Capital MetroRapid

CapMetro Rapid is a bus rapid transit service in Austin, Texas, owned and operated by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (CapMetro). It consists of four routes in the system, which includes two original routes which run north-south served by stations designed by McKinney York Architects, and two more routes that went into operation as of March 2025.

History

The original Route 1 North Lamar/South Congress bus line – merged from the paired Route 1 North Lamar and Route 13 South Congress lines in 2001 – was the busiest line in the CapMetro system, with peak frequencies of 10 minutes headways Monday through Friday, with wider headways on the weekends. The 101 express line supplemented local service on the 1 line. In 2006, Route 1 was split in two as 1L (serving North Lamar north of Rutland) and 1M (serving Metric), while maintaining high frequencies on the 1L/1M trunk line portion.

CapMetro (then branded as Capital Metro) debuted the first MetroRapid service, North Lamar/South Congress (Route 801) on January 26, 2014. It replaced existing CapMetro Bus Routes 1L/1M and the 101 Express, which traveled along the same corridor. (1M was renamed Route 1 Metric/South Congress, while a local version of the northernmost portion of former route 1L was created as Route 275. The Metric corridor is now served by 325.) Route 801 serves 29 stations between Tech Ridge in North Austin and Southpark Meadows via the University of Texas and Downtown Austin. It supplements local service on Route 1, which now has wider headways, resulting in overcrowded buses.

A second route, MetroRapid Burnet/South Lamar (Route 803), serves a total of 28 stations between The Domain and Westgate. It began operation during August 2014, supplementing service along Route 3 Burnet/Manchaca, which remains in service but now at a slightly reduced frequency.

CapMetro expanded MetroRapid started service on February 23, 2025 with two more routes: The Pleasant Valley Line (Route 800) and the Expo Center Line (Route 837). Route 800 runs from Barbara Jordan to Vertex & Slaughter (with a future expansion to Goodnight Ranch Park & Ride) primarily along Pleasant Valley Road, supplementing Routes 7, 300 and 350 on portions of the route. Route 837 runs from Republic Square to Loyola & Decker (with a future expansion to Travis County Expo Center) primarily along Manor Road and supplementing Routes 20 and 337 on most of the route.

Operation and Headways

CapMetro Rapid operates from 5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturdays and Sundays from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
. On Saturdays, it operates from 6 a.m. to 2:30 a.m., and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Routes 801 and 803 operate at a high frequency of 10 minutes during the day and 15 minutes at night Monday through Friday, and every 15-20 minutes on the weekends. Routes 800 and 837 operate a frequency of 20 minutes daytime and 30 minutes at night seven days a week.

List of CapMetro Rapid stations

Route 800 - Pleasant Valley

''north to south''

Route 801 - North Lamar/South Congress

''north to south''

Route 803 - Burnet/South Lamar

''north to south''

Route 837 - Expo Center

''north to south''

New stops

The 801 and 803 started to stop at 31st and Guadalupe during the summer of 2018. The usual MetroRapid red shelters (with displays showing how soon the next buses will arrive) were not installed until October.

Broken Spoke on route 803 and St. Elmo and Fairfield on route 801 were first shown as working stops on the maps issued in advance of the August 19th, 2018 CapMetro service changes. Rutland on route 803 and Parmer, North Loop East, and Slaughter on route 801 were first shown as working stops on the maps issued in advance of the January 6th, 2019 CapMetro service changes. However, Slaughter did not actually open until late 2019.

The southern terminus of route 803 was first shown as shifted to the newly-established Westgate Transit Center (with attached park-and-ride parking lot) on the maps issued in advance of the June 2, 2019 CapMetro service changes.

In addition to the new stations, CapMetro has started installing new departure boards at many MetroRapid stations. These boards are made by Luminator Technology Group and use electronic ink to show the departures of the next several busses. The new boards have many advantages over the dot matrix boards that were installed with the original stations, such as showing departures for not only MetroRapid busses, but also local MetroBus routes that also serve that station. The dot matrix boards at the stations where the new E-ink boards were installed were turned off and are no longer used.

Future plans

Gold Line

The Gold Line is a planned bus rapid transit line that would operate from ACC Highland to the South Congress Transit Center park-and-ride, and will travel on Airport, Red River, San Jacinto/Trinity, 7th/8th, Neches/Red River, 4th, Riverside, and South Congress. Stations will be ACC Highland, Clarkson, Hancock, St. David's, UT East, Medical School, Capitol East, Trinity, Downtown Station (where transfer to the Red, Green, or Blue Lines will be possible), Republic Square, Auditorium Shores, SoCo (South Congress), Oltorf, St. Edward's, and South Congress Transit Center. The Gold Line was changed to light rail in May 2020, citing a demographic that showed an increased projected ridership along the gold line that prompted its conversion to light rail. In July 2020, planning for the line was reverted to bus service to lower construction costs in response to the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Criticism

The premium fare structure recommended by a consultant caused problems for the agency. It did not collect as much money back from the fare increase as was originally expected. Other BRT systems in Texas such as San Antonio and El Paso intentionally priced their BRT system for local fare. The MetroRapid bus fare was lowered to regular bus prices on January 8, 2017"Capital Metro Premium Fare Reduction to Begin Next Month"
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References

External links

CapMetro

{{Austin

Bus transportation in Texas
Transportation in Austin, Texas
Transportation in Travis County, Texas
Bus rapid transit in Texas
Capital Metro