Where Kyle stands with bus service options

Last week I wrote about the dissatisfaction certain Kyle City Council members had with CARTS service. It seems — horror of horrors — that some Kyle residents were using CARTS to shop in San Marcos and not in Kyle. Funny thing about that. The mission statement of CARTS is to provide transportation from one rural community to another rural community or to San Marcos. It is not designed to provide in-town service. Second funny thing about that. Kyle is no longer considered a rural community anyway so the city no longer has any direct service with CARTS. Instead, like Georgetown, Kyle has had a contract with Austin’s transit provider, Capital Metro, which dispatches a CARTS vehicle for Kyle residents on an as-requested basis. Following this so far?

So I went to Capital Metro and asked officials there if any other cities were upset with this service or was Kyle the only one. According to Michelle Meaux, Capital Metro’s Regional Coordination Planner, Georgetown is the only other city with this type of service and not only is Georgetown not considering ending the service, it is so happy with it it is extending its contract with Capital Metro. So there’s that. But then Georgetown is a lot more developed with a far more diverse economy than Kyle and its government thinks more like a metropolitan community than a small town. So there’s that as well. Here is the complete statement I received from Ms. Meaux:

"The 2010 Census designated the city of Kyle as part of the Austin Urbanized Area. Since Kyle is in the urbanized area, the city cannot get service directly from CARTS, as CARTS is a provider of transit in the rural area. However, since January 2015, the city of Kyle has received transit service from CARTS through an agreement between the city, Capital Metro, and CARTS.

"CARTS provides a type of transit service called demand response service in Kyle. Customers call ahead to the CARTS customers service center and reserve trips. CARTS also provides this service (also through formal agreements with the city and Capital Metro) in Georgetown. The city of Georgetown recently extended their agreement for service for another year. Capital Metro and the city of Georgetown also just completed a Transit Development Plan that recommends transitioning from demand response service to fixed-route service and we are working with Georgetown's city council on approval of that plan. Capital Metro is also currently working with the cities of Buda and Hutto on Transit Development Plans. Both cities currently do not have Capital Metro service, but the plans will provide a pathway for obtaining service.

"Based on average ridership and hours of service from January 2015 through July 2015, I calculate that the city paid approximately $16.61 per trip. In some cases, you may find that some citizens use the Kyle transit service to access shopping, medical and nutrition centers in San Marcos. Under the Fiscal Year 2015 agreement, there were no restrictions on where customers could go. Now that Kyle has a Walmart and more shopping choices, we were working with city staff to include language to better define their service area in the Fiscal Year 2016 agreement. Over the summer, Capital Metro worked with city staff on an agreement for service and to begin a Transit Development Plan. This plan would have analyzed the current service and made adjustments to the service if needed, along with making recommendations for future service. However, the city of Kyle notified Capital Metro that city council voted on September 1 to end transit service and asked for the current contract to be extended to December 31, 2015. The extension was approved by the Capital Metro Board on September 28, 2015.

"The option to work with Capital Metro on a Transit Plan is still available to the city and we hope to work with the city of Kyle again on future projects."

So that’s it. The city has decided to restrict transit options for its residents.