Featuring an eye-catching design with bold colors and lines meant to illustrate strength, the CapMetro Women’s History Month bus is hard to miss. Austin graphic artist Angel Ortega of Garzig Designs designed the rolling piece of artwork, which she calls “Las Mujeres Fuertes” or “Strong Women.” Among the strong women featured on the bus are slain Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla Pérez, tennis ace Serena Williams and, of course, Ortega’s own mother. Ortega was tapped for the project through the CapMetro Art program, which features the work of local artists on buses, as well as at some bus and r ..read more

Welcome back to #MeetCapMetroMonday, the series that introduces you to members of our team who work daily to keep Central Texans connected. Up this week: CEO Dottie Watkins. When she hopped behind the wheel of a University of Texas shuttle bus back in 1994, Dottie Watkins never could have imagined she’d still be with CapMetro nearly three decades later. In January, Watkins was permanently named CEO after spending several months in the role on an interim basis. After a nationwide search, members of the CapMetro Board of Directors said that, in their opinion, no one else came close to matching ..read more

By Nathan Helton and Gary Dinges Your eyes weren’t deceiving you. That was, indeed, a vintage CapMetro bus featured on a recent episode of HBO’s latest hit show, “The Last Of Us.” We were so surprised we may have even thrown our popcorn into the air out of sheer excitement. For those of you who haven’t discovered “The Last Of Us” yet, it’s a post-apocalyptic drama based off of a 2013 video game with the same name – and it’s getting A LOT of buzz. It looks at life 20 years after a widespread fungal infection turns people into zombies, causing society to descend into chaos. The premiere of “The ..read more

Keep an eye out this month for an extra special bus making its way along Austin-area roadways. In celebration of Black History Month, CapMetro commissioned Austin artist Richard Samuel to design a special bus wrap that was unveiled recently. The wrap honors some of Samuel’s favorite comic artists. Samuel runs Austin’s only Black-owned art gallery, Riches Art Gallery, located at 2511 E. Sixth St. Among his many works is a 24-foot-by-30-foot mural of Uziyah Garcia, one of the Uvalde school shooting victims. He says he’s been a lifelong artist. “My family are huge art enthusiasts and have been b ..read more

All day, every day, members of the CapMetro family – hundreds of us – are committed to helping our friends and neighbors get where they need to go safely and reliably. You already know many on our team. There are the bus operators you see each morning on the way to work and in the evening on the way home. Our CapMetroRail, CapMetroAccess and Pickup operators are easily spotted as well. But there are many others you don’t see or recognize who help our system run. Our Facilities crews keep vehicles and stops clean. Dispatchers handle communications from various departments. Transit Store workers ..read more

A familiar face is CapMetro’s new President and CEO. Dottie Watkins, a lifelong Austinite, will lead the agency following a vote by the Board of Directors on Monday, Jan. 30. She had served as interim CEO since June 2022, while a nationwide search was conducted. Watkins first joined CapMetro in 1994, working as a part-time shuttle bus operator while attending the University of Texas at Austin. Over the course of nearly three decades, she has held a variety of leadership roles, including Deputy CEO, Chief Customer Officer/Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Bus Operations and Mainten ..read more

For Dottie Watkins, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. CapMetro’s interim President and CEO served as Mother Ginger during the Friday, Dec. 2 Night of Community performance of “The Nutcracker,” which offered clients served by a variety of local social service agencies a chance to see the beloved holiday classic. During each performance of “The Nutcracker,” a well-known Central Texan is selected to serve as Mother Ginger, delighting audiences and guaranteeing that no two shows are alike. This is Ballet Austin’s 60th anniversary of performing “The Nutcracker.” “The beloved role of Mot ..read more

>>Plan your trip This is the fourth election since Project Connect was on the ballot in 2020 and the third election in 2022 where voters demonstrated that our communities value and need public transportation in Central Texas. In May 2022, constituents in Leander also voted in favor of continuing their partnership with us.   We are appreciative of the support and are eager to continue connecting our region through a variety of services, such as Pickup, MetroAccess, bus and rail.  Although our services are strongly utilized across the region, cities are faced with tough cho ..read more

CapMetro’s continuing commitment to conservation has been recognized with a statewide award. The agency learned this week it was named a Texan by Nature 20 (TxN 20) recipient, joining 19 other Lone Star State businesses cited as the best of the best when it comes to protecting the environment. Other recognizable names on the 2022 list are a handful of Austin-based firms, including tech giant Cirrus Logic and Yeti, maker of trendy coolers, thermoses, koozies and more. See the full list here. The TxN 20 list first debuted in 2019, with a focus on 12 industries. CapMetro is being honored in the ..read more

Welcome to the CapMetro blog, where we regularly highlight CapMetro’s many offerings and its best-in-class workforce. Are you brave enough to roam the streets on All Hallows’ Eve? With celebrations, costume contests and themed bars popping up all over Austin, CapMetro can be your answer to a stress-free ride home. Remember, kids 18 and under always ride free. So do Austin Community College and University of Texas students, staff and faculty. On Saturday, Oct. 29, CapMetroRail will run until 2:30 a.m. and CapMetroRapid will run until midnight. Rail will also run until midnight on Monday, Oct. 3 ..read more