With more than 150 bands and thousands of festival attendees heading to Zilker Park this weekend, traffic will become a problem that could ruin the party. Here are five ways for festival attendees to get to the Austin City Limits Music Festival and back without sacrificing any concert time.
The Ridesharing Way
Since Uber and Lyft left the city in May when Proposition 1 passed, other ride-hailing apps have taken over. The highest rated, most popular of these new services include Fare, Wingz, Fasten and the new non-profit, Ride Austin.
Each work similarly to Uber and Lyft through apps that allow you to schedule a ride, choose your favorite drivers and pick from different levels rates. Each app is available for free on both the Android and Apple app stores.
During both weekends of ACL, Ride Austin will be working with Honda on the special program “Hail a Honda” to provide ACL ticket holders with free rides from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Public Transit Way
Cap Metro will be offering MetroRapid, MetroRail, ACL Shuttles and Late Night Busses to make traveling to ACL easier for attendees. The MetroRapid 801 N Lamar/ S Congress and 803 Burnet/ S Lamar to Barton Springs routes will drop riders off within walking distance from the free ACL shuttle at Republic Square Park or at Zilker Park, respectively.
The MetroRail will be taking riders to the Downtown Station near the ACL Shuttle and back until 2:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and until 12:30 a.m. Sundays.
The Night Owl bus services will be departing from the stop at 6th Street and Congress Avenue until 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
The E-Bus will be operating during the same schedule on 6th Street between Lavaca and Colorado streets. Pricing, maps and tickets can be found on the CapMetro app.
The Healthy Way
If you live in Austin or happen to be staying in the nearby area, it is possible to avoid traffic by walking along the safe routes. I you are coming from campus, you can follow Guadalupe Street until you reach Republic Square Park at its intersection with West 4th Street to take the free ACL shuttle.
If don’t want to wait for one of the shuttles, or prefer to get your exercise of the day as you head to ACL, continue walking until you reach Zilker Park. The Austin Police Department will be heavily patrolling this area.
The Austinite Way
Should you wish to arrive in style without waiting in lines or making a long walking trip, there is always the bike rental option. Austin Bike Rentals is offering special ACL packages for three day rentals with a three-day prior reservation by phone or online. If you reserve by phone, they will even pick it up for free Monday morning.
Barton Springs Bike Rental is located just down the road from ACL and is currently taking phone reservations for their ACL package rentals.
The Water Way
If you think traveling on solid ground is completely overrated or you wish to help maintain a healthy environment, you can get to the festival by water.
If you happen to have a canoe or kayak, wade down Lady Bird Lake until you reach the shores of Zilker Park. If you don’t own a kayak or canoe, TG Kayak and Canoe will be offering up to three-day rentals with a prior reservation.
