Max for Mayor
Cap Metro Reform Extra!

Press Release


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 1997

Capital Metro is the talk of the town--but while the talk flows freely the traffic remains snarled at a standstill. Instead of real reform, the voters have been getting more of the same old talk about audits and synchronized traffic lights.

Today, former city councilmember and mayoral candidate Max Nofziger announced his plan to reform Capital Metro along with Steve Bayer, former Capital Metro board chair. The Nofziger plan has four points:

  1. An elected Capital Metro board, as proposed in House Bill 2231, introduced by State Rep. Terry Keel. Max said, "Reform indeed makes for strange bedfellows. I think Mr. Keel's bill is a part of the solution. I can say that because I'm independent of party labels, of campaign polls, and of high-paid consultants." This is the crux of the proposal, because only an elected board will be responsive enough to implement the rest of this plan.

  2. A tax rollback--all the way back to the old 3/4-cent level.

  3. Free rides--again! In 1989, Cap Metro eliminated fares and saw ridership dramatically increase. Then the membership and the focus of the board changed. "We lost almost 20,000 transit trips a day when fares were raised back in 1991," said Bayer. "We've spent seven years trying to get them back. Capital Metro can be a part of the solution to our traffic problems, but only if ridership is its number one priority."

  4. A cost-effective light rail system--one that is supported and approved by the voters.

Nofziger pointed out that an effective Capital Metro can reduce vehicular traffic on Austin's choked thoroughfares, like the Lamar Boulevard Bridge. The Nofziger plan will get the troubled agency back on track.

[HOME] [MAIL] Political ad paid for by the Max for Mayor Campaign, Linda Curtis, Treasurer. This campaign has agreed to comply with the contribution and expenditure limits of the Austin Fair Campaign Ordinance.

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