Taking Steps to Improve Service

Challenge: Customers shared experiences of waiting for a bus shown to be arriving soon in CapMetro’s app and ePaper signs only for the bus to never come (aka “a ghost bus”). Customers also experienced the opposite, sometimes a bus will show up that’s unannounced (aka “a zombie bus”).

Action Step: CapMetro uses software called Swiftly to give accurate locations of buses. To improve reliability through accurate communication, we implemented a new software feature to catch ghost buses. We’ve also strengthened our Operations Control Center procedures when routes are affected by detours, stop closures, and major incidents. 

CapMetro Department Owner: Operations

Status: Ongoing

Challenge: Customers experience slow boarding, taking too long to get to their destinations. 

Action Step: The new Umo app and payment system has improved both the speed and accuracy of pass scanning. In early 2026, customers could start tap their credit cards to quickly pay for fares on the bus.

CapMetro Department Owner: Information Technology

Status: Umo service began in 2025. Credit card tap payments began in February 2026.

Challenge: Customers want more accurate tracking of their bus to see if it’s going to be late or early. 

Action Step: CapMetro is updating our vehicle tracking systems to provide real-time information, and we’re adding new electronic message signs at stops and stations. The previous system tracking system showed the vehicle location once every minute; the new system gives updates once every second. CapMetro provides this real-time data to the Transit app, and the Operations Control Center uses it to issue more accurate SMS alerts.

CapMetro Department Owner: Information Technology

Status: New signs and vehicle tracking systems included in FY25 and FY26 budgets. In 2026, we are reconciling conflicting data sources, replacing digital signage at Rapid stations, adding color screens, improving our vehicle tracking systems to update every 1-3 seconds and replacing our service delay software (Orbcad) to help operators.

Challenge: Customers do not like delays caused by buses being stuck in traffic. 

Action Step: CapMetro is partnering with the City of Austin’s Transit Enhancement Program to improve transit speed and reliability. These projects include bus priority lanes, programming traffic signals to give priority to transit vehicles, and optimizing bus stops for safety. The FY2026 workplan includes bus stop improvements and lane/signal modifications.

CapMetro Department Owner: Planning

Status: CapMetro is committing up to $1 million per year to the Transit Speed and Reliability Program for the City of Austin to design and construct transit projects that improve transit speed, reliability, and safe access within the City’s right of way.

In partnership with the City of Austin in 2026, 15 bus stops have been optimized at the following locations: intersection of Martin Luther King Jr Blvd/Springdale Rd/Heflin Ln, along Cameron Rd between Ridgehaven Rd and Glenwood Dr and along Parker Ln between Woodward St and Royal Hill Dr. Improvements include stop consolidation, reducing time spent serving stops too close together, and upgrades to multimodal, in-lane stops, eliminating the need for the bus to pull out of and re-enter the travel lane. These improvements reduce travel time and improve safety by reducing conflicts with bicyclists at the stops.

Challenge: Customers want to reduce the time required when making transfers, especially to popular destinations.

Action Step: CapMetro’s Transit Plan 2035 includes improved connections between routes and other services, including commuter rail lines and the upcoming light rail lines. Community engagement on the plan began in spring 2024 continues through late 2025.

CapMetro Department Owner: Planning

Status: Transit Plan 2035 was approved in October 2025 and you can read the full plan here.

Challenge: Customers want buses and trains to come more frequently. This would reduce wait times. 

Action Step: CapMetro plans to achieve a goal of 30-minute frequency on our commuter rail line by adding double tracking. We’re also planning to add more rail service on evenings and Saturdays.

In Transit Plan 2035, CapMetro recommends increased frequency on Route 350 as well as frequency improvements to Rapid lines 800 Pleasant Valley and 837 Expo Center. A full list of frequency changes is available on our Transit Plan 2035 page.

CapMetro Department Owner: Planning

Status: Transit Plan 2035 was approved in October 2025 and you can read the full plan here. 

Challenge: Customers feel that it is unfair when people are allowed to board with an expired pass or no pass.

Action Step: Actions to address fare evasion are outlined in CapMetro's Code of Conduct Policy. These documents were developed in early 2025 and published on July 1, 2025. The new code and policy was actively administered starting August 1, 2025.

CapMetro Department Owner: Operations, Public Safety

Status: Code of Conduct policy became active on August 1, 2025. Implementation is ongoing in 2026 as we strengthen our data gathering and process. The safety team continues to work with our operations team to improve fare evasion reporting.

Challenge: Customers see other riders are allowed to ride without paying when the card/phone scanners aren’t working.

