At a press conference on August 27th, one of the plaintiffs in a new lawsuit against the Austin City Council for changes made to Project Connect explained that she had supported the 2020 proposal but has changed her mind since learning that the original proposal has been swapped for a smaller light-rail project than what voters approved.
She also said that she did not know some of the details of the proposal and funding mechanism when she voted in 2020.
Cathy Cocco, an Austin resident since 1992, grew up in New York City and Tokyo where she relied heavily on public transit, according to her comments.
With that experience, she said she has supported past light-rail proposals in Austin, including the 2000 and 2014 bond propositions that were defeated at the ballot box. “Costs too much, does too little” was the mantra of opponents during those two cycles. And, it worked.
In 2020, the city of Austin proposed a much larger light-rail project, with maps on display in local media and on promotional materials of transit service across the city and renderings of what Austin could look like if the proposition passed. The ballot language even talked about how the light-rail was “city-wide” and its purpose, among a host of other things, was to address traffic congestion and climate change.
Cocco said she voted for Project Connect because “nearly 30 miles of rail for $7.1 billion to go downtown and get to the airport was good for the community.”
“I was willing to use our tax dollars to fund this even though Project Connect did not reach up to Northwest Austin where I live, work, and shop,” said Cocco.
In 2023, three years after the votes were cast, the City Council and Capital Metro Board of Directors changed the plan.
Cocco says she was “shocked” to learn that the estimated costs for the original had “ballooned” to $11.6 billion and, in response, city leaders decided to drastically reduce the scope of the project.
What would have been 27 miles of rail (light and commuter) is now only 9.8 miles. Where the 2020 proposal had 26 light rail stations, the changed plan only has 15. The 20-block downtown transit tunnel with underground shopping and live music that was promoted to voters will not be built. The Green Line, connecting downtown to Colony Park, will not be funded. And, neither will the connection to the airport.
The most recent budget estimates say this new plan will cost $7.1 billion by the time construction is completed in over a decade.
“This is a bait and switch, with fine print ‘payment terms’ that I was not aware of, and definitely not what I voted for,” said Cocco of the changes.
Instead, and given some of the other challenges the city of Austin faces, Cocco said the City Council should look at a robust Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and use some of the resources now earmarked for the smaller light rail project “to address more pressing and immediate needs in our city.”
For example, according to Cocco, the San Antonio-area VIA Metropolitan Transit system recently decided to invest in BRT. The cost for 12 miles and 19 stations is $320 million compared to Austin’s less than 10 miles for approximately 20 times the cost.
Cocco argues that buses are much more nimble than a light-rail system, as they “provide better flexibility as Austin continues to evolve.”
But she emphasized that “reliable, on-time bus service must be clean, safe, comfortable, with WiFi service, at an affordable fare.”
She concluded her remarks saying, “the light rail and Project Connect solution is an unaffordable, outdated, ‘yesterday’ idea, not suitable for a 21st century city that needs to be efficient, agile, affordable and more equitable for all Austin residents.”