Capital MetroBus is the bus public transit service of Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro) of Austin, Texas and serves Austin and the surrounding areas. MetroBus services include 82 standard routes and 15 high-frequency bus routes as of August 2021[update]. It has several categories of routes: Local, Flyer and Limited, Feeder, Crosstown, Special services and UT Shuttles. Capital Metro also operates an express bus service, MetroExpress, and a bus rapid transit service, MetroRapid, in addition to the agency's commuter rail service, MetroRail. In 2022, the bus system had a ridership of 19,590,700, or about 74,700 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
History
At the agency's inception, Capital Metro originally operated a series of "paired" route service where two different routes that pass through downtown are served by the same buses, allowing riders to transfer between certain routes without leaving the bus. Since 2008, this practice has been eliminated and after a number of route pair reassignments, the agency merged the paired routes under single route numbers (for example, the 1 North Lamar and 13 South Congress were originally paired as they were the two busiest routes in the system, but they have since been merged as 1 North Lamar/South Congress).
Meanwhile, most local routes carried two digits before Capital Metro assigned a third digit for routes that do not serve downtown in 2000 (for example, 25 Ohlen became 325). Flyer routes were renumbered altogether to match their local stop counterparts (for example, 65 Manchaca Flyer became 103), while express routes that operated during commute times only contained letters (for example, NEX Northeast Express was renamed 990 Manor/Elgin Express; but was originally 70 Northeast Express).
Vehicles
Capital MetroBus in former livery
The majority of the current bus fleet consists of vehicles produced by two manufacturers, Gillig and New Flyer, with only relatively small generational design variations, most visibly in the use of flip-dot destination displays on older series versus LED displays on newer buses. A few smaller series of buses were acquired from other manufacturers, notably Optima (used preferentially on MetroRail shuttles) and MCI (used on express services). Older bus series produced by TMC and Blue Bird are no longer in service.
Standard routes
Local
MetroBus Local routes are intended to connect specific neighborhoods of Austin to Downtown Austin, with frequent stops. Since June 2014, north–south service within downtown Austin for all routes is provided via Lavaca Street northbound and Guadalupe Street southbound, with all routes serving at least one stop along both streets.
Prior to relocating routes to the Guadalupe/Lavaca corridor, many routes formerly utilized Brazos Street northbound and Colorado Street southbound before various construction projects took place. Since June 2014, the remaining lines no longer use Congress Avenue between 11th Street and Barton Springs Road. East-west service within downtown Austin for all routes is provided via 5th Street eastbound and 4th and 6th Streets westbound, so as to provide a connection along the Lavaca/Guadalupe corridor.
Some MetroBus routes are designated High-Frequency routes and operate with a headway of 15 minutes between buses weekdays, 20 minutes Saturdays. Routes as of January 2023[update]:[4]
MetroBus Local routes
MetroBus Local High-Frequency routes
Rt.
Name
Terminals
Interlines
Created
Notes
Ref.
