I recently took Amtrak to Dallas for a long weekend. It was SXSW and Spring Break and the train was…read morepacked which did not matter much to me as I had booked a roomette for privacy and comfort. The ride up to Dallas from Austin was exceptionally smooth, never had a journey on that route so smooth.  After boarding, the first class attendant informed me that the diner was still serving breakfast so I made a mad dash to the diner car for a lite breakfast snack, Three Cheese Omelet, Swiss, Cheddar,and Pepper Jack with Peewee Potatoes and Pork Sausage, delicious and surprisingly filling.  I opted to have lunch in my roomette, Asian BBQ Glazed Salmon, roasted salmon with an Asian BBQ sauce served with broccoli, lemongrass scented rice, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, peppers, and scallions. I was a bit disappointed with the Asian BBQ sauce, it tasted more like Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. I was expecting a Teriyaki inspired sauce. All in all it was a very enjoyable and therapeutic. journey to Dallas. And if one has the time, I highly recommend booking a roomette which is less expensive than flying first class and you get two meals that one can enjoy in the diner car or the privacy of your roomette. On a flight, you'll be lucky to get a cup of water on such a short flight.

It's like a train in a 3rd world country. No bathrooms or water on our sleeper car.have to go 1 or…read more2 cars down.been like this for at least 12 hours

MetroRail helps me save in gas and staff is friendly, I just wish they would be more assertive and…read moretell passengers that like to put their stinking feet up on the seats to please put them down. I mean, you're not in your house, you're using a public transportation! Who likes to sit down on a seat where dirty shoes have been?! Imagine if he has doggo crap on them and he doesn't know! Disgusting! Please be conscious of the space you're using and other people using it!

Experienced the Metro Rail for the first time, and it was a fantastic journey! Having been in the…read moreTexas Austin area for seven years, my family and I decided to take the train from Leander station to downtown Austin for the first time. The day pass for adults at $7 each was a great deal, especially since kids ride for free. The interior of the train was impressively clean--seriously, spotless--and well-ventilated, making the ride comfortable from start to finish. The conductors were friendly and accommodating, adding to the overall positive experience. The children particularly enjoyed the ride, making it a memorable family outing. Highly recommend the Metro Rail for a convenient, clean, and enjoyable transportation option in the Austin area!

I am neutral about this station, I wouldn't say it's the best station…read more I feel like this station is centrally located and gets a lot of use with people coming and going but there is no parking. I have no idea why there is no parking, there is street parking but it can be hard to find, and you could be walking a long distance to get to the station. In addition, it's not a very well lit area if you plan on taking the station at night. It's a bummer this station is badly planned. Since there are so many housing complex going up in and around the Domain, this is the station for all those people. I wish it had some type of parking.

When this station first opened getting to it was a challenge, but at least it was transit…read moreaccessible. Then the agency had this 'great idea' to cut the 392 in half--because it was not difficult enough to access this station. I can't access the facility nearest my house anymore. And they did not even listen to customer feedback.

