CapMetro Bus

CapMetro Bus is the bus public transit service of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority of Austin, Texas and serves Austin and the surrounding areas. MetroBus services include 82 standard routes and [|15] high-frequency bus routes as of 2021. It has several categories of routes: Local, Flyer and Limited, Feeder, Crosstown, Special services and UT Shuttles. CapMetro also operates an express bus service, MetroExpress, and a bus rapid transit service, CapMetro Rapid, in addition to the agency's commuter rail service, CapMetro Rail. In, the bus system had a ridership of, or about per weekday as of.

History

At the agency's inception, CapMetro originally operated a series of "paired" route service where two different routes that pass through downtown are served by the same buses, allowing riders to transfer between certain routes without leaving the bus. Since 2008, this practice has been eliminated and after a number of route pair reassignments, the agency merged the paired routes under single route numbers.
Meanwhile, most local routes carried two digits before CapMetro assigned a third digit for routes that do not serve downtown in 2000. Flyer routes were renumbered altogether to match their local stop counterparts, while express routes that operated during commute times only contained letters.

Vehicles

The majority of the current bus fleet consists of vehicles produced by two manufacturers, Gillig and New Flyer, with only relatively small generational design variations, most visibly in the use of flip-dot destination displays on older series versus LED displays on newer buses. A few smaller series of buses were acquired from other manufacturers, notably Optima and MCI. Older bus series produced by TMC and Blue Bird are no longer in service.

Standard routes

Local

MetroBus Local routes are intended to connect specific neighborhoods of Austin to Downtown Austin, with frequent stops. Since June 2014, north–south service within downtown Austin for all routes is provided via Lavaca Street northbound and Guadalupe Street southbound, with all routes serving at least one stop along both streets.
Prior to relocating routes to the Guadalupe/Lavaca corridor, many routes formerly utilized Brazos Street northbound and Colorado Street southbound before various construction projects took place. Since June 2014, the remaining lines no longer use Congress Avenue between 11th Street and Barton Springs Road. East-west service within downtown Austin for all routes is provided via 5th Street eastbound and 4th and 6th Streets westbound, so as to provide a connection along the Lavaca/Guadalupe corridor.
Some MetroBus routes are designated High-Frequency routes and operate with a headway of 15 minutes between buses weekdays, [|20] minutes Saturdays. Routes as of 2023:

