October 21, 2026 - KXAN.com -
As Central Texas continues to grow, the idea to connect Austin and San Antonio by rail continues to be top of mind for local business and regional leaders. This week, they traveled to Miami to study its transportation system, including Brightline’s passenger rail service.
This year, a new organization called the Central Texas Alliance joined the trip with the Austin Chamber of Commerce. The Central Texas Alliance is a nonprofit, public-private partnership made up of 13 Central Texas counties collaborating on civic, business and economic solutions to issues like water, education, transportation.
Founded by former San Antonio Mayor and Secretary of Urban Housing and Development Henry Cisneros, it brings together Williamson, Travis, Hays, Comal, Bexar, Bastrop, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Wilson, Atascosa, Median, Bander and Kendall counties.
“So how do we connect better from a mobility standpoint? How do we secure our energy going forward from a greater reliability standpoint? How do we make sure that we have adequate water supply going forward for this entire region, not just pockets of the region, which is important. Healthcare affordability access is another area, especially in our rural counties, that we need to kind of make that connectivity happen,” said AJ Rodriguez, leader of the Central Texas Alliance.
Read more: https://www.kxan.com/traffic/traffic-projects/central-texas-leaders-look-to-miami-for-passenger-rail-lessons/
Photo credit: Brightline
As Central Texas continues to grow, the idea to connect Austin and San Antonio by rail continues to be top of mind for local business and regional leaders. This week, they traveled to Miami to study its transportation system, including Brightline’s passenger rail service.
This year, a new organization called the Central Texas Alliance joined the trip with the Austin Chamber of Commerce. The Central Texas Alliance is a nonprofit, public-private partnership made up of 13 Central Texas counties collaborating on civic, business and economic solutions to issues like water, education, transportation.
Founded by former San Antonio Mayor and Secretary of Urban Housing and Development Henry Cisneros, it brings together Williamson, Travis, Hays, Comal, Bexar, Bastrop, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Wilson, Atascosa, Median, Bander and Kendall counties.
“So how do we connect better from a mobility standpoint? How do we secure our energy going forward from a greater reliability standpoint? How do we make sure that we have adequate water supply going forward for this entire region, not just pockets of the region, which is important. Healthcare affordability access is another area, especially in our rural counties, that we need to kind of make that connectivity happen,” said AJ Rodriguez, leader of the Central Texas Alliance.
Read more: https://www.kxan.com/traffic/traffic-projects/central-texas-leaders-look-to-miami-for-passenger-rail-lessons/
Photo credit: Brightline