What riding Red Line is like on game day
Reporter’s firsthand experience navigating the rail service
Living just a few minutes’ drive from Howard Station in North Austin, I’d say I’m a regular on Capital Metro’s Red Line commuter rail service between Leander and downtown Austin. I’d imagine I would be a contender to be considered a “super user,” if there were such a thing.
And since my usual bailiwick at the American-Statesman is all things transportation, documenting how it sometimes works and doesn’t work in Austin, I’ve been wrapping my head around how to report on the Red Line in the weeks since the troubled launch of McKalla Station, the new $60 million stop outside Austin FC’s Q2 Stadium.
I figured the best way was to see how it worked on game day for myself. My editor suggested I write the story in first person, documenting the sights and sounds of my trek crisscrossing Austin on Saturday.
There were six legs of my journey. My quick back-of-the-napkin math suggests I rode more than 60 miles up and down the line for more than three hours of total ride time. I spent that time chatting with folks about all things trains, South by Southwest and how comparatively unorthodox this article would be compared with my usual day-to-day reporting.
A short summary of the Cap Metro Red Line game day experience
My experience was mostly positive but mixed. There are some tips I will offer to those considering the Red Line for getting to and from the game, a few of which might be deal breakers for some. Chief among them, for now, would be that you should be prepared for a sudden change in plans.
Festive riders among the biggest positives of the trip to Austin FC game
A pro was the festive atmosphere aboard the train bound for the game. Riders broke into spirited chants a few times. Others speculated about the team’s prospects with an energetic flourish that rivaled the drum of the speeding train’s machinery. One group by me cracked open a case of White Claw hard seltzers during a sort of pregame ritual. (Such open containers, I was later told, are not allowed on the trains.)
The biggest downside to the trip?
The last trains heading to the game before kickoff and the first ones leaving were cramped. You’re likely to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your neighbors, getting to know them regardless of whether you chitchat. While this is not a new phenomenon for public transit in places like New York City or Seattle, it’s likely unfamiliar to those in Austin who are relative novices when it comes to riding a train.
A rough start for McKalla Station, followed by second-game improvements
There was palpable uncertainty among the folks I talked to as we glided along the rails. Three fans spoke to me about their personal experience and resulting anxieties from riding the line – or trying to – ahead of the season opener on Feb. 24, the day McKalla Station’s launch was riddled with mechan
ical and communication issues.
Days later, Andrew Skabowski, CapMetro’s chief operating officer, estimated a “couple hundred” would-be riders abandoned plans to take the train that day, opting to take a bus, use a ridebooking service, drive themselves or miss the game entirely. In what officials called a “do over” for the next home game on Mar. 9, the service was improved by a different train staging strategy at McKalla Station and in-person guides at all the stations to aid communication between passengers and train engineers.
Saturday not only had another Austin FC home game but was also one of the last days of SXSW, so CapMetro officials expected high volume. Here’s how it went:
Howard to downtown ahead of rush
STEPPED ON: SHORTLY BEFORE 5 P.M. STEPPED OFF: AROUND 5:35 P.M.
This was an uneventful ride. At MLK Jr. Station, I hopped out after seeing Skabowski talking with passengers on the platform. In our brief conversation, he said CapMetro had prepared for Saturday as it had for the March 9 game.
He was waiting to see how the day would fare, speculating the overcast weather and chance of rain might result in lower ridership. Afterward, I jumped back on board to head downtown.
Downtown to McKalla ahead of kickoff
STEPPED ON: 6:02 P.M. STEPPED OFF: 6:52 P.M.
On the way up the line, I sat across from Kevin Cooksey, who lives near downtown and works in marketing. After we boarded, he told me he thought he missed the train he meant to board after it seemingly pulled off early, despite him walking up with a few minutes to spare before the scheduled departure time.
Saturday marked Cooksey’s first time using McKalla Station. He’d planned to use it during the season opener, but, when he read posts from fans about Red Line delays in his Los Verdes Slack channel, he changed his plans.
“I think word spread pretty quickly,” he said
Fans trickled in as we spoke. Then a large group of people exited the train adjacent to us on the platform and boarded. Among them was David Alvarez, who co-hosts an Austin FC-centered podcast. Sitting next to Cooksey, Alvarez told us CapMetro’s guides had asked passengers on the other train to move to ours.
Alvarez was worried about being late to the game, saying his experience during the season opener and the second home game was marred by delays. After the season opener, he decided to ride a bike home rather than contend with the crush of people trying to take the train, he said.
“It was a mess,” Alvarez said of the Feb. 24 issues. Though he was able to take the train home for the second home game, he said he was on edge as he waited. On Saturday, he hopped off the train prior to making it to McKalla, saying he would try to bike there.
The train was starting to fill. At the next stop, Plaza Saltillo Station, it was nearly full. Few people were able to board at MLK Jr. Station. The next stop, Highland Station, had just a few people standing on the platform. I later learned from Skabowski that this was because CapMetro staged buses for use nearby in anticipation of northbound trains reaching capacity.