Rt.	Name	Created	Eliminated	Notes	Ref.
1L	North Lamar / South Congress	—		Eliminated due to creation of 801; service along Lamar replaced by 275	—
1M	Metric / South Congress	—		Renamed 1 due to creation of 801.	—
6	East 12th	—		Merged with 5	—
8	Govalle	—		Rerouted over portion of 20 when 20 and [\|120] were split by fall 1996 Renamed 300	—
[\|9]	Enfield / Travis Heights	—		Paired with 14 when 11 eliminated Originally 9 Enfield; August 2008 it replaced 14 and name changed Eliminated due to low ridership; covered by: 21/22 on Exposition, 662 on Enfield, 1 on Congress, 331 on Oltorf, 300 extension on Ben White west of Woodward Service west of MoPac not on Enfield or Exposition not immediately replaced until restored by Pickup; service in Travis Heights neighborhood and on Burleson not replaced	—
[\|11]	Cherrywood	—		Paired with 14 until eliminated	—
11	Stassney			Renamed 111	—
12	Manchaca	—		Paired with 20 until Feb 2000 then 3 until [\|3] and 12 merged	—
13	South Congress	—		Paired with 1 until merged with it	—
[\|14]	Travis Heights	—		Paired with 11 until 11 eliminated then with 9 until 14 and 9 merged	—
15	Red River	—		Paired with 16 until 15 merged with 10	—
[\|16]	South Fifth / Westgate	—		Paired with 15 until 16 merged with 5	—
17	Cesar Chavez	—		Merged with 2	—
[\|19]	Bull Creek	—		Merged with 30	—
[\|21]	Exposition	—		21 ran clockwise, 22 ran counterclockwise; signed 21 Exposition Loop; both eliminated at the same time Parts replaced by 335; part covered by 17 and 18; portion on Exposition replaced by Pickup	—
[\|22]	Chicon	—		21 ran clockwise, 22 ran counterclockwise; signed 22 Chicon Loop; both eliminated at the same time Parts replaced by 335; part covered by 17 and 18; portion on Exposition replaced by Pickup; remainder changed from 22 to 322 as it no longer went through downtown	—
23	Wood Hollow	—		Merged with 19	—
23	Johnny Morris			Renamed 323	—
[\|24]	Walnut Creek	—		Merged into 39	—
25	Ohlen	—		Paired with 3 until Jan 1997 on weekdays, and until Jan 1998 on Saturdays Renamed 325	—
26	Riverside	—		Paired with 5 until merged with 20	—
27	Dove Springs	—		Paired with 7 until merged with it 7	—
[\|28]	Ben White	—		Originally paired with 30 until 28 renamed 328	—
29	Barton Hills	—		Paired with 19 until Jan 1998 Eliminated due to low ridership; service on Robert E. Lee Blvd. transferred to 30	—
31	Oltorf	—		Paired with 46 until Jan 1999 Renamed 331	—
32	Airport Boulevard	—		Combined with 46 and part of 8 to form 350	—
33	William Cannon	—		Renamed 333	—
34	? 'Dillo	—		Discontinued as part of a restructuring.	-
34	Great Hills			Part transferred to 383; remainder redundant with other routes	—
35	Convention Center/UT 'Dillo	—		Renumbered to 85 as part of a restructuring of 'Dillo service.	-
36	Congress/Capitol 'Dillo	—		Renumbered to 86 as part of a restructuring of 'Dillo service.	-
37	Colony Park	—		Paired with 38 until Aug 2000 Rerouted over part of 320; As the route no longer served downtown, renamed 337	—
38	South Lamar	—		Paired with 37 until Aug 2000 Renamed 338 South Lamar	—
[\|39]	Walnut Creek / Koenig	—		Originally 39 Koenig Lane By fall 1996, rerouted replacing 24 and renamed Walnut Creek / Koenig Renamed 339	—
40	Parkfield	—		Originally continued in limited stop to the UT campus; this section discontinued by 1996. Renamed 240; part transferred to 383	—
42	Quail Valley / Metric	—		Renamed 242; rerouted off Quail Valley	—
[\|43]	South Oaks	—		Originally 43 Southwest Oaks; extended and renamed by Jan 1994 Renumbered 203/204	—
[\|44]	Cedar Bend	—		Originally 44 Balcones Northwest Rerouted and renamed 44 Cedar Bend Renamed 244	—
45	Copperfield	—		Renamed 245	—
46	Bergstrom	—		Paired with 31 until Jan 1999 Combined with 32 and part of 8 to form 350	—
47	Anderson Mill?	—		Discontinued due to low ridership.	-
47	East 26th Street	—		Created between January 1994 and July 1995 as Dean East/UT. Converted to a regular bus route ca. 1996.	—
111	Stassney			Renumbered from 11; renamed 311; number later reused.	—
120	St. Johns			Replaced St. Johns section of 20; extended east replacing 208 in Jan 1998 Renamed 320	—
151	Allandale			Split from 51 Renamed 491	—
161	Delwood			Split from 151 Renamed 492	—
201	North Loop			—	—
202	45th Street			Went in the opposite direction as 201 Eliminated when 201 rerouted and became an independent route	—
202	Battle Bend	—		Eliminated due to low ridership.	—
203	Buckingham Circulator			Originally 43 South Oaks, renumbered when route extended to Buckingham Renamed 252 and western part eliminated	—
204	Southwest Oaks Circulator			Originally 43 South Oaks, renumbered when route extended to Buckingham Renamed 252 and western part eliminated	—
205	East Lakeline				—
206	West Lakeline				—
208	East Austin Circulator			Merged into 120	—
209	Lohmans			Served The Island, Bar K Ranch, and City Hall area Discontinued due to low ridership; Bar K Ranch and City Hall area service merged into 102	—
238	Westgate	—		Created from part of 338 Renumbered 318 and extended east via Slaughter Lane	—
240	Rutland			Renamed from 40 Section on Kramer eliminated; section on Braker transferred to 392 in Feb 2002 Rerouted north on Parkfield replacing part of 244; rerouted several times, until August 2010 Portions replaced by 324; sections covered by 803, 466, and 325; other portions lost service until restored by Pickup	—
242	Metric			Renamed from 42 Eliminated in January 2006; part became branch of 1; rest renamed 243	—
244	Cedar Bend			Renamed from 44 Cedar Bend Part transferred to 3; part to 240; remainder renumbered 391	—
245	Copperfield			Renamed from 45 Part transferred to 1; remainder renumbered 392	—
252	Buckingham Slaughter	—		Became 201; section through Buckingham eliminated due to low ridership	—

