For More Information Contact:

Ted Burton, Public Relations Manager 389-7550

Web site: www.capmetro.org

MEDIA ADVISORY: February 26, 2001

THOUSANDS OF TRUCKS REMOVED FROM AUSTIN ROADS

Capital Metro approves new contract moving freight by rail vs. roads

Capital Metro finalized a five-year contract Monday to run rail freight on the Giddings to Llano line. The agreement will eventually remove nearly 9,000 trucks a month from Austin roads and earn the agency a projected $4.2 million in profits.

Capital Metro awarded the $26.7 million contract to Austin Area Terminal Railroad, a subsidiary of Trans Global Solutions Inc., after a competitive procurement process. AUAR will run the rail freight operation and maintain the 163-line, which is owned by Capital Metro.

Freight includes rock used for concrete and asphalt, chemical lime for agriculture and construction, lumber and recycled materials.

Moving freight by rail instead of roads means easier, safer commutes for Austin drivers. One rail car carries the equivalent of four trucks. This year Capital Metro’s rail freight operations will remove 45,000 trucks from Austin roads, or nearly 4,000 a month.

By the fifth year of the contract, rail freight operations will remove the equivalent of nearly 9,000 trucks a month from Austin roadways. Over the next five years, nearly 450,000 fewer trucks will rumble down our roads and highways due to Capital Metro’s rail freight operation.

Capital Metro is the only transit agency in the state that maintains a rail freight operation.