetroRail Ride

This week the FRA was gracious enough to let us take members of the local news media for a MetroRail ride. We'd love to be able to offer rides to the general public. But we're not at that point yet. So we brought the media along to show you what it's like to ride MetroRail. Click through the jump for a few photos and KEYE-TV's story.

The engineer's view

Perfect timing - the MetroRail train crosses the overpass as a UP freight train passes below

Board Member and Leander Mayor John Cowman announces the arrival at Leander Station

Board Chair and Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gomez chats with Mayor Cowman and President/CEO Fred Gilliam at Leander Station

Maria Garza explains the ticket vending machine to Univision

Board Member Mike Manor enjoys the ride



A family that happened to be at the Leander Station when we pulled up had the opportunity to take a quick peek at the train. The next day Capital Metro received this email:

Thank you so much. My family loves the pictures. I really appreciate you letting my children in to experience the train yesterday, we all felt so welcome. [My son] has not stopped telling everyone that he honked the Leander train. He will remember that always... Read more

MetroRail Testing Update

Capital Metro is in the process of extensively testing each component of the MetroRail system in preparation for the launch of service anticipated for March 30. Thorough testing allows us to identify and resolve any issues that may arise. When issues are resolved, Capital Metro’s rail operator will complete training of dispatchers and engineers and we will finalize rail schedules.

As part of this testing Capital Metro discovered an issue with shunting, the circuit detection system that activates as a train moves on the tracks. Shunting allows dispatchers to properly dispatch trains and controls crossing signals. To resolve this issue, we brought in a nationally recognized shunting expert to recommend remedies.

As other issues arise during testing, Capital Metro will work diligently to resolve them to ensure a safe, reliable passenger rail system. Safety will always the top priority in any decisions we make that may potentially affect the anticipated start of service on March 30. Click here to view the MetroRail status update presented at the Board of Directors meeting February 25.
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Welcome to Crestview Station

In addition to the event at MLK, Jr. Station today, we'll also be at Crestview Station from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., showing off the MetroRail train, helping people navigate the station and the new ticket vending machines, and generally getting Austinites ready to ride!

Eight of the nine MetroRail stations are ripe for transit oriented development, and a TOD is already up and running at Crestview Station. Midtown Commons is the transit oriented development adjacent to the Crestview Station. The development is still in progress. You can already lease retail/office space there, and the leasing office for the residential units has just opened.

When you swing by today to tour the train, you can sign an apartment lease to live next door!

Crestview Station Open House
TODAY
6920 North Lamar Blvd.
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
very limited parking available at the adjacent TOD

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Welcome to MLK, Jr. Station

Capital Metro continues the MetroRail Station Open Houses today. Today you have your choice of two stations: MLK, Jr. and Crestview, both from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Yesterday the group of Capital Metro staff who are volunteering at the open houses took a bus to MLK, Jr. Station to be trained on the use of the ticket vending machine and to tour the station. I snapped a few photos--it's beautiful!


This station has a musical theme, with musical notes portrayed in the metal guardrails and on the glass canopy shelter above. The station paving stones are made to look like piano keys.

The MLK, Jr. Station is one of two stations that will have rail connector bus routes direct to major centers of employment. There will be two connectors from MLK, one to UT and another serving the Capitol Complex.

MLK, Jr. Station Open House
TODAY
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
1719 Alexander Ave.
very limited parking along Alexander Read more

DO NOT STOP ON THE TRACKS!

One more time: Do not stop on the tracks. We can never say this enough. Today Capital Metro participated in an Austin Police Department rail safety news conference near the 51st Street crossing. TV cameras captured many shots of people stopping on the railroad tracks. At one point, cars were stopped on the tracks as the gates were coming down and a train was approaching.

I hope that having images like these on TV will help raise awareness about rail safety:





Note the moped on the tracks in this one:

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