Limited and Flyer

CapMetro's Limited and Flyer routes are limited stop services between two destinations. Limited routes tend to have fewer stops compared to their local counterparts, while Flyer routes serve nonstop between downtown or the UT campus and their neighborhoods of service. Limited and Flyer routes are designated by routes 100–199. Routes as of 2021:

Rt.	Name	Created	Eliminated	Notes	Ref.
41L	Wells Branch Limited	—		—	—
52	Round Rock Tech Ridge			Renumbered 152 because route is limited-stop	—
61	Dove Springs Flyer	—		Renamed 127	—
62	Metric Flyer	—		Renamed 142	—
63	Oak Hill Flyer	—		Formerly OKX Renamed 171	—
64	South Central Flyer	—		Renamed 110	—
65	Manchaca Flyer	—		Renamed 103	—
66	North Central Flyer	—		Eliminated and replaced by additional trips on 9.	—
67	Cameron Road Flyer	—		Eliminated due to low ridership.	—
68	MLK Flyer	—		Eliminated due to low ridership.	—
74	North Burnet Flyer	—		Number chosen as express of 44 Originally 74 William Cannon/Parmer Express until Jan 1997 Renamed 174	—
[\|101]	North Lamar Limited			Initially trial route planned to end Jan 2000, but successful enough it was kept Eliminated due to creation of 801	—
110	South Central Flyer			Renamed from 64 Rush hour service; northbound in the morning peak, southbound in the afternoon No boarding beyond S 1st at Stassney traveling northbound, S 1st at Barton Springs southbound	—
122	Four Points Limited	—		Eliminated due to low ridership Proposed to be restored as part of Project Connect, but would only go from Downtown to proposed Four Points Park-and-Ride; will not have service from the Four Points Park-and-Ride to Lakeline; would also stop at a proposed Park-and-Ride at RM 2222 & Loop 360
127	Dove Springs Flyer			Renamed from 61 Dove Springs Flyer Rush hour service; northbound in the morning peak, southbound in the afternoon No boarding beyond E Stassney at I-35 traveling northbound, E Cesar Chavez at Trinity southbound	—
137	Colony Park Flyer	—	—	Eliminated due to low ridership.	—
150	Round Rock Howard Station Limited		—	Replaced limited-stop portion of 50	—
174	North Burnet Limited	—	—	Eliminated due to low ridership.	—
495	Dell	—		Renumbered 135	—

Feeder

CapMetro's Feeder routes are local services between a neighborhood and a major transfer point for connecting service. Feeder routes are designated by routes 200–299. Routes as of 2021:

Rt.	Name	Created	Eliminated	Notes	Ref.
39A CF	Cedar Feeder	—		—	—
41 LVF	Lago Vista Feeder	—		Split into 102 and 103.	—
[\|102] LVF	Lago Vista Feeder		—	Renamed 214	-
[\|103] LVC	Lago Vista Circulator		—	Replaced by revised 102 and new 209.	—
275	North Lamar Feeder			Created from part of 1 Now covered by 1	—

Crosstown

CapMetro's Crosstown routes are local services between two neighborhoods of Austin, for which the route does not pass through Downtown Austin or the University of Texas. Some Crosstown routes are designated High-Frequency routes and operate with a headway of 15 minutes between buses weekdays, 20 minutes Saturdays. Crosstown routes are designated by routes 300–399.

Rt.	Name	Created	Eliminated	Notes	Ref.
320	St. Johns			Renamed from 120 Replaced by 322, rerouted 300, and 337	—
328	Ben White			Renamed from 28; paired with 30 until Aug 2008 Service west of Congress Avenue rerouted to Congress Transit Center, became extension of 30; east of Congress Avenue remained, rerouted to Congress Transit Center and renamed 228	—
331	Oltorf			Renamed from 31 Replaced by 300 and 228	—
338	Lamar / 45th			Renamed from 38 due to rerouting away from downtown Section later renumbered 238	—
339	Walnut Creek / Koenig			Renamed from 39 East of IH-35 became part of 323; west of IH-35 became part of 320 Number reused Jun 2018 when 323 split	—
391	Parmer	—	—	Eliminated due to low ridership.	—

