Editor’s note: The above video is from July 22, 2024, detailing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement Austin had received a nearly $48 million grant.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A nearly $48 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is poised to help enhance existing mobility hubs and add new multimodal transit projects to the city of Austin.
Austin City Council will vote Thursday to accept roughly $47.9 million in grant funds for those initiatives. The EPA first announced the news in late July. Austin’s allocation is part of a $4.3 billion funding pool for projects across the country working to “develop and implement ambitions plans for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other harmful air pollution,” according to city documents.
Austin transportation leaders will utilize the dollars to support projects that promote “alternate transportation options” as opposed to single person-vehicle use. Those improvements include:
- Enhancing existing CapMetro Park & Rides to include more multimodal transportation options, real-time parking and transit information, better bike parking and shelter.
- Creating new and smaller mobility hubs to address last-mile transportation needs like bike share, scooters, rideshare, paratransit and circulators.
- Developing educational and incentive programs “to encourage behavior change and shape regional travel demand by increasing the number of commuters sharing rides using carpool and vanpools, transit, and active transportation options,” per city documents.
- Sharing grant funding with CapMetro and the Capital Area Rural Transportation Service (CARTS) to upgrade those services’ reliability and frequency.
Alongside these enhancements, Austin transportation officials plan to collect data on the programs and new services to see where things are working and what future improvements might help the overall system.
“Mobility hubs are becoming increasingly critical in urban planning as they offer a central location for transportation services such as public transit, bike share, and ridesharing services,” city documents read in part. “By providing these options in one location, mobility hubs promote sustainable transportation options, which are critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and addressing climate change.”