1
North Lamar / South Congress
Tech Ridge Park and Ride via North Lamar Transit Center
Originally 5 Woodrow, paired with 26 until Aug 2008; merged with 16 to form 5 Woodrow/South 5th
Jun 3, 2018, sections transferred to 105 and 315; service on Monterey Oaks, Staggerbrush, and Roadrunner discontinued; rerouted on Lamar to downtown replacing part of 338
Paired with 12 until Feb 2000; then 10 until Aug 2008 when it merged with 26 to form 20 Manor / Riverside
Jun 3, 2018, rerouted directly and extended to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport replacing part of 350 and causing 100 to be discontinued. Portion of old route via Wickersham transferred to 310; service on Oltorf and Pleasant Valley covered by 300
Originally 9 Enfield; August 2008 it replaced 14 and name changed
Eliminated due to low ridership; covered by: 21/22 on Exposition, 662 on Enfield, 1 on Congress, 331 on Oltorf, 300 extension on Ben White west of Woodward
Service west of MoPac not on Enfield or Exposition not immediately replaced until restored by Pickup; service in Travis Heights neighborhood and on Burleson (from Oltorf to Ben White) not replaced
21 ran clockwise, 22 ran counterclockwise; signed 21 Exposition Loop; both eliminated at the same time
Parts replaced by 335; part covered by 17 and 18; portion on Exposition replaced by Pickup
—
22
Chicon
—
Jun 3, 2018
21 ran clockwise, 22 ran counterclockwise; signed 22 Chicon Loop; both eliminated at the same time
Parts replaced by 335; part covered by 17 and 18; portion on Exposition replaced by Pickup; remainder changed from 22 to 322 as it no longer went through downtown
Became 201; section through Buckingham eliminated due to low ridership
—
Limited and Flyer
Capital Metro's Limited and Flyer routes are limited stop services between two destinations. Limited routes tend to have fewer stops compared to their local counterparts, while Flyer routes serve nonstop between downtown or the UT campus and their neighborhoods of service. Limited and Flyer routes are designated by routes 100–199. Routes as of September 2021[update]:[4]
Rush hour service; northbound in the morning peak, southbound in the afternoon
No boarding beyond S 1st at Stassney traveling northbound, S 1st at Barton Springs southbound
—
122
Four Points Limited
—
Jun 3, 2018
Eliminated due to low ridership
Proposed to be restored as part of Project Connect, but would only go from Downtown to proposed Four Points Park-and-Ride; will not have service from the Four Points Park-and-Ride to Lakeline; would also stop at a proposed Park-and-Ride at RM 2222 & Loop 360
Capital Metro's Feeder routes are local services between a neighborhood and a major transfer point for connecting service. Feeder routes are designated by routes 200–299. Routes as of September 2021[update]:[4]
Will become part of 17 again when long-term construction at US 183 and Montopolis intersection complete
—
Crosstown
Capital Metro's Crosstown routes are local services between two neighborhoods of Austin, for which the route does not pass through Downtown Austin or the University of Texas. Some Crosstown routes are designated High-Frequency routes and operate with a headway of 15 minutes between buses weekdays, 20 minutes Saturdays. Crosstown routes are designated by routes 300–399.
Renamed from 8; extended south of Oltorf & Burton in Aug 2010 due to elimination of 9
Jun 3, 2018 rerouted to Westgate Mall replacing most of 331; route to south Congress Transfer Center transferred to 310; rerouted on 51st, Cameron, and St. Johns (replacing parts of 37 and 320); old Route along Berkman transferred to 10; service on Rogge discontinued, later restored by Pickup
Rerouted to Westgate Transit Center rather than Western Trails Boulevard Jun 2019
Service west of Congress Avenue rerouted to Congress Transit Center, became extension of 30; east of Congress Avenue remained, rerouted to Congress Transit Center and renamed 228
Capital Metro operates several services in the suburb Round Rock. Round Rock is not a Capital Metro member city and therefore doesn't pay the 1% sales tax to Capital Metro. Instead, Round Rock contracts Capital Metro to provide certain mass transit services for the city. Round Rock services are designated as 50-99 and 152. Capital Metro also operates MetroExpress route 980 North MoPac Express and Flyer service 152 Round Rock Tech Ridge Limited between downtown Austin and Round Rock. Routes as of September 2021[update]:[4]
Aug 2012, section along South 1st eliminated; renamed to remove South 1st from name
—
485
Night Owl Cameron
6th at Congress
Rutherford Wal-Mart
—
Aug 2012, consolidated and replaced part of 482; old route along IH-35 and Cameron eliminated
—
486
Night Owl South Congress
6th at Congress
Pleasant Valley at E William Cannon
—
Aug 2012, renamed from 486 Night Owl Dove Springs; rerouted off William Cannon going east
—
Former Night Owl routes
Rt.
Name
Created
Eliminated
Notes
Ref.