Round Rock

CapMetro operates several services in the suburb Round Rock. Round Rock is not a CapMetro member city and therefore doesn't pay the 1% sales tax to CapMetro. Instead, Round Rock contracts CapMetro to provide certain mass transit services for the city. Round Rock services are designated as 50-99 and [|152]. CapMetro also operates [|MetroExpress] route 980 North MoPac Express and Flyer service 152 Round Rock Tech Ridge Limited between downtown Austin and Round Rock. Routes as of 2021:

Special service

CapMetro's special service routes are routes that do not fit in any other category. Special service routes are designated as routes 400–499.

Night Owl

Night Owl buses are overnight services.

Rt.	Name	Created	Eliminated	Notes	Ref.
482	Night Owl East	—	—	Consolidated with 485; section along Rosewood east of Airport, Springdale, 7th and others to Downtown eliminated	—

Other special services

Routes as of 2021:

Rt.	Name	Created	Eliminated	Notes	Ref.
90	HEB Shuttle			Renamed 490	—
91	ACC Shuttle			Demonstration route	—
94	Day Labor Shuttle	—		Feb 2000 revived as 499	—
207	Lakeline Shuttle			Replaced 205 and 206.	—
210	Hobby Shuttle			Demonstration route	—
401	Sunset/3M Shuttle	—	—	—	—
402	Sunset/3M Shuttle	—	—	—	—
420	Convention Shuttle North	—	—	—	—
421	Convention Shuttle South	—	—	—	—
422	Convention Shuttle Town Lake	—	—	—	—
424	Sunrise/3M/Travis Square Shuttle	—	—	—	—
425	Sunrise/3M/Travis Square Shuttle	—	—	—	—
430	Pease Elem & Kealing	—	—	—	—
431	Campbell Elem & Kealing	—	—	—	—
432	TX Academy & Kealing	—	—	—	—
434	Barbara Jordan	—	—	—	—
435	Texas Academy	—	—	—	—
440	Tech Ridge Circulator	—	—	—	—
445	New Life Shuttle			Ran only during SXSW 2019	—
451	Downtown/Saltillo Shuttle	—		Weekday service while Downtown station closed; late night service on Fridays; eliminated after Downtown station reopened	—
455	Leander Shuttle	—		Saturday service only	—
460	Downtown – Congress	—	—	—	—
461	Downtown – Guadalupe	—	—	—	—
462	Downtown – Riverside	—	—	—	—
464	Capitol MetroRail Connector	—		Rush hour service Replaced by 18	—
470	Tour the Town	—	—	—	—
470	Manor Flex	—		Replaced by Pickup
499	Day Labor	—	—	—	—

CapMetro Express

CapMetro's Express services are limited stop services that run between Downtown Austin and the far suburbs. Express routes are designated as routes 900–999, and are served exclusively by buses in the red "MetroExpress" livery.

Rt.	Name	Created	Eliminated	Notes	Ref.
68 ENW	East-Northwest Express	—			-
69 IRS	IRS/VA Express	—		Eliminated due to low ridership	—
[\|70] NEX	Northeast Express	—		Renamed 103	—
71 LX	Leander Express	—		Split into 982, 983, and 987	—
79 PX	Pflugerville Express	—		Renamed 935	—
103 NEX	Northeast Express	—		Renamed 990 Number later reused	—
211	Capitol Express			Demonstration route	—
212	Capitol Express			Demonstration route Replaced by 101	—
970	Lantana Express	—		Revival of former 70 Rush hour reverse-peak service: southbound in morning peak, northbound in afternoon Eliminated due to low ridership	—
981	Oak Knoll Express	—	January 14, 2024	—	—
983	North US 183 Express	—		Replaced by 981, 982, and 987	—
984	Northwest Direct via IH35	—	—	Consolidated with 986 to form 985	—
985	Leander/Downtown Express	—		Split into 984 and 986	—
986	Leander Direct via IH35	—	—	Consolidated with 984 to form 985	—
987	Leander/Northwest Express	—	January 14, 2024	—	—

MetroRapid

In January 2014, CapMetro launched a bus rapid transit service branded "MetroRapid," utilizing articulated buses operating in shared lanes with automobile traffic. Service on the first route, MetroRapid North Lamar/South Congress, began on January 26, 2014. It replaced existing bus Routes 1L and 1M, as well as the 101 Express, which traveled along the same corridor.
A second route, MetroRapid Burnet/South Lamar, serves a total of 24 stations between The Domain and Westgate. Both the [|801] and [|803] drew citizen protest until premium fares were discontinued in 2017 and the 801 had also reduced frequency of the then operating 1L/1M.

