Transit leaders say the hub is also designed to better connect Central Texans to destinations across the region and beyond.<\/p>\n
AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 A major investment in public transportation in Austin is already showing results, with transit leaders reporting a noticeable increase in passengers using a key East Austin hub.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Richard A. Moya Eastside Bus Plaza has become a central transit destination since 2023, when major carriers like Greyhound and FlixBus began using it as a primary stop.<\/p>\n
For travelers like Houston-area resident Thalia Castle, the difference is clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like that there\u2019s a Greyhound station here because when I take the FlixBus here from Houston, I\u2019m doing it from a parking lot,\u201d Castle said.<\/p>\n
She added that the improvements make the experience feel safer and more comfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels safe and convenient to me. It\u2019s nice to have a bus stop that has seats and bathrooms,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That kind of feedback is exactly what officials with the Capital Area Rural Transportation System, better known as CARTS, hoped to hear.<\/p>\n
According to CARTS’ communications director, Dana Platt, the bus plaza is seeing an increase of 250 to 300 additional passengers each day since Greyhound and FlixBus started using the hub.<\/p>\n
Funding from the Texas Department of Transportation, using federal grant money, provided $538,500 for improvements at the plaza. Those upgrades include new restrooms, shaded shelters and updated signage.<\/p>\n
Transit leaders say the hub is also designed to better connect Central Texans to destinations across the region and beyond.<\/p>\n
“Somebody coming from Bastrop could use our CARTS park-and-ride,” said Platt. “They could take the bus and stop at the airport if they wanted to. Or they could come into the Eastside Bus Plaza, jump on another Capital Metro bus and go anywhere in the city. Or say they wanted to go to Dallas or Houston, they could jump on a Greyhound or FlixBus and go inner-city and all still have their car parked at the Bastrop park-and-ride.”<\/p>\n
Passengers say the convenience is a major draw. Jeff Kalma, who was traveling to San Antonio from Georgetown, said taking the bus helps avoid the stress of driving in heavy traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever you start getting into San Antonio, it\u2019s probably always going to be traffic,\u201d Kalma said. \u201cJust being able to sit on the bus and not have that stress, you get to where you\u2019re going and you can just basically relax.\u201d<\/p>\n
Public transportation options in the Austin area continue to expand. CARTS recently launched two new routes connecting Lockhart and Luling, as well as Georgetown and Round Rock, to the Eastside Bus Plaza at no cost for a limited time.<\/p>\n
The free service is funded through a $47.9 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to the city of Austin and aims to reduce traffic congestion and emissions. The promotion is expected to last 90 days before fares are introduced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Transit leaders say the hub is also designed to better connect Central Texans to destinations across the region…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-209281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}