Capital Metro
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| Founded | July 1, 1985 |
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| Headquarters | 2910 E. Fifth Street |
| Locale | Austin, Texas |
| Service area | Austin, Travis and parts of Williamson Counties |
| Service type | Bus, passenger rail, van pool |
| Routes | 49 metro, 12 special, 8 express, 19 UT shuttle, 1 passenger rail |
| Stops | 3,000+ |
| Hubs | 22(transfer centers/ park and ride) |
| Stations | 9 (passenger rail) |
| Fleet | 417 |
| Daily ridership | 130,000 |
| Fuel type | ultra-low sulfur diesel, Diesel-electric hybrid |
| Operator | CMTA |
| Chief executive | Linda Watson |
| Website | capmetro.org |
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, commonly referred to as Capital Metro, is a public transportation provider located in Austin, Texas. It operates bus, paratransit services and a commuter rail system known as Capital MetroRail for Austin and several suburbs in Travis and Williamson counties. In January 2014, Capital Metro launched MetroRapid, an express service operating in shared lanes with automobile traffic.
Voters approved the creation of Capital Metro in January 1985, agreeing to fund the organization with a one percent sales tax.
Capital Metro was established by a referendum on January 19, 1985, to provide mass transportation service to the greater Austin metropolitan area. Voters in Austin and the surrounding area approved the creation of the agency, to be funded in part by a 1 percent sales tax. Capital Metro commenced operations on July 1, 1985, and took over the existing city of Austin bus services in 1986.
In an effort to boost ridership, Capital Metro did away with fares completely and instituted fare-free in an experiment that lasted from October 1989 to December 1990. The program was enormously successful in attracting new passengers, and increased ridership by 75% (but expanded service accounted for some of the growth). The fare-free scheme, however, attracted problem riders who drove away quality ridership. In response, 75% of transit drivers voted to have the program discontinued immediately in 1990.
In 1997 Capital Metro was the subject of a string of Texas Legislature and FBI investigations that uncovered a dysfunctional organization beset by poor management. As a result, the Legislature subsequently overhauled Capital Metro and its board of directors in an attempt to make the transit authority both more effective and transparent ahead of a performance review by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. The review cited an "ongoing criminal investigation" by the FBI, "irresponsible management", "expensive, embarrassing mistakes", "dubious contracting and purchasing practices", and $118,000 spent on "food, parties, and presents for its employees" and culminated with, "We have never, in all of the performance reviews we have conducted, seen an agency with such a lack of accountability."
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