In 1998, Cedar Park voted to secede from Capital Metro's service area. Despite having shucked their contributions to Cap Metro, many Cedar Park residents exploit Cap Metro by driving up to Leander to catch Cap Metro's express buses.
Cedar Park is now trying to devise a system to help its residents freeride:
Now city officials are looking for ways to pay for a proposed transit system that would shuttle residents around town during peak hours and stop at one of Capital Metro's park-and-ride lots, where they could get transit service to Austin.
Cedar Park officials, of course, have no plans to join Cap Metro's service area -- it's much cheaper simply to drive its residents to Leander. And, not content merely to freeload, Cedar Park wants to grab some of Cap Metro's federal dollars, on the theory that it's entitled to its "fair share."
Cap Metro has tolerated this for far too long. I suppose it believes that sorting Leander residents from Cedar Park residents is just too hard. But it really shouldn't be.
I suggest setting shuttle bus fares at full cost, including capital and overhead expenses. That fare might be, say, $6 one-way. Then offer deeply discounted fare cards to anyone who can establish residence in Cap Metro's service area. Providing a Leander mailing address when ordering a card online would be good enough. Cedar Park residents could then pay their own way and Cap Metro taxpayers could get the discounted rides they (mostly) pay for.