“We started using that last week, and we realized that it works,” Skabowski told me later. “We kind of baked that into our plans.”
McKalla to MLK then MLK back to McKalla
STEPPED ON: SHORTLY AFTER 7 P.M. STEPPED OFF: 7:19 P.M. STEPPED ON AGAIN: 9 P.M. STEPPED OFF: 9:15 P.M.
Though the game was exciting, a roaring stadium with revved-up soccer fans did not sound like an environment conducive to the writing. For that, check out Statesman sportswriter Colby Gordon’s breakdown of the game.
I rode down to MLK Jr. Station and popped into Houndstooth Coffee to document my experience thus far and get a caffeine fix. The ride back to McKalla was similarly uneventful.
Stepping onto the platform, I again ran into Skabowski, who had earlier moved from MLK Jr. Station to work at McKalla. He said an estimated 1,900 riders used the Red Line to get to the game, and he suspected that around the same number would use it heading back. It had gone smoothly, he added.
“I’m out here every week because we’re refining the plan,” he said. “I think every week we get a little better, and every week I think we’re going to get more riders.”
McKalla to downtown after the game
STEPPED ON: 10:05 P.M. STEPPED OFF: SHORTLY BEFORE 11 P.M.
The game ended at about 9:40 p.m. with a 2-2 draw between Austin FC and Philadelphia Union. I noticed a good number of fans exited the Q2 Stadium before the game officially ended, heading for the four trains staged at McKalla Station, the line of buses beyond or the row of ride-booking service vehicles in waiting.
I bumped into Cooksey and Alvarez aboard the third downtown-bound train to depart from McKalla Station. Alvarez said he ended up taking an Uber to the game but was committed to taking the train home. Cooksey said he’d never seen the train so full, but said the experience amounted to a 7 out of 10, a rating largely informed by the team’s performance during the game.
I also ran into Bill McCamley, the energetic director of Transit Forward, a nonprofit advocating for Project Connect. He went to work corralling folks into the train, making room for a couple with a baby stroller. After I squeezed in, my back nearly pressing against the sliding doors behind me, I managed to interview him, holding a brief discussion between the heads and shoulders of our fellow packed-in passengers.
“The demand for this is real. And it means we need more,” McCamley said over the crowd.
McCamley was among those affected by the Red Line issues during the Austin FC opener Feb. 24. After he was unable to board at Plaza Saltillo, he nixed his plans to attend the game. The following Monday, he called on CapMetro’s leadership, including CEO Dottie Watkins, who is a nonvoting member on Transit Forward’s board, to address the shortcomings quickly. On Saturday, he said he was happy with the changes CapMetro had made to improve the service.
The train came to a stop as we spoke.
Talking over an intercom, a train engineer informed passengers that they would be stationary for a time to let a train up ahead pass through – a result of the Red Line not having double tracking all the way along the 32-mile line.
To my right were Sam Reno and Allie Bergeron, two University of Texas Law School students who said they take the Red Line often for game nights. Though they appreciated the option and had positive things to say, they questioned whether the line, as it is, is equipped to handle the crush of fans leaving Q2 Stadium on game nights.
The delays, they said, are part of the price of admission – one they often choose to pay to avoid the hassle of finding and paying for parking.
“Game night is typically free or (CapMetro) does not check passes, so you are kind of agreeing to spend longer getting home because you know you are not having to pay for parking,” Bergeron said.
“It gets overloaded on the way home after the game,” Reno added. “But, in general, I am a fan because I left my car at home and didn’t have to worry about it.”
Downtown to Howard to go home
STEPPED ON: SOMETIME AROUND 11:20 P.M.
STEPPED OFF: 11:57 P.M.
There was some confusion here. A CapMetro guide standing at Downtown Station told me the train I just exited would be heading back north, so I reboarded, plopped down at one of the highly coveted seats equipped with a table, and pulled out my MacBook to start writing this story during the ride home.
Not long after, an attendant announced the train was going out of service. He directed everyone off and said another train would soon arrive to take us north. When that train pulled up, I was lucky enough to again nab a seat with a table so I could write.
This last and quietest leg of my trip was the first one on which an attendant asked for tickets from the riders. I showed the QR code on my CapMetro app, loaded with funds to pay the $3.50 single-ride price, but the attendant did not scan it and gave me a thumbs-up. Other passengers scrambled to call up the app. Two said the batteries on their phones were dead, so the attendant moved along.
The ride was uneventful. Passing through a quieter McKalla Station, I saw a mostly empty Q2 Stadium, its bright lights still on. Just before 12 a.m., I stepped off the train and into the foggy night at Howard Station, where my car awaited me.
Transportation reporter Chase Rogers covers planes, trains and automobiles in the Austin area. Tell him about your experience using public transit by reaching him at crogers@statesman.com or on X at @ChaseRogersAAS.