Taking the Capitol Out of Capital Metro
Capital Metro: ready to establish the caliphate.
By Wells Dunbar, 1:44PM, Fri. Dec. 28, 2007
If 9/11 established anything, it's that airplanes are Al-Qaeda's preferred method of travel – not the city bus. But that won't prevent Governor Rick Perry from surging against those sleeper-cells on the #30.
Last week, Perry issued an otherwise unremarkable press release, "Security Upgrades to Begin on Capitol Grounds," a boilerplate act of security theater opening with the phrase, "Since the 9/11 attacks … " The changes direct all vehicles to enter the Capitol from 15th street – a moot point for the public at best, since only legislators are allowed to motor on to the grounds. But buried towards the bottom is the announcement "the state is working with Capitol Metro to address relocation of their bus stop on 11th Street adjacent to the Capitol Grounds." for those nebulous security worries. It's never good to imply your constituency is "with the terrorists" – so it's probably a good thing no Republicans ride the bus.
Cap Metro's Capitol hub is one of the agency's most-trafficked and highest-profile bus stop, serving thousands of passengers across a multitude of bus lines. Moving the stop in under a year – per the Governor's demand – will be yet another headache for the embattled agency. Yet as the stop sits on state land, the agency and the city may have to take its lumps. Apparently the Perry's remodeling of the Governor's Mansion is more extensive than first thought. In her letter of protest to the Guv, ACLU Austin chapter president Debbie Russell puts it succinctly:
"Instead of spending gobs of money and time fighting to move Austin's oldest public transportation center, confusing and inconveniencing 1500 people a day, negatively affecting our public transportation system so you can avoid being bothered by working class Austinites' comings and going … in the name of "security" … here's an option for you:
USE THE WEST GATE TO WALK HOME."
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Richard Whittaker, Feb. 23, 2014
Jordan Smith, Jan. 24, 2014
Capital Metro, Transportation, Downtown, Rick Perry, Capitol, bus stop