Latest news with #SouthbySouthwestConference&Festivals
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Have thoughts on e-scooter safety, parking in Austin? Here's how to weigh in
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The city of Austin is in the process of revisiting its rules surrounding electric scooters and e-bikes — and wants community input into how its micromobility program looks moving forward. City leaders launched a shared e-scooter and e-bike survey to gather public intel into the usage and availability, safety and parking in Austin. An open house will be held on March 24 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Austin Public Library's Carver branch, located at 1161 Angelina Street in east Austin. 'We want to know how you use e-scooters and e-bikes, your thoughts on safety and what you think about parking the devices,' city officials wrote in an Austin Mobility newsletter blurb Monday. 'The goal is to ensure Austin's transportation system gives everyone safe and more convenient ways to get around town.' Currently, Austin is home to two shared mobility providers: Bird and Lime. Bird operates a fleet of 3,000 scooters in town, while Lime's Austin fleet includes 3,700 scooters and 180 e-bikes. Last March, the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department unveiled several changes to scooter use in Austin, including a citywide reduction that capped e-scooters in Austin from 8,700 devices to 6,700 e-scooters and a downtown cap reduction from 4,500 to 2,250. The department flagged last spring concerns with serious injuries and safety issues linked to e-scooter users. Despite the overall and downtown device caps, officials noted exceptions for larger scale events, such as South by Southwest Conference & Festivals as well as the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Data provided by Lime Tuesday found an 86% increase in ridership in Austin during this year's SXSW, with more than 139,000 trips logged by riders between March 7 and March 15. E-SCOOTER NEWS: Austin's e-scooter limit sees decline in ridership, less clutter 'Austin's festivals drive some of Lime's highest ridership weeks ever, and we went all out to prepare for festival season this year with record-breaking results,' said Chris Betterton, Lime's senior operations manager, in the release. 'We credit the city of Austin for their close collaboration in creating a transportation plan that helped attendees and residents get where they were going safely and sustainably. We'll take all the lessons learned this year and apply them to make next year's festival season even better.' Following the spring 2024 fleet size reduction, new findings in December revealed a slight downturn in citywide trips but improvements in minimizing device clutter on city sidewalks, curbs and right of ways, officials said. 'The new fleet cap has had minimal impact on the individual vendors while leading to less clutter on downtown sidewalks and increasing trips per device,' the December memo read in part. Back in August 2024, an audit from the Austin Auditor's Office highlighted faults in the city's e-scooter crash data tracking system, noting the city had 'a lack of complete and reliable data' that, in turn, impacts the city's ability to make safety changes or recommendations. Those faults impacted the city's capability of detecting how many e-scooter crashes have happened, possible trends and patterns linked to crashes and properly offering educational outreach or recommending rule changes. RELATED: Austin audit finds faults in city's e-scooter crash data The audit recommended the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department work to define terms like e-scooter, collision and crash in its protocol and collaborate with APD and ATCEMS to 'establish standardized coding for e-scooter crashes, with the goal to enhance safety related data.' It also suggested the city's transportation department continue to meet with e-scooter vendors on a monthly basis to discuss continuous or growing problems, outline possible solutions for minimizing those issues and communicating with them on any e-scooter operational changes at the city level. Those recommendations came with a suggested implementation deadline of March 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Artemis II astronauts help kickoff SXSW
AUSTIN (KXAN) — NASA is hosting multiple events throughout this year's South by Southwest Conference & Festivals. The agency kicked off day one by bringing out the Artemis II astronauts. The four-member crew will be the first to visit the moon since the 1970s. The mission is now less than a year away. NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman said the Artemis II mission was the first step in the Artemis campaign for humans on Mars. Astronaut Jeremy Hansen said that beyond the moon, the mission has three purposes. 'One is inspiration. The second is capacity, and then, the final one is collaboration,' Hansen said. The trip will take the astronauts into the orbit of the moon, and they will take photos of the far side of the moon and perform experiments. 'No mission to deep space would be complete without a little radiation study,' Astronaut Christina Koch said. During the event, NASA announced a new competition creating a mascot for the Artemis II mission. Wiseman said every mission has a mascot. But it's more than a mascot. Tied to a string, the doll serves an important function. 'This stuffed animal on a string tells you everything you need to know about engine performance,' Wiseman said. 'It's not so good at roll, but it tells you everything you need to know.' Designs can be submitted through NASA's website. The submission deadline is May 27. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Which Austin roads will be closed for SXSW this year?
