Capital Metro made a big hoo-hah about expanding service on New Year’s Eve. Laudable, because the fewer drunk drivers, the better. However, when drunken revelers tried to get on the bus, there was a slight problem: they weren’t there.

The problem was with the Night Owls: the late night service that picks up from Sixth and Congress, running through until 3am. On New Year’s Day morning, there was no sign of them. At about 1am, after a large crowd had been waiting for up to an hour, a single Cap Metro employee appeared and informed them that they were in the wrong place. The buses were actually waiting for them three blocks away at Ninth and Colorado, and had effectively been running empty all night.

The harrased supervisor at the new site seemed as baffled as everyone else as to why the diversion was in place: Sixth was not closed, and neither was Congress by that point. There was no sign at the regular stop and no indication on the automated phone service that there was a change. It seemed unclear when it had been decided that a service that was going to see some of its heaviest usage of the year was going to be moved.

In a press release issued on Dec. 26 (titled, and seemingly with no irony, “Your First New Year’s Resolution: Take the Bus”) the transit authority actually touted the service, proclaiming that “New Year’s Eve revelers may also take one of the six Night Owl routes that begin service after midnight and run until about 3:30 a.m.” No mention of a detour, which might have been useful.

The only notice seems to have been on the Cap Metro website, and good luck on finding that. Even if potential passenger had found the detour page (which takes clicking through three pages to get to from the front page), what they got wasn’t that useful. There’s no indication that the main pickup on Sixth was closed and there’s nothing but a long list of unclear and ungrammatical directions (for example, “From 8th Left on Colorado Right on 6th Right on Lavaca Right on 11th Left on IH35 Start NB trip.”)

So if Cap Metro is suggesting Austinites make a resolution to use the buses, here’s a suggestion for a Cap Metro resolution: Tell ’em where the buses are.

This article appears in December 26 • 2008.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.