The Highland MetroRail Station (aka Transit Center, Stop #5537) is one of 9 stops on our city's…read moresingle commuter light-rail offering, the 32-mile #550 Red Line from Leander to downtown Austin. Schedule information is available at https://www.capmetro.org/stopdetail/index.php?stop=5537 (Highland Station only); https://www.capmetro.org/schedmap/?svc=0&f1=550&s=0&d=N (full Red Line schedule); https://www.capmetro.org/planner/ (CapMetro Trip Planner); https://www.capmetro.org/uploadedFiles/New2016/Plan_Your_Trip/Destinations_Schedule_Book/Schedulebook_web.pdf (full schedule book as available in print); and the Go Line at 512-474-1200 (with a live agent to help from 7a-8p weekdays, 8a-5p weekends). Follow @CapMetroATX on Twitter for up-to-the-minute alerts about any service interruptions. From the Highland station, you can connect to the following city bus routes via adjacent stop IDs 5602 & 5603 (southbound is on the same side of the street; northbound is across at the Highland intersection): 7 (Duval/Dove Springs - High Frequency) 324 (Georgian/Ohlen - Local) 337 (Koenig/Colony Park - Local) 350 (Airport Blvd - Local) ACC students and others who bike to school/work near Highland may be interested to know that for $30 a year, they can get key card access to the adjacent covered MetroBike locker seven days a week, with 24-hour surveillance and work stand with tools to repair & maintain their rides. https://www.capmetro.org/metrobike/ If you're going to ride the train (and you're not a kid under 5 or active military/emergency workers in uniform), you have to purchase and activate one of the Commuter pass options. At launch back in 2010, there were specified zones with varying fares, but now there's just a single ride ($3.50, no transfers, no roundtrip) or all day Commuter ($7, unlimited trips & transfers) option. The single ride can only be purchased in cash from the kiosk at the station AND you need exact fare or you will get your change in the form of a use-it-or-lose-it CapMetro voucher that expires in 15 days - boo! Most folks will prefer the ticketing experience using the CapMetro smartphone app (unless they have exact change and really only need a one-way trip for $3.50). I highly recommend installing the app and getting payment methods set-up in advance so that boarding, activating your ticket, and displaying it when asked will be a breeze. Paying at the kiosk can be a hassle and if the queue is long, you might miss your train and wait 30 minutes or more until the next one arrives. Students with a photo school ID or a CapMetro "Reduced Fare ID" can get half-priced tickets, but to access this benefit through the CapMetro app, you have to first visit their Transit Store in downtown Austin to set it up in person (call 512-389-7454 for instructions). Be sure to bring a birth certificate, passport, or other proof of age/eligibility for the rider. This also applies to seniors, people with disabilities, and active military out-of-uniform. Other ways to purchase passes at retail outlets are detailed at https://capmetro.org/purchase/. If you are used to traveling via public transit in other major cities, you may find using CapMetro services to be, well, somewhat frustrating. The truth is that we haven't made the investments that we should have to keep up with the rapid growth of our city and you can see the evidence when you ride our trains & buses. For MetroRail passengers, this means that trains don't come very often, they don't stop at many places that you likely would want to go, and parking is often not available anywhere near the station where you are starting your trip. However, if you aren't in a hurry, are aware of the limited schedule, and are actually headed to Crestview, ACC Highland, Plaza Saltillo (Eastside entertainment district), or Downtown (business and entertainment galore), the MetroRail is a comfortable ride that relieves your need to sit in traffic or find elusive parking at your destination. For more useful information, especially if you are unfamiliar with using CapMetro or public transit in general, check out these handy resources: How to Ride https://www.capmetro.org/how-to-videos/ Rider's Code of Conduct https://www.capmetro.org/rules/

I want this train to be like the one in Mr Rogers' neighborhood - you know the one that goes around…read morein circles and gets you everywhere you need to go while you stare mindlessly at weird things ... Nothing says "let's get this god damned party started and get the fuck going instead of crawling in traffic and frantically searching for expensive parking" quite like rail. Oh. And. It's super clean, well lit, easy to navigate, fast, and always on time.

I didn't think it was possible to make this place 'worse'. But leave it to Capital Metro to find a…read morenew way of torturing public transit riders of Austin yet again. They took out the soda and water machines. Granted few people actually carried enough money on them openly for a ride AND a drink because of safety reasons. And getting one in the dark probably would not be advisable. But for the few who were willing to risk it, I'm sure this was a nice touch. My advice would be to carry your own drink around. Perhaps more useful was the benches/beds under the somewhat functional roof. Now there is inexplicably just only one of the 'brand new' shelters. Everybody else is apparently expected to stand or sit/lay on the ground irrespective of temperature and/or weather conditions until your transit connection arrives. I did a double take, amazed that human beings are treated like this. Even for them, this is a shocking new low. Yes it's really cut down on the prior rampant vagrancy. But they've also cut down on riders. You now have to really want and need to use the public transit system in order to endure this treatment. It wasn't at all pleasant for one trip and I can't imagine it encouraging casual riders to permanently move to public transit. Whoever who authorized this needs to be fired.

