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SXSW 2022: Pete Buttigieg rides on Austin public transit, talks ‘climate decisions’ in travel

Returning for his second year in a row at SXSW 2022, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took to the stage for a town hall with festival-goers to talk about sustainability in transit, job growth and reconnecting communities.
After a test ride with Mayor Steve Adler on Austin's new red line light rail at MLK Station just hours before gearing up to speak at the Austin Convention Center on Wednesday, Buttigieg spoke on his many concerns as transportation secretary: accessible transit for all, lowering roadway deaths to zero and tackling climate change.
Happy to host @SecretaryPete & his team on board the #MetroRail Red Line today. pic.twitter.com/QDvmW6HAQl
— CapMetro (@CapMetroATX) March 16, 2022
More than 38,000 people were killed in traffic accidents last year, many of them entirely preventable but too often viewed as the “cost of doing business,” Buttigieg said. With the passage of President Joe Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure bill, Buttigieg said investment in infrastructure is deeply important to his department.
“I don't believe it has to be that way. Especially because we've seen that specific steps that have been taken in a number of places have dramatically reduced the rate of roadway fatalities,” Buttigieg said. “That's part of what we're going to put this money toward, making it safer to get to where you need to be and to be behind the wheel in this country.”
The Harvard graduate and first openly gay secretary to serve in the president’s cabinet said that South Bend, Indiana, was one of the first cities to adopt dockless bike and scooter share systems while he was serving as mayor.
“Every transportation decision is a climate decision whether we recognize it or not,” Buttigieg said. “As a matter of fact, in the U.S. economy, the biggest sector in terms of contributions to greenhouse gas emissions is the transportation sector. Which means in my view, that that's a challenge for us in transportation to try to be the biggest part of the solution.”
Amid climate change-fueled barriers in the way and skipping “about 40 years in terms of investing at the rate we really should have,” Buttigieg said he believes the 2020s will be a transformative time for the future of clean transportation.
"We have an opportunity to prepare... to make sure that the development of these innovations benefits us in terms of public policy goals, benefits all those other things I was talking about that makes us safer, makes us more equitable and more climate-ready."
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Popular
(Moriah Wilson/Instagram)
Austin police have charged Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, a local cyclist, for the murder of Moriah "Mo" Wilson.
Wilson, a rising star in the gravel and mountain bike community, was found dead with gunshot wounds inside an East Austin home on the night of May 11 when she was in town for the weekend Gravel Locos race in Hico, Texas.
Police believe Wilson was having a relationship with a man Armstrong was also in a relationship with. The man, another gravel cyclist, Colin Strickland, has since issued a statement on the murder.
In his statement, he said he had a brief romantic relationship with Wilson in October 2021 before he resumed his relationship with Armstrong, but that he remained friends with Wilson. "There is no way to adequately express the regret and torture I feel about my proximity to this horrible crime. I am sorry, and I simply cannot make sense of this unfathomable tragedy.
NEW: Austin professional cyclist Colin Strickland has just released a statement about the murder of cyclist Moriah Wilson, clarifying his relationship with her and expressing “torture about my proximity to this horrible crime.” pic.twitter.com/KnIna3mWrE
— Tony Plohetski (@tplohetski) May 20, 2022
Wilson, a 25-year-old Vermont native living in Colorado, had won a slew of races becoming a fan favorite. She had just become a full-time racer this year.
Anyone with information on this crime can contact Austin police at 512-974-TIPS or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 512-472-8477.
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Kelly said the planned homeless housing hotel suffered months of damage. (Mackenzie Kelly)
Austin has added 24-hour security to the city-owned Pecan Gardens property, which will be converted into supportive housing for people exiting homelessness, after the former hotel was found with months of damage and vandalism May 5.
The building, which was broken into and stripped of copper and had people illegally sleeping inside of it, has been secured, Kelly said in a Friday press conference. Kelly said the city confirmed a measure to implement 24-hour security, including updates every 60 days until the property opens up as supportive housing.
"We cannot let this happen to any vacant city-owned property ever again," Kelly said. "This blatant act of disregard and criminal behavior will not be tolerated in our community."
The city bought the former hotel in August 2021 for $9.5 million with plans to renovate the property into a 78-unit supportive housing property. Those 55 or older that are experiencing chronic homelessness can qualify to live at the site once it is completed in late 2022-early 2023.
While the council was set to discuss a $4 million deal with Family Eldercare to begin converting the property Thursday, Kelly pulled the item for a later executive session due to security concerns. But the council did approve an item to authorize city leaders to begin negotiating other renovation contracts.
"I want to thank my colleagues for pumping the brakes on this contract and realizing that we owe the community not only an apology, but reassurance that the protection of the assets the city owns is vital to the success of achieving our intended goals," Kelly said.
When the building was found vandalized May 5, Kelly, who presides over the district containing the property, said damage included:
- Damage spanning all three floors of the building and is in nearly every room.
- The entire hotel was stripped of copper.
- Destroyed washers, dryers, air conditioners and electrical wiring.
- People sleeping at the hotel without permission.
On Tuesday, Austin’s Homeless Strategy Officer Dianna Gray apologized and said there was no security due to a delay in processing the request.
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