For more information, contact:

Ted Burton, Public Relations Manager, 389-7550

CAPITAL METRO ANNOUNCES NEW LOCATIONS FOR DOWNTOWN ‘DILLO PARKING

With the closing of Palmer Auditorium ‘Dillo Park-and-Ride Lot just one week away, Capital Metro announced Friday three alternative parking locations for downtown commuters. All of the locations offer free parking.

Beginning Monday, July 10^th, downtown commuters will be able to choose from three convenient parking locations, one north of Town Lake and two south of Town Lake. ‘Dillo customers will be able to park at Austin High School, north of Town Lake under the Mopac Bridge. There’s additional parking along Stephen F. Austin Blvd. Commuters will also find parking at the baseball fields on Toomey Road, south of Town Lake just off South Lamar Blvd. (Next to the Zachary Scott Theater). Krieg Softball Complex, 517 South Pleasant Valley Road, will offer customers another park and ride option. Together, the three alternate parking locations will easily hold more than 500 vehicles.

“This has been a long, difficult process for Capital Metro,” said Elaine Timbes, Chief Administrative Officer. “For the past six months, we’ve examined about 53 different locations as possible replacement sites for our popular Palmer Park-and-Ride. As most people know, finding parking anywhere downtown is tough. Finding 500 spaces, convenient and free for our commuters, was next to impossible.”

Right now, about 500 vehicles park at the free Palmer lot every day. Two of the new ‘Dillo parking lots are approximately five minutes from the Palmer lot. The city is closing the Palmer lot July 7^th to make way for construction of the new special events center. The Krieg Softball Fields lot is approximately 10 minutes away. The new locations are especially convenient to customers living in South Austin. Surveys of current Palmer lot users found the majority are commuting downtown from South Austin.

“The City of Austin and the Parks and Recreation Department stepped up to help make this happen,” said Roberto Gonzales, Capital Metro Transportation Planner. “We wanted to make sure anyone who wanted to park and catch the ‘Dillo, could. With everyone’s help, we’ve done that.”

‘Dillo riders from north and northwest Austin are encouraged to take advantage of free parking at the North Lamar Transit Center (US Hwy. 183 & N. Lamar) and ride either Route 101-North Lamar Limited or Route 74-North Burnet Flyer to the downtown area.

Two ‘Dillo routes will now serve Austin High School. The Red ‘Dillo runs every 12 minutes from 6:30 to 9:00 AM and 4-6:00PM. It’s 15 minutes all other times. The Silver ‘Dillo runs about every 20 minutes. The Red ‘Dillo will also pick up passengers at the Toomey Road (called the Barton Springs stop). The Silver ‘Dillo will pickup commuters at Krieg Fields approximately every 18 minutes (10 minutes during the lunch hour), dropping them off at 6^th and Congress.

The new services begin July 10^th. Customers may call Capital Metro at 474-1200 if they have questions.