This transit center is a disaster, the worst in the city for sure. It is only easily accessible by…read morecar. Which is an obvious and complete failure because, you know, it is a BUS transfer center. Lets expand on this issue some more. 1.If you want to access the transit center from south of 183 say Anderson Lane as a pedestrian you have to contend with panhandlers, highway speed turning cars turning on red legally. (Having crossed several times there it feels like you are taking your life into your own hands, in a way that is hard to describe, but I recommend to anyone who may think this review is an exaggeration.) 2. Lets assume for a moment you live in the closest apartment complex,santa maria village, which touts the transit center as a feature, the transfer center isn't safely accessible no traffic controller, surrounding car oriented design. So for those keeping score... the only accessible side of this transit center is the West side of Lamar assuming you are already North of 183, unfortunately the nearest legal crosswalk is located at Lamar and Thurmond half a mile away from the station. So if you wanted to legally cross the street and lived at the nearest apartment complex, you would be walking a little over a mile, to get to the crosswalk and return to the transit center. (Not bad for someone in good shape and active, but not quick, not intuitive, and not possible for anyone with a mobility impairment, seniors, etc.) But, lets say for arguments sake and out of optimism that you do have a car, it would be reasonable to expect that you'd want it to be semi monitored. There are 0 cameras here as far as I can tell! It feels fairly sketchy, but that being said I have left my 14 year old car and it has been unscathed. Also, for arguments sake. Let's explore biking as an option, there is no secure place to lock up a bicycle if the racks on the bus are full. Additionally, the buses stack (long line of buses one behind the other), making it difficult to determine where the bus you nee is located. (pro tip- the routes are divided by lanes, but within a lane where a given route will be located will not be in the same spot in a given lane) No public restrooms. ***This is relatively central hub, that needs to exist with a coordinated facelift from Capital Metro, City of Austin, and TxDot. It is a shame that it was even allowed to be built without some of the infrastructure issues addressed in advance of the Transit Center and it is abysmal failure that the surrounding infrastructure is so bad 30 FREAKING YEARS later!!***

Bring back route #100. Pretty please! The last time I arrived from the airport, I had to take route…read more#20 to Downtown and then walk a mile to the rail station. Otherwise, the buses are nice and usually on schedule. I'm really looking forward to the blue line and the airport connection. I'll clearly rewrite my review when I get to ride the Metro Rail to the airport.

Took the red line from Leander to Downtown and back. What an incredible convenience to have!…read moreClean,affordable, excellent service. Jeffrey on the 101 train was a fabulous customer service agent and a great asset to Capmetro. I will ride the red line again and look forward to the expansion of the services.

The actually give you a side of fries and not a small basket of fries. They serve Pepsi so I opted…read moreout on liquor as a result. Service was great, quick and friendly. Ambuance is decent, its attached to a hotel so it can't be all extreme or nothing. Place wasnt too loud so that's nice.

Champs is a Marriott Courtyard hotel sports bar conveniently located on 4th near the train station…read more I've been here a few times, having a cocktail, waiting for the Metro Rail to arrive to whisk me north. On this occasion, I stopped by before a Yelp Elite Event at the Hilton as I arrived downtown over an hour early. There is a large circular bar with numerous TVs, as well as a few tabletops and booths. This bar does get busy during the weeknights, and on this visit, there were only a few open seats at the bar. But as the business travelers left for their dinner/meeting dates, I had the bar to myself. They have a full bar and some great local beer options. I immediately selected the Austin Beer Works IPA. Sitting by the service station, I saw some of their dinners, and they looked very good. A few patrons were gushing over their margaritas, and the bartender stated that they were custom-made in-house. There are mucho options for cocktails in this area, and I'm assuming that most folks will patronize those instead of this hotel bar, but Champs is a great option to catch a game, have a bite, or pre-party before you head out into the area.

The only reason MSB has gotten two stars is because of the customer service representatives I spoke…read morewith were both sweet, understanding and just as frustrated with my situation. I now have 1012.69 cents in late charges because they "can not change the address on the billing statement unless the DMV notifies MSB of any changes." My car is not and has never been registered at the address they are billing me. I have no way of receiving the bills and have not for almost a year in a half. Second: Each late fee is over 100 dollars for 1.25 toll. Each marked saying billing issue. Third: I called, explaining my situation and paid someone 243.69 They now have no record, but my bank statement does. I avoid the toll as much as I can, but I live 290e and 130 and 183. All three different tolls owned by different companies, (I learned that today.) Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority or MSB is an evil scamming private corporation, taking advantage of Texans who can no longer afford to live in Austin, none the less drive its roads. If I can't get a bill how the hell am I supposed to pay it? You received my bills back, you knew I was not getting them. How do you have the right to charge me over 1000% per bill? Why did we let this happen Austin? It's our damn fault for not kicking them out in 2008.

I am pretty what they are doing is illegal. I received my FIRST statement from them a month after…read morethe due date and they had added a $15.00 late fee. From what I am reading here, this is their normal business practice. I will be reporting them and will not drive this road anymore. I cannot believe they get away with this!