he significant number of large lengthy road construction projects have significantly impacted drive times in Central Texas, and will continue to do so for the next few years. Currently, 74% of all work trips in Austin consist of one person driving alone in their personal vehicle and the City of Austin estimates transportation is the second highest household expenditure, just behind housing.
To reduce commuting stress, financial costs and wear-and-tear on your vehicle – consider a vanpool program for your employees or yourself.
There are easy ways to get started! Check out the CapMetro RideShare Program‘s sweet deal for vanpool groups with an origin or destination in the CapMetro service area. It provides eligible groups of 5-12 people with a month-to-month vanpool lease agreement including insurance, maintenance, 24-hour roadside assistance, and optional fuel purchasing program. Not in CapMetro’s area? Check out Enterprise Rideshare on the Movability site. Does your job have a vanpool program? We’d like to know!
CTXCC has partnered with other Clean Cities Coalitions on a research project lead by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and other organizations to understand gaps and opportunities to improve electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) energization timelines and experiences, specifically for utilities and two small commercial customer segments: businesses and governments with small vehicle fleets and multi-family housing (MFH) properties. Both of which tend to have fewer resources for energy upgrades and management and likely do not have a dedicated utility account representative.
Two initial reports are now available:
The Research report identifies customer-centric challenges and overarching physical and technical challenges with rapid EVSE energization.
The Solutions Roadmap illustrates a streamlined EVSE energization processes based on the earlier reseach.
A Grid Connection Roadmap for Utilities to Support Small EV Customers
More tools coming end of summer 2025!
Using the Alternative Fuel Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Transportation (AFLEET) suite of tools, fleet managers and planners can estimate the environmental and economic costs and benefits of alternative fuels and infrastructure. Argonne National Laboratory principal environmental scientist Andy Burnham talked about AFLEET and its important recent updates, including those related to off-road equipment. This recorded webinar covers AFLEET’s 2024 updated features and how to navigate them.