Routefacts.org

Austinites for Urban Rail Action (AURA) has a new page up: Routefacts.org, a “one-stop repository of the key facts in the Austin urban rail sequencing debate.” The idea is that there should be something approximating a public debate on the initial alignment of Austin’s urban rail line, which in turn requires careful sifting of facts and data.

Of course, AURA’s main point — a point Routefacts.org makes quite effectively — is that that the facts are mostly unknown and the data are mostly undisclosed. For example, we have ridership estimates for the proposed Mueller line, but not Guadalupe/Lamar. Advocates who want a robust public debate on alignment are left to fend for themselves using bus ridership numbers or estimates for the 2000 light rail route that are now over 13 years old.