Leander Votes to Keep Itself Connected to Cap Metro

Leander's links to the rest of Greater Austin will survive and thrive after voters in the northwest corridor boomtown reaffirmed their community's partnership with Capital Metro on Saturday. The Leander City Council had placed Proposition A on the city ballot after questioning whether Cap Metro's bus and train service was worth the 1-cent sales tax the city contributes to the regional transit authority. Voters decided to stick with what they have by an 18% margin – 3,896 votes to 2,762, or 59% to 41%. Interestingly, the fast-growing segment of Leander – the portion that lies within Travis County, home to 1 in 5 of these voters – split narrowly against the measure.

The vote means Cap Metro will continue providing express bus service to Austin, on-demand Pickup shuttle service in central Leander (an important service for seniors and people with disabilities), and the MetroRail commuter line that runs 15 trains a day between the two downtowns. It also means millions of dollars from public transportation grants will continue flowing in, and that investors will have no reason to slow development in the booming community. At present, Northline, a 116-acre mixed-use development of housing, hotels, restaurants, and retail, is getting underway across from Leander's train station, the northern terminus of MetroRail's Red Line.

Local attorney James Larsen helped organize Keep Leander Connected, the grassroots community group that worked hard in support of Prop A. Larsen works in Downtown Austin and recently moved to Leander for its affordability – but also because of the train. "I lived in Cedar Park and I battled that traffic," he said. (Cedar Park is not part of Cap Metro.) "The train and the traffic-free commute, it's given me two additional hours of time every day … I arrive home relaxed, quiet, better able to be present with my family."