Action Step: CapMetro policy permits customers to ride if a technology failure prevents them from completing payment or scanning a valid pass. That said, CapMetro has installed new scanners and a new app and card-based payment system called Umo. This modern technology will result in phasing out magnetic stripe readers, which are less reliable. This new equipment and software has improved scans to successfully register between 98% and 99% percent of the time.

CapMetro Department Owner: Information Technology

Status: The new and updated Umo scanner system is live on Bus and Rail and will be implemented on more services in the future.

Challenge: Customers feel unsafe when they see riders being harassed on vehicles and at stops.

Action Step: CapMetro now has three teams to reduce and respond to Code of Conduct and fare violations. Public Safety Ambassadors respond to activities that don’t require law enforcement. Community Intervention Specialists are social workers who assist in appropriate circumstances. CapMetro’s Transit Police, which was established in June 2025, handle activity that requires law enforcement.

CapMetro Department Owner: Public Safety

Status: First class of CapMetro Transit Police installed in June 2025. In the first half of 2026, we have hired 4 more patrol officers and we are beginning to use sentiment data we receive from the Rate My Ride feature in the Transit app to determine where and when customers tend to feel safety concerns.

Challenge: Customers feel unsafe when they see others engaged in loitering, fighting and other dangerous behaviors or when they experience unsafe conditions while on vehicles and at stops/stations.

Action Step: Public Safety Ambassadors proactively patrol high activity locations to prevent problems before they occur.  Ambassadors can now escalate incidents to CapMetro’s Transit Police Department. With our own dedicated law enforcement officers, we no longer rely only on city or county officers to respond to serious incidents.

CapMetro Department Owner: Public Safety

Status: First class of CapMetro Transit Police installed in June 2025. In 2026, we are beginning to use sentiment data we receive from the Rate My Ride feature in the Transit app to determine where and when customers tend to feel safety concerns.

Challenge: Customers report an unsatisfactory experience when other riders are disruptive, threatening, or exhibiting criminal behavior.

Action Step: A new Service Suspension Policy was added to the Code of Conduct in July 2025. CapMetro now reserves the right to suspend individuals from using the agency’s transit services or entering its property for a certain amount of time when they represent a direct threat to health or safety. A violation of suspension may result in a criminal trespass notice and/or arrest by CapMetro Transit Police or other local law enforcement agency.

CapMetro Department Owner: Public Safety

Status: Policy adopted in July 2025. Through the end of August 2025, CapMetro has suspended 11 people from the system for disregarding rules and other serious violations. Through the end of December 2025, we've suspended 2 more people and we have begun using sentiment data from Rate My Ride to anticipate when and where customers may feel safety concerns on our service.

Challenge: Customers want a simpler way to plan a trip that uses multiple services—bus, train, bike, or ride hailing.

Action Step: CapMetro retired its previous app and replaced it with the Transit app. With this app, customers can plan their trips on bus, bike, and rail. Customers can also pay for fares, schedule a CapMetro Pickup ride, choose CapMetro bikeshare, see CARTS routes, and reserve ride hailing services without leaving the app. In upcoming releases, the Transit app will also support rides on CapMetro Access for qualifying customers.

CapMetro Department Owner: Information Technology

Status: Transit app Phase 1 complete and multi-modal trip planning is available for customers. In the first quarter of 2026, CapMetro has focused on improving trip clarity across modes, reducing friction when transferring between services with better app integrations and is preparing for the including of Access trips. These enhancements advance CapMetro's goal of making complex, multi-modal journeys easier to understand and use.

Challenge: Customers want a more intuitive way to pay for trips within the app. 

Action Step: CapMetro introduced the Umo payment system in 2025. Customers can choose to pay their fare on Umo inside the Transit app or directly on Umo’s app. Following the transition to Umo, in-app fare payments reliability rose from 92% to 99%. CapMetro added contactless payments in February 2026, which allows customers to tap their credit card when paying for fares.

CapMetro Department Owner: Information Technology

Status: Umo app launched in 2025. Contactless payments on credit cards launched on the bus in early 2026. In the first quarter of 2026, we're preparing to update our bus fareboxes, obtaining new scanners for CARTS services and working on an integration with Spare Pay.

Challenge: Customers want the app to have a transit map that’s easier to read.

Action Step: The map used in the Transit app offers a better user experience than the one used in CapMetro’s previous phone app. The agency also introduced a new transit map online for desktop users.

CapMetro Department Owner: Information Technology

Status: Transit app completed in summer 2025 and desktop map released in August 2025. In the first half of 2026, we are improving readability, usability and rider confidence when navigating the system through Transit app updates. These updates include validating map clarity across devices, improving how service changes and disruptions are reflected, and ensuring consistency between mobile and desktop experiences. These updates aim to help riders more easily understand where services operate and how to navigate their trips.