CapMetro's Board should utilize transit ridership and transit mode share to evaluate the performance of CapMetro's CEO. Evaluation should focus on the public value created by the executive's actions.
How does one determine "value"?
There's a general consensus amongst transportation academics, practitioners, and activists that there are factors external to …
[MORE]CapMetro bus ridership has remained stagnant for over 15 years even as Austin experienced substantial population growth and bus spending significantly increased. Land use reform by the City and a service strategy shift at CapMetro can end the ridership stagnation era.
The visualizations that follow are based on information provided …
[MORE]Adoption of a 20% homestead exemption (HEx) would shift City taxation away from affluent, low-density Council districts towards the middle-class and Latino neighborhoods.
The following visualizations compare each district's share of tax cuts/revenue loss against several demographic factors. The tax data sources are TCAD & WCAD files analyzed by Dylan …
[MORE]Improving Austin government's public engagement process requires procedures and tools that separate the two major goals of citizen input: uncovering insightful information and assessing political support. As long as engagement routines mix both goals together, sub-optimal engagement is likely.
Quantity
The crowds that show up on key votes or public …
[MORE]Proponents of 'slowing' or 'managing' Austin's growth typically advance policies that will improve the City's desirability. As a result, while their discourse concerns itself with growth deceleration, their implied solutions are actually additional sprawl and unnecessarily high prices.
For example, in this interview, a new Council Member explains a desire …
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