About CityLeap

Austin’s Arterials Are Central to a Better Future

Right now, Austin’s arterials are letting us all down.

They’re dangerous and unpleasant. A disproportionate number of fatal and serious crashes happen on Austin’s arterials.

They force people to drive. All other transportation modes are too dangerous or snarled in traffic. This is a big problem for those who can’t or don’t drive.

They’re bad for moving people. By prioritizing low-occupancy automobile trips, these arterials move fewer people per lane than bicycle or transit lanes.

They’re polluting and bad for the climate. Transportation is Austin’s #1 source of carbon emissions, which continue to cause extreme weather events.

Rapidly upgrading these arterials will be central to Austin’s future.

Austin’s arterials are:

  • The simplest, most direct routes across town

  • The biggest opportunities for increasing transportation choice, including better transit, bicycling, and walking, and reducing carbon emissions

  • Home to many destinations, including workplaces and local businesses

To Win a Better Future, Let’s Think Big.
Let’s
CityLeap.

The CityLeap Plan

Convert one or more vehicle lanes on every City of Austin-owned arterial within five years to either:

  • Bus lanes (with bicycle-pedestrian paths at the sidewalk level); or

  • Protected bike lanes

Examples of arterials

  • Menchaca Road

  • Oltorf Street

  • S 1st Street

  • E MLK Boulevard

  • Burnet Road

  • William Cannon

  • W 45th Street

  • E 51st Street

Here’s What That Means

Converting 1+ lanes on

130 miles

Of arterial roadways

The CityLeap network (proposed)

Blue lines: Bus lanes & bicycle-pedestrian paths
Green lines: Protected bicycle lanes

Resulting In:

71 miles

Of bus-priority lanes

45 miles

Of shared use paths

57 miles

Of protected bicycle lanes

CityLeap Would Be Huge, Not Just For the Environment

Lightning-fast buses & new direct bike routes

No more buses stuck in traffic! Instead, Austin’s bus system would operate more like a subway, zipping down arterials like Burnet Road. And trips for people on bikes would be shorter, more direct, and safer.

Shorter travel times for everybody (incl. drivers)

Vehicle lanes can move as few as 600 people an hour, whereas protected bike lanes and transit lanes can move ten times that. Transit/bike lanes also means smoother trips in the driving lane.

Faster emergency response times

Emergency vehicles could use the bus lanes too, meaning a dramatic improvement in response times, especially during peak travel periods.

CityLeap could pay for itself within months

When a lane conversion was implemented over the Longhorn Dam Bridge, the project took just four months to pay for itself through crash cost savings to society. CityLeap could see similar results.

Austin is Ready To Leap!

Read on to find out why the time for CityLeap is now.