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The 2025 South by Southwest Conference & Festivals is just around the corner — as are plenty of road closures and disruptions in and near downtown. The city of Austin outlined dozens of full and partial road closures related to the festival, along with areas near downtown that are available for local traffic only or will serve as Austin Police Department-run safety zones as needed. With increased pedestrian, vehicular, bike and scooter foot traffic downtown, SXSW organizers are encouraging attendees to utilize rideshare services, public transit or micromobility resources as opposed to driving themselves. Those who still prefer to drive can find parking locations and availability online, as well as pricing details on the Austin Convention Center's two parking garages. SXSW will also run a free circulating shuttle linking the Austin Convention Center with several venues in the downtown, south Austin and eastside neighborhoods. A breakdown of those stops and operational times by day are detailed in the map below. 25_SXSW_shuttle-map_WEBDownload CapMetro will offer specialty extended rail services, with trains running until 2:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays during SXSW. Otherwise, rail will run until midnight all other nights of the festival. CapMetro's MetroRapid 800, 801, 803 and 837 bus lines will run until 12:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, 12 a.m. Saturday and 11:30 p.m. Sundays. Other CapMetro bus routes that can transport attendees to downtown and east Austin include: Route 1 Route 2 Route 3 Route 4 Route 7 Route 10 Route 20 Route 30 A handful of Night Owl bus routes will also offer regular services from midnight to 3 a.m. Riders can board those buses at Sixth Street and Congress Avenue, with the following routes offered: 481: North Lamar Boulevard 483: Riverside Drive 484: South Lamar Boulevard 485: Cameron Road 486: South Congress Avenue Attendees interested in renting a bike during SXSW can bother borrow and return bikes from CapMetro's Bikeshare program, with 73 stations available. A complete breakdown of CapMetro's SXSW service operations, bus and rail frequencies and final departure times are available online. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Historic building, Willie Nelson mural demolished in downtown Austin
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A nearly decade-old Willie Nelson mural is being torn down in Austin as part of a demolition project. Back in February 2024, the Austin Fire Department responded to a fire at 407 E. 7th Street, an abandoned building that formerly housed the Mug Shots bar. Crews confirmed the building had been occupied by people experiencing homelessness, and added the building suffered structural instability as a result. RELATED COVERAGE: Crews responded to fire at abandoned bar downtown At a November Austin Historic Landmark Commission meeting, city staff recommended demolishing the building due to damages sustained in that fire and plans to redevelop the site. The property was built between 1922 and 1932 and originally served as a general store run by Abraham and Amelia Nassour before they sold the property in the 1950s. City records revealed a complete demolition permit was issued on Dec. 12 for the building, and is currently active until July 27, 2025. Local muralist Wiley Ross partnered with Adam Brewer to develop the mural back in early 2016, according to March 2016 reporting from The Daily Texan. The duo created the mural ahead of the Rockfest music festival, which Brewer launched in 1999 in response to an alleged lack of representation for some artists at South by Southwest Conference & Festivals. The two told The Daily Texan they wanted to pay tribute to Nelson's contributions to music and Texas iconography, as well as honor a beloved figure in Austin. Fellow Texas singer-songwriter Janis Joplin was later added to the mural. Nelson celebrated the mural in February 2016, reposting a photo of it on his Facebook page with the caption: 'Look for Willie in the streets of Austin!' Aside from the East Seventh mural, there's also the 'Willie for President' mural on South Congress Avenue as well as a statue of the Texan outside the ACL Live at the Moody Theater. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
