New life for old depot begins Friday 13th

By Glynis Crawford Smith
The Highlander
The historic Marble Falls Depot will take its first breath in a life restored as a transportation hub on Friday, Jan 13.
It will reopen with a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting as a station for the Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS).
“We are excited about the privelege and opportunity to use the depot; to have it go back into the purpose it used to serve for people coming and going,” said CARTS General Manager David L. Marsh. “It is such a neat place. I just imagine people coming back from wars, meeting family there. So many things that lobby has seen.”
The depot was constructed in 1893 on land deeded to the city on Avenue N at Second Street by by the Texas Mining and Improvement Company. It began as depot for the Austin and Northwestern Railroad, but was later purchased by the Southern Pacific Railroad and served faithfully until 1968.
It eventually came to rest at its home at 801 US 281 in 1976 when it was purchased by businessman Bill Bray and donated to become the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Visitor Center, continuing until 2013 when the new center opened at US 281 and Second Street.
Now, the depot will be directed toward what CARTS terms interurban services, providing transportation on fixed schedules to Austin and other parts of the local district counties: Burnet, Llano, Blanco, Bastrop, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Travis, and Williamson.
The CARTS interurban service is not unlike catching a Greyhound or Kerrville bus in the past,” said Marsh. "Marble Falls has been cut off from an inter-city bus line for some time, perhaps since the late 70s.”
CARTS has been operating with street side pick up at Walmart and Marble Falls City Hall. Now, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the depot will be staffed for three, two-hour periods. People and packages will be able to connect with the Austin hub for seven different services, including the Grasshopper local connections in Austin.
“The first question people seem to ask is, 'can I commute to work in Austin?',” said Marsh. “The answer to that is, not for now. This is a beginning point for us; a modest beginning, but we are hoping for something more.”
Among many CARTS programs is a small fixed-route service in the City of San Marcos.
“We thing someday Marble Falls and Burnet would benefit from those services,” said Marsh.
The initial idea of restoring the depot to transportation services came out of a 2013 presentation on Lakeside Pavilion about CARTS.
“Mayor George Russell , County Judge Donna Klaeger and Chamber Director Bill Rives were there,” Marsh said, recalling the former community leaders present. “As we described our depots in the CARTS district, the same lightbulb went off in the minds of all three of those individuals at the same time. They conferred and we convened a short meeting after the hearing and agreed to pursue the re-purposing of the Depot.”
The biggest hurdle has been accessibility renovations.
“As a bus terminal in the national intercity bus system, we were required to make restrooms and counter space accessible to the persons with disabilities,” said Marsh. “We will end up spending about $17,000 making those improvements.”
Marble Falls City Manager Mike Hodge said the money CARTS spends will eventually be applied to lease payments of about $500 per month.
CARTS maintains a website www.ridecarts.com with schedules and information about such services as Interurban Coach, Country Bus, Metro Connector, Medical Transportation and Municipal and Commuter Bus. Passes are available, but transportation can be paid for by individual trip from $2-$6.
Contact CARTS by email at info@RideCARTS.com or call 512-478-7433 or, toll free, 1-800-456-7433.