CapMetro, the Central Texas region’s leading public transportation provider, recently celebrated the full launch of its Rapid 800 and Rapid 837 Rapid lines, reaching 10 to 15 minute peak frequency alongside the opening of two new park-and-ride facilities, Expo Center and Goodnight Ranch. Both facilities are equipped with overhead pantograph charging supplied and supported by Camber, extending the charging infrastructure from CapMetro’s primary bus depot out onto the routes themselves.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261005183443/en/

The milestone marks the latest completed project delivered through Project Connect, the voter-approved investment to transform public transportation across Central Texas and follows a $65.6 million Federal Transit Administration Small Starts grant that funded roughly 60 percent of the buildout. These two sites were first introduced in February 2025 with a mix of diesel and battery-electric buses while construction on the two park-and-ride terminals was still underway. With that infrastructure now complete, both lines operate at full electric capacity, reaching 10- to 15-minute frequency during peak hours.

Expo Center Park & Ride, the northeast Austin terminus of Rapid 837, includes 159 customer parking spaces, eight bus bays, and overhead electric bus charging. Goodnight Ranch Park & Ride, the southeast Austin terminus of Rapid 800, includes 64 customer parking spaces and four bus bays with the same overhead charging capability. At both sites, buses charge automatically at the end of the line through an overhead pantograph connection, extending each bus’s usable range well beyond what a single overnight depot charge can provide.

“Instead of a typical bus holding eight hours of charging, on-route charging takes that out to twenty to twenty-two hours,” said Andy Skabowski, Chief Operating Officer and EVP at CapMetro. “Every time that pantograph drops, we charge that bus. That’s our ultimate measure of success, and it’s what makes a commitment like 10- to 15-minute service possible.”

“CapMetro set out to prove that a Rapid line can run more frequently without leaning on diesel to get there, and that meant the charging infrastructure had to work as hard as the buses themselves,” said Brendan Harney, President of Camber. “We’re proud to support that commitment at Expo Center and Goodnight Ranch, and to do it in a way that lets CapMetro focus on running the line, not managing the charger.”

The on-route charging at Expo Center and Goodnight Ranch builds on Camber’s existing work at CapMetro’s primary bus depot, where the company supplied and installed two 1,440 kW Camber charging systems and 48 Camber industrial dispensers, delivering 2.9 megawatts of charging capacity and the ability to charge up to 48 buses simultaneously. Camber continues to provide proactive maintenance, charger and energy management software, and remote diagnostics across the depot and both Rapid line terminals.

About Camber

Camber is a leading provider of EV fleet charging solutions, with more than 1,700 DC fast chargers deployed across North America. Camber delivers end-to-end electrification, from infrastructure design, installation, and hardware to 24/7 proactive maintenance and intelligent charge management, backed by an industry first guaranteed 98% uptime commitment. Camber partners with public transit agencies, school districts, university fleets, and commercial and port fleets to keep vehicles charged and ready every day. Learn more at cambercharging.com.

About CapMetro

CapMetro connects people, jobs, and communities by providing Central Texans with safe, high-quality, and sustainable transportation alternatives. The agency provides over 83,000 daily trips on its buses, trains, paratransit, and vanpool vehicles and serves a population of more than 1.2 million in its 543-square-mile service area. The region’s transportation leader, CapMetro has invested in transit services like its High-Frequency Network, which moves more people, more reliably. CapMetro is committed to increasing regional mobility and, through Project Connect, will transform how people travel throughout Central Texas. Visit capmetro.org for more information.

Media gallery

About The Author
Business Wire