Celia Israel, Kirk Watson: You don't get to vote on rail projects (UPDATED)

Voters more than a decade ago opted to build the Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority's MetroRail "red line" -- 32 miles of track from downtown Austin to Leander utilizing much of an abandoned Katy rail line.

But if an Austin Democrat in the Texas Legislature gets her way, future rail plans under 31 miles of track-length will not require a vote at all.

Rep. Celia Israel (D-Austin) filed House Bill 1762 on Friday which seeks to amend the Texas Transportation Code's section related to the Cap Metro. Under existing law, Cap Metro must seek voter approval if the proposed expansion involves the addition of 12 miles of track or more to the system. Under Israel's bill, that threshold jumps to more than 30 miles. To put that in perspective, CapMetro could build a railway the distance from Sunset Valley to Cedar Park, or Lakeway to Pflugerville, without putting a single word on the ballot.

If you take a look at the map attached to this article, you'll see that any of the proposed stops are well-within the distance of the red line. So no voter approval would be necessary to fulfill the wishes of local transit czars.

Austin social engineers transportation planners have plenty to worry about when it comes to voters not being hep to the commuter rail jive. While MetroRail is full during rush hours, many are upset about the relative cost of the project per taxpayer and the short hours service is available. Forbes magazine called the rail line a "monument to government waste" and quoted local transportation watchdog Jim Skaggs' calculation of each rider of MetroRail representing $10,000 in subsidies.

For these reasons and others (including some very odd choices in station locales), Austin voters have had a love-hate relationship with light rail plans. During the 1990s, Capital Metro faced doggedly bad publicity that resulted from bad management and unpopular decisions such as cutting out the popular downtown 'Dillo buses. In 1997, the Legislature ordered Cap Metro to host referenda on any light rail proposal, and what Austin voters got was a $1.9 billion, 52-mile system on the ballot that would have been more suitable for a large metropolis than a growing town of about 700,000. It was defeated by a margin of only 2,000 of those Austinites.

In 2004, a revised plan was submitted, with all but Cedar Park on board with the proposal. It passed with 62 percent in favor.

Local rail proponents and urban planners aren't giving up, and it's clear they made it as far as Rep. Israel's office.

You better believe we'll be tracking this bill.

UPDATE: The Austin Monitor confirmed this bill is not only a second attempt after a failed attempt last session, and was backed up with an identical Senate companion bill by Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) late Monday afternoon, but is also intended to expedite the Green Line plan from Manor to Austin.