482
Night Owl East
—
—
Consolidated with 485; section along Rosewood east of Airport, Springdale, 7th and others to Downtown eliminated
—
E-Bus
Capital Metro has, since September 19, 2002,[8][9] operated "E-Bus" routes, to ferry students between student residential areas to the 6th Street area. These buses run only evenings and late nights on weekends and do not run in summer.[10] The E in "E-Bus" stands for "eating and entertainment" and funding was initially provided by companies advertising on the bus.[11] On April 1, 2010, the Daily Texan reported that, in an attempt to curb passenger unruliness, Capital Metro was requiring students swipe their student IDs before boarding and that UT would start paying for some of the services.[12]
Capital Metro's Express services are limited stop services that run between Downtown Austin and the far suburbs. Express routes are designated as routes 900–999, and are served exclusively by buses in the red "MetroExpress" livery (though on occasions they may be served by buses in the regular Capital Metro livery as well).
Rush hour service: westbound in morning peak, eastbound in afternoon
Service between Manor Park and Ride and Elgin Depot provided by Capital Metro on behalf of CARTS; passengers must pay additional CARTS fare when traveling further east than Manor Park and Ride in either direction
In January 2014, Capital Metro launched a bus rapid transit service branded "MetroRapid," utilizing articulated buses operating in shared lanes with automobile traffic. Service on the first route, MetroRapid North Lamar/South Congress (801), began on January 26, 2014.[13] It replaced existing bus Routes 1L and 1M, as well as the 101 Express, which traveled along the same corridor.
A second route, MetroRapid Burnet/South Lamar (803), serves a total of 24 stations between The Domain and Westgate.[14] Both the 801 and 803 drew citizen protest until premium fares were discontinued in 2017 and the 801 had also reduced frequency of the then operating 1L/1M.
UT Shuttle
A Capital Metro bus painted in University of Texas at Austin colors. The orange and white buses have now all been retired.
The University of Texas Shuttle system, operated by Capital Metro, is one of the largest university transit systems in the United States. It comprises 10 routes and carries over 5.2 million passengers a year. UT students, faculty, and staff may ride the shuttles at no charge with a valid UT photo ID. Without a UT photo ID, normal MetroBus rates apply.[15][16]
UT Shuttle history
Capital Metro took over university shuttle operations in 1989. Formerly, service had been provided by private bus companies. Immediate changes included upgraded buses with air conditioning, but also lengthening headway on some routes.[17]
In 1983, the University of Texas received six bids to manage the shuttle system. Capital Metro entered into the picture in 1988, when the university contracted out to them. Capital Metro, in turn, then subcontracted out to Laidlaw International, Inc., who had, up to that point, operated orange and white school buses[18] for the university on a contractual basis. Rather than use Laidlaw's existing bus fleet, however, Capital Metro used their own. In so doing, Capital Metro brought air conditioning and wheelchair accessibility to the shuttle service for the first time.[19] The transition, however, was not without controversy. Among the other contested issues was the fact that these new shuttles didn't have a stereo system[20][21]
In 1991, Capital Metro canceled its contract with Laidlaw and contracted out with DAVE Transportation, instead[22][23]
Amidst allegations of union busting, in 1999, Capital Metro canceled its then current contract and instead contracted out with ATC/Vancom, instead[23][24][25] Six years later, in 2005, Capital Metro, citing concerns over the comparatively low wages ATC/Vancom paid, negotiated a contract with First Transit to operate the UT shuttle buses.[26]
UT Shuttle routes
The UT Shuttle system includes a number of routes during the University of Texas semester. They do not operate on Saturdays, except during finals. Since September 2014, numbered routes have been used exclusively at bus stops, though signage on buses may use either numbered or lettered signage.
Capital Metro's Dillo service used forest-green trolleys
Capital Metro's Dillo service was a circulator service in downtown Austin. In May 2000, the Dillo service went through a major restructuring. It was shut down in 2009 after over 30 years of operation due to low ridership.[28] The service used forest-green trolley buses with an armadillo painted on the side. It was free until shortly before to its closure when Capital Metro began charging a 50¢ fare.[29]
Capital MetroAirport Flyer in its specialized livery
The MetroAirport service (sometimes called MetroAirport Flyer) was created when Austin–Bergstrom International Airport opened in May 1999. It was primarily served by buses carrying the "MetroAirport" livery, though may on occasion have been served by buses in the regular livery. The service was eliminated on June 3, 2018, and replaced by the extension of 20.
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