LEANDER, Texas — Voters in Leander will decide Saturday whether to end a 37-year relationship with Austin-area transit agency Capital Metro in a Saturday election, which could halt commuter rail service to the community.
Leander is the northernmost stop on the CapMetro Red Line, a 32-mile, nine-station system served by Stadler Rail diesel multiple-unit trainsets. KUT Radio reports that the 1% sales tax that funds Leander’s participation in CapMetro rail, bus, and local on-demand transit is generating an increasing amount of money in the booming community, which grew from 26,521 in the 2010 census to 59,202 in 2020. At the same time, ridership is slumping, leading opponents to seek to end the agreement.
The sales tax generated $9.8 million in 2021, while ridership on all CapMetro services in Leander fell from 635 average daily boardings in 2019 to about 130 in the fall of 2021, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report commissioned by the Leander City Council.
Early voting on the ballot initiative has already begun.
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