Tag Archives: transportation

2019 Year in Review

2019 was a big year in all the ways we expected and a few we didn’t. We made major progress on affordability and mobility, putting bond money authorized by voters to good use and showing continued leadership on issues of equity, sustainability and climate. We continued to support the music and arts community and invested in good government practices and transparency. After seven years of hard work, study and community comment, Council ended the year by approving the first reading of the new draft land development code, a crucial step toward increasing housing stock, creating more affordable housing, reducing flood risk and providing transit options to meet the needs of our rapidly growing city.

2019 was also the year we took on homelessness as a city. Every corner of the civic debate was energized by Council’s efforts to decriminalize non-violent activities associated with homelessness and the resulting sense of urgency helped mobilized resources and focused a spotlight on the issue as a burgeoning national crisis. Working together with a coalition of service providers, Mayor and Council have made housing a top priority.

Here’s a look at what we accomplished together. (Actions taken by City Staff and/or by City Council.)

Defending Austin: Promoting the city’s values, character and priorities

  • 86th legislature brought big city mayors together to protect local priorities. 
  • Mayor and Council take steps to decriminalize homelessness 
  • Citywide Iftar features Ilhan Omar, welcomed by Mayor and members of Council promoting the Austin value of coming together.

Affordability: Keeping Austin affordable for the people who make it special.

  • The ‘Affordability Unlocked’ Development Bonus Program built on the 2018 Affordable Housing Bonds Began spending 2018 mobility and affordable housing bonds
  • Chalmers Court in East Austin opened a section of housing and broke ground on another on the way to more than 400 eventual units.
  • Increased the zoning capacity under UNO, North Burnet / Gateway, and Mueller
  • Provided a loan to Workforce Solutions to allow them to relocate and grow
  • Right to Return pilot program launched
  • Convened team to study cross-boundary collaboration around affordable housing through the Bloomberg Harvard Leadership Initiative
  • Austin’s housing strike fund (Austin Housing Conservancy Fund) ended the year with new funding and 3 long-term affordable properties under management.
  • Allocated $42M of planned spending from the 2018 affordable housing bond
  • Allocated a historic $14.4M for the Housing Trust Fund from the FY 19-20 budget in support of permanent supportive housing, housing rehabilitation, and land acquisition for affordable housing

Mobility: Working toward safe, efficient access to all parts of town… now and in the future

  • In September, announced Austin’s participation in Ford AV pilot with Ford Motor Company
  • In August, celebrated the completion of the Guadalupe/Lavaca project, the first corridor construction project which is part of the 2016 Mobility Bond
  • Continued work on Project Connect
  • Community gathering around transportation through: PUMA, Transit for Austin launch, MoveATX
  • Approved ASMP (Austin Strategic Mobility Plan)
  • Downtown MetroRail station 
  • Mayor was CAMPO chair and helped with the Capital Express Project Vote
  • Austin remains a testing space for new multimodal transportation, council leading nation in rules for micro mobility
  • Worked with UT on straightening Red River

Equity: Ensuring that Austin’s growth and success affect residents fairly 

  • Passed first reading of land development code
  • Austin’s first Latina Mayor Pro Tem 
  • Census Complete Count Committee
  • Funded start up costs for new Pre-K classrooms in Austin and surrounding ISDs 
  • Approved voter time off resolution 
  • Opened up City Council’s invocation than more than prayer through “Opening Moment”
  • Third party complaint system for sexual harassment 
  • Automatic library card to all AISD and Del Valle students
  • Permanent funding of parent support specialists at Title 1 schools
  • Trained over 400 people in the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond’s “Undoing Racism and Community Organizing Workshop,” developing anti-racist capacity among City staff and Austin community members
  • Reached over 2000 people milestone at the Beyond Diversity: Courageous Conversations About Race with Leadership Austin
  • Have 14 Courageous Conversations About Race (CCAR) Facilitators in Training preparing to offer one-day Beyond Diversity seminar
  • Developed the City’s first-ever “Request for Grant Applications” for the Equity Mini-Grant Fund, removing barriers and providing access to $75,000 of City funding for innovative, grassroots community organizations
  • Performed an assessment of the City’s bond election programs, ensuring funding was received for a community health center in the majority-People of Color and low-income neighborhood of Dove Springs
  • Worked with the 9 Commissions represented on the Joint Inclusion Committee to transform Quality of Life commissions budget recommendation process, delivering over $10 Million in funding over the last two budget cycles
  • Created online training on sexual harassment for all City employees to be rolled out in October 2019, with additional training targeting sexual harassment in the sworn departments in FY20
  • $200K allocated in FY 19-20 budget to conduct a Quality of Life study for people with disabilities
  • $250K allocated in the FY 19-20 budget for the equity mini grants program (up from $175k from the prior year)

Music and Arts: Nurturing the people and institutions and make Austin a music destination.