UT Shuttle

The University of Texas Shuttle system, operated by CapMetro, is one of the largest university transit systems in the United States. It comprises [|10] routes and carries over [|5].[|2] million passengers a year. UT students, faculty, and staff may ride the shuttles at no charge with a valid UT photo ID. Without a UT photo ID, normal MetroBus rates apply.

UT Shuttle history

CapMetro took over university shuttle operations in 1989. Formerly, service had been provided by private bus companies. Immediate changes included upgraded buses with air conditioning, but also lengthening headway on some routes.
In 1983, the University of Texas received six bids to manage the shuttle system. CapMetro entered into the picture in 1988, when the university contracted out to them. CapMetro, in turn, then subcontracted out to Laidlaw International, Inc., who had, up to that point, operated orange and white school buses for the university on a contractual basis. Rather than use Laidlaw's existing bus fleet, however, CapMetro used their own. In so doing, CapMetro brought air conditioning and wheelchair accessibility to the shuttle service for the first time. The transition, however, was not without controversy. Among the other contested issues was that these new shuttles didn't have a stereo system.
In 1991, CapMetro canceled its contract with Laidlaw and contracted out with DAVE Transportation, instead
Amidst allegations of union busting, in 1999, CapMetro canceled its then current contract and instead contracted out with ATC/Vancom, instead Six years later, in 2005, CapMetro, citing concerns over the comparatively low wages ATC/Vancom paid, negotiated a contract with First Transit to operate the UT shuttle buses.

UT Shuttle routes

The UT Shuttle system includes a number of routes during the University of Texas semester. They do not operate on Saturdays, except during finals. Since September 2014, numbered routes have been used exclusively at bus stops, though signage on buses may use either numbered or lettered signage.
Routes as of 2025:

Former services

Dillo

CapMetro's Dillo service was a circulator service in downtown Austin. In May 2000, the Dillo service went through a major restructuring. It was shut down in 2009 after over [|30] years of operation due to low ridership. The service used forest-green trolley buses with an armadillo painted on the side. It was free until shortly before to its closure when CapMetro began charging a 50¢ fare.

Rt.	Name	Created	Eliminated	Notes	Ref.
85	Convention Center/UT 'Dillo	—		—	Formerly 35, renumbered during a restructuring.
86	Congress/Capitol 'Dillo	—		—	Formerly 36, renumbered during a restructuring.
87	ACC/Lavaca 'Dillo	—		—	Created during a restructuring.
88	Old Pecan Street 'Dillo	—		Renamed 451 Silver 'Dillo	—
89	'Dillo Dash			—	—
450	Orange 'Dillo	—	—	—	—
451	Silver 'Dillo		—	Renamed from 88 Old Pecan Street Dillo Number later reused	—
455	Red 'Dillo	—	—	Number later reused	—
456	Gold 'Dillo	—	—	—	—
461	Yellow 'Dillo	—	—	Number later reused	—
462	Blue 'Dillo	—	—	Number later reused	—
463	Starlight 'Dillo	—	—	—	—
464	Moonlight 'Dillo	—	—	Number later reused	—

MetroAirport

The MetroAirport service was created when Austin–Bergstrom International Airport opened in May 1999. It was primarily served by buses carrying the "MetroAirport" livery, though may on occasion have been served by buses in the regular livery. The service was eliminated on June 3, 2018, and replaced by the extension of 20.

Rt.	Name	Created	Eliminated	Notes	Ref.
100	MetroAirport Flyer			—	-

E-Bus

CapMetro had, since September 19, 2002, operated "E-Bus" routes, to ferry students between student residential areas to the 6th Street area. These buses ran only evenings and late nights on weekends and did not run in summer. The E in "E-Bus" stands for "eating and entertainment" and funding was initially provided by companies advertising on the bus. On April [|1], 2010, the Daily Texan reported that, in an attempt to curb passenger unruliness, CapMetro had required students swipe their student IDs before boarding and that UT would start paying for some of the services. These routes were suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were permanently discontinued on January 14, 2024.