Even if they use public transportation regularly (right), many Austinites might not know about the Capital Area Rural Transportation System. The transit agency provides bus and van service on regular routes to nine counties surrounding Austin, including both rural and urban areas.
The CARTS campus has operated out of its main campus on East Sixth Street since 1993. Now that development in the area, which for years consisted of industrial and business buildings surrounded by small neighborhoods, is in overdrive, CARTS plans to sell the property and move its operations to Bastrop County, the Austin American-Statesman reported Friday.
According to the Statesman, CARTS listed its 1.329-acre Austin property Friday; the service will sell through a sealed bid process with a minimum $3.5 million bid. CARTS plans to lease back the property for a year or after the sale, the paper adds, while its new facility is built.
The paper noted that the land is surrounded by new and under-construction large office, residential, and mixed use buildings—as well as being near the future home of the Plaza Saltillo development; the CARTS general manager stated in the story that the company knew the move was an eventuality and that the busy urban environment was no longer a suitable place for its office and local station.
• CARTS to sell East Austin property, shift operations to Bastrop County [AAS]
• Capital Metro Approves Master Plan for Plaza Saltillo Development [Curbed Austin]