Bigger price tag, smaller footprint: How Austin’s Project Connect went off the rails

Austin voters approved a multibillion-dollar light rail plan in 2020. The project’s costs have increased, and its footprint has been slashed to less than 10 miles. Credit: Manoo Sirivelu/The Texas Tribune

Before landing in Austin, Cathy Cocco lived in both New York City and Tokyo, where she enjoyed the convenience of robust public transit.

So given the chance, she was happy to cast a vote in 2020 for a state-of-the-art, 20-mile light rail system, running through the heart of Austin all the way to the airport — even though the plan didn’t directly serve her neighborhood in northwest Austin.