I will blather on some more about my reconciliation and good time at SXSW (South by Southwest for those who don’t know) later. Sadly, the nice couple from Houston who took my picture with Matthew Caws of Nada Surf never followed through so that story may never happen because there’s no picture (I like to have proof, no one likes a fibber!) and/or too much time has passed. Now I want to go on about how I finally got to enjoy Austin’s relatively new commuter train.
This is the stop near our house, it's pretty sweet.
CapMetro’s first light rail line finally got rolling on March 22, 2010 and I’ve been wanting to ride it ever since. I think it’s a great idea but what do I know. In Texas, you’re a third-class citizen at best if you don’t have a car. Many residents, namely the suburban/non-Travis County dwellers (often GOP/Paultards imported from Dallas, Houston and California) believe mass transit is synonymous with Communism. Sorry, I’m a little peeved due to this little stretch of track being a fight going back to almost 1985. Never mind how much commuter-rail systems are integral to the larger American, Canadian and European cities. No wait, if an idea/concept wasn’t invented in the Deep South it’s an ‘-ism which much be rejected unless it’s racism, sexism or classism with WASPs as the ruling caste.
I’ve editorialized enough yet I think my recent round trip to SXSW proved its potential despite my biggest peeve…most jobs in Austin aren’t downtown, they’re in the blight/sprawl surrounding the city where the traffic problems are. Governor Goodhair and the Center for Bad Ideas (aka the Texas legislature) plan to solve Austin’s issues by putting a Spanish vacuum cleaner on everyone’s wallets…you know, toll roads “owned” by Spanish interests. I would say the Economist‘s argument favoring these remora routes to alleviate congestion is bullshit after living in the vicinities of Chicago and Philly.
Back to the trip. Sorry.
For well over a year, I have been trying to schedule a day off from work to take the red line into downtown Austin. The trick was to make sure I had enough to do since I would be stranded for about eight hours; it used to stop operating after 9-10 AM and come back online around 4 PM. When SXSW 2011 occurred, CapMetro tried scheduling some extra trains during the Friday and Saturday evenings. These must’ve been succesful for they did it again. So I scored a Friday off and decided to take up Chip’s offer to see the free performances Waterloo Records offered.
Many other people must’ve had the same idea. Howard Lane is the third stop on a southbound trip and when I got on board, the two cars were over half full. By stop number four (Kramer Lane), it was elbows to anuses. I think people were turned away at Crestview and Highland Mall. I was fortunate enough to score a seat. Next on the agenda, test out the free Wi-Fi. This was rather disappointing and I wasn’t really pushing on the connection with something needing much bandwidth (a game or stream). In CapMetro’s defense, it was free and I figure they’re anticipating small devices on the Wi-Fi, not so much portable computers.
I arrived downtown as planned! The stop was Fourth Street, across from the Austin Convention Center. Overall it is perfect. Congress Avenue is four blocks East; Sixth and its attractions are two blocks North (Alamo Ritz); the Bat Bridge is around six blocks South; and a key destination I plan to get reacquainted is over six North (Stubb’s and the Mohawk). As for today, this would take more effort, Waterloo Records is over a mile on foot. However, I needed the exercise and sunlight. I received them in spades. The bigger benefit was how much I paid…$2.75 one way which is cheaper than a gallon of gas. Parking would’ve been the larger rip off. Again, mass transit put me ahead!
My forays back and forth were repeated Saturday.
Now the best news of all. CapMetro is experimenting with Friday and Saturday evening runs. The train will just keeping continuing after 6 PMish on Fridays until about midnight. With Saturdays, it will come online around 4 PM. The only downside is Lakeline being the last northbound stop instead of Leander. I can live with it.
I’ll close with the Saturday arrival. I know little kids will dig it, they always love trains.