  • Voters rejected Props A & B 
  • Added a dedicated fund and approximately $3.5m/yr towards music
  • Unanimous approval to expand Convention Center
  • Moved funding for Red River streetscape improvements. Fixed 7th street alleyway issue
  • Expanded the Creative Space Assistance Program
  • HOT Tax spending of $12.8M in support of cultural arts
  • $3.5M allocation in the 2018 bond towards new community creative spaces plus $750K in operating funds to assist arts and music groups at risk of being displaced

Climate: Working toward a livable planet for future generations through thoughtful planning and leadership

  • August – Mayor & Council Declared a Climate Emergency
  • In December, announced participation in Climate Mayors Steering Committee
  • Participated in C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen
    • Signed Global Pledge to Reduce Air Pollution by reducing their local emissions and advocating for reductions in regional/state/national emissions
    • Climate Equity Pledge — Took pledge to increase action on community-led development, inclusive climate action and infrastructure projects that achieve major environmental, health, social and economic benefits especially in low-income and vulnerable communities.
    • Signed Fossil Fuel Free Streets Declaration — pledged to transition to Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets by: 1) procuring, with our partners, only zero-emission buses from 2025 and 2) ensuring a major area of our city is zero emission by 2030.
  • City of Austin Fleet:  200 electric vehicles by end of year, rising to 330 in 2020
  • Approved new floodplain maps and rules in response to Atlas 14

Preservation: Protecting the places that embody Austin’s rich history

  • In September, helped the Elizabet Ney Museum win $150,000 in grants to preserve the legacy of women’s history
  • In December, council voted to add historic designation to World War II veteran Richard Overton’s house
  • $11.9M spent in support of historic preservation

Government that Works: A commitment to transparency and good data in the execution of city business.

  • Opening of the new $122M Planning Development Center (summer 2020)
  • $8M in the capital rehabilitation fund for critical facility maintenance needs
  • $450K increase and additional staffing in the Office of Police Oversight to improve the transparency and accountability of community policing
  • $200K to conduct a Quality of Life study for people with disabilities

Homelessness: Laser-focused on making homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring. 

  • Decriminalized homelessness
  • Made historic investment of $62.7M in homelessness solutions
  • Traveled to Seattle and Los Angeles to better understand issue
  • Participated in several public forums to engage with the community directly
  • Participated in panel at this year’s Texas Tribune Fest focused on the issue
  • Homelessness blockchain project received $409,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help safeguard the personal info of people as they try to secure housing and services
  • Opened Terrace at Oak Springs – permanent supportive housing thorough Integral Care
  • Approved Riverside redevelopment with affordable housing + immediate units for homeless
  • The completion of the Rathgeber Center
  • Pay for Success approved
  • Progress toward a TPID to support homeless efforts
  • Cut youth homelessness PIT count by half
  • Re-did the ARCH contract, paying living wages, and changing the operational focus to housing and case management
  • Ramped up the Workforce First Pilot

Public Safety: One of the country’s safest big cities… and working to keep it that way.

  • Investigation of racism in APD
  • Sexual Assault Oversight
  • 30 new police officers as called for in the Police Department’s staffing plan 
  • Temporary fire staffing for D2 firehouse
  • Funded Bridge to Safety Program (domestic violence)
  • Funded Wildfire Mitigation

Reform and Progress: Big ideas, big plans and getting better all the time.

  • In September, broke ground on the Austin FC stadium. MLS officially coming to Austin!
  • First reading of new draft Land Development Code passed
  • Funded abortion support services in the budget 
  • Approved the long term plan for parks 
  • Approved plan for Asian American Resource Center (and initiated planning in on adjacent property), Dougherty Arts Center, and Brush Square
  • Started construction and acquired land for new fire stations.
  • Worked to set up a Municipal Management District to raise money to acquire MUNY
  • Passed an election day time-off resolution
  • Audit of Cultural Centers
  • Removed a 100+ year exclusion from taxes for lakefront property
  • Improved training resources and made recommended changes for mental health first responders
  • Allocated $3M in the FY budget in support of workforce development providers

Noteworthy Extras

  • Sent queso to the moon!
  • Mayor Adler named Best elected Official by Austin Chronicle 4th year in a row
  • Received United States Conference of Mayors and Wells Fargo 2019 CommunityWINS $100,000 Grant for Outstanding Achievement Metropolitan City for Affordable Central Texas, Inc. to support the Affordable Central Texas Project (housing strike fund)
  • Announced Texas Capital Bank as first bank investor in Austin Housing Conservancy Fund
  • Austin announced as USCM 2020 host City

What’s your reaction to the #YearOfMobility?

mobilityatx_colorMobility ATX just posted the #YearOfMobility section of the State of our City address. I love Mobility ATX. It’s like Reddit for Austin public policy nerds, and it encourages productive discussion which is exactly what we need to have right now. As I said in the speech on Tuesday, we need to do big things on I-35, transit, bikes and rail, or we’re just going to end up like Los Angeles. (In fact, traffic on I-35 has gotten so bad that people in Houston feel sorry for us now.) And while work is ongoing on sidewalks, street lights, and crossing signals, we need to get a lot of public input now before we consider what projects we put before the voters as soon as November. So read up and spout off.

 

 

 

Can We Talk About Uber and Lyft?

Here are four things I know for sure:

First, Austin is safer with ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft because they take drunk drivers off the streets and provide more transportation options, and I’m certainly not trying to get them to leave town.

Second, fingerprinting drivers enhances safety for passengers.

Third, the City Council voted to create safety incentives to increase the number of fingerprinted ridesharing drivers in Austin. On January 28, 2016, the City Council will discuss what those safety incentives and disincentives will be.

Fourth, this is Austin, the city that reinvented the assembly line, country music, dinner-and-a-movie, and grocery stores. This is not an either/or city. We can find a creative solution that both allows Uber and Lyft to stay in Austin while at the same time protects women from sexual assault. Within the framework of safety incentives and benchmarks that the City Council approved on Thursday, I believe we can accomplish these goals.

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