Coordination with airport expansion will help ensure readiness for future light rail service to AUS
Austin Transit Partnership (ATP) is advancing planning efforts for a future extension of Austin Light Rail to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), a critical step toward expanding Austin’s transit network and improving connectivity for residents, visitors, and the airport workforce.
The airport extension was identified as a priority project in ATP’s Light Rail Implementation Plan, adopted in May 2023. The proposed extension would connect the future Yellow Jacket Station on East Riverside Drive to AUS, traveling approximately 3-miles, primarily on an elevated structure, arriving at a future station at the airport.
As ATP continues to make significant progress on Phase 1 of Austin Light Rail, the agency is expediting planning activities to ensure the airport extension can be integrated with other major infrastructure investments underway across the region.
Since entering the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grants program, ATP has successfully advanced Austin Light Rail Phase 1 through key milestones, including completion of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process in less than two years, receipt of a Medium-High rating from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and approval of all major design and construction contracts. In continued coordination with the FTA, ATP will initiate a streamlined Environmental Assessment. Austin Light Rail pre-construction activities continue as ATP advances toward construction in 2027.
For more information, read the Memorandum to the ATP Board: Advancing Planning for Austin Light Rail Airport Extension and Initiating NEPA.