Work in Austin? Mayor Adler Wants You to Stay Home on May 11

By THC Staff | April 29, 2016

 

After seeing the success of Austin’s first “Austin, Don’t Rush Day,” Mayor Adler has named another day to give it a try.

Wednesday, May 11, will be the second day that the city of Austin is conducting an experiment to alleviate the traffic congestion. The experiment is a continuation of the success of the first “Don’t Rush Day” that occurred on March 11.

The perfect traffic storm of President Obama’s visit combined with SXSW traffic caused Mayor Adler to ask those who worked in Austin to avoid the roadways at all costs, whether they worked from home or used public transportation. KEYE TV reported that “travel times were down 22 percent in downtown Austin, 50 percent on 183, and 60 percent on MoPac.”

The unwavering success of March 11 gives Mayor Adler hope that May 11 will be just as successful. In fact, CapMetro buses and trains will be free on that day, as well, to provide even more incentive.

Adler said in a press release, “My sense is that if people saw that we could actually impact congestion during peak hours by working together as a community in a way that costs us nothing, if we can do it for a day, maybe we’ll try to do it for two days.”