Austin Begins Planning Light Rail Extension to Austin-Bergstrom Airport

Austin Transit Partnership said on Nov. 10 that it has started planning a light rail extension to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The roughly 3-mile line would run from the Yellow Jacket station to a station at the expanded airport, largely on a mostly elevated structure. ATP said planning is expected to take up to a year.

The airport connection had previously been listed as a future priority extension with no set timeline. The Phase 1 line was expected to end in Montopolis, at East Riverside Drive and Yellow Jacket Lane near the planned maintenance yard, and the airport alignment along US 183 and SH 71 was carried only as a priority extension. ATP said extending light rail to the airport was the most frequent comment it received from Austin residents.