Social media is buzzing after a map displaying a Capital Metro (CapMetro) light rail line on North Lamar Blvd. and Guadalupe St. was posted on Twitter.
While some say the proposal was "leaked," it was actually presented during CapMetro's advisory board committee meeting Monday. The meeting was open to the public.
Board Member Steven Knapp tweeted out the first photos.
"There's, you know, easy 40 people in the room. And there was just a lot of excitement about what CapMetro was presenting to us," said Knapp. "And we're like their kind of initial gauge of, like, what's the community going to think about this. And the room was really excited."
The people in the room aren't the only ones excited about the idea.
"I think any public transportation additions to Austin is a great idea," said Christine McCourt, who has lived in Austin for 20 years.
"This city needs a rail system. And especially if they had a rail in the middle of Lamar or something, it would be so convenient for people to just hop on and go downtown," added native Austinite Mike Whitworth.
The presentation laid out the concept for a $2.1 billion rail line that stretches down N. Lamar Blvd. and Guadalupe St. from Tech Ridge Blvd. to Republic Square Park.
But before you get too excited about the idea, CapMetro staff say it's just an idea.
"We're so early on in this process that what was shown the other night at the advisory committee meeting was not a plan," said Amy Peck, communication specialist for CapMetro. "It's nowhere near final. It was just basically being used to engage discussion."
Peck said CapMetro isn't releasing any details about presentation but did say the concept is part of Project Connect, CapMetro's high-capacity transit plan. Staff expect to put out the next draft of Project Connect this summer.
