The New Texan
Central Texas EditionThursday, May 21, 2026

The Index

The Index: May 2026

A month in which Austin and Texas were measured against their own prior commitments — and came up short, repeatedly, in ways that had been predicted.

File:Austin downtown 1976.jpg
Photo: Nv8200pa / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
The New Texan staffMay 21, 2026

A month in which Austin and Texas were measured against their own prior commitments — and came up short, repeatedly, in ways that had been predicted.

  • Margin by which Austin voters approved Project Connect in 2020:58–42
  • Elements of that $7.1 billion transit plan now confirmed cut or deferred:The downtown tunnel. The Blue Line. What remains is a single truncated surface rail corridor of uncertain federal funding.
  • 2016
    Unfunded or unscheduled.

    Year Austin adopted its Vision Zero plan, targeting zero traffic deaths by 2025: / Status of fixes on the corridors — North Lamar, East Riverside, William Cannon — that keep appearing on the annual fatality map:

  • The corridors that keep appearing on Austin's fatality map share a recognizable profile: four to six lanes wide, long signal cycles, and turning radii engineered for trucks rather than caution. The city knows why they kill people.— KXAN
  • APD officer-involved shooting cases logged in Austin's first searchable public dashboard, covering 2018–2025:60 cases. 36 fatal.
  • Years since the Office of Police Oversight's previous report on the same subject:5
  • North of $30 million
    Zero

    Austin FC's net transfer spending under sporting director Rodolfo Borrell over three years: / Number of replacement hires named when Borrell and head coach Nico Estévez were fired simultaneously in May 2026:

  • “"I think the evaluation has to be at the end of the season."”
    — Nico Estévez, former Austin FC head coach, shortly before being fired mid-season — Austin Chronicle
  • Cost of TxDOT's Loop 360 rebuild, which will eliminate the Pennybacker Bridge overlook parking:$68.4 million
  • Status of the replacement parking lot Austin City Council approved in December 2025:Does not exist yet.
  • Dripping Springs water rate increase approved unanimously by city council, attributed to residential growth along U.S. 290:40%
  • 396
    0

    New apartment units planned by Endeavor Real Estate near the Domain, within walking distance of workers who need affordable housing: / Number of income-restricted or affordable units disclosed in the project:

  • The Modern Austin Residences topped out at 658 feet on Rainey Street this month — the tallest structure south of Lady Bird Lake downtown, rising from a neighborhood that drew its original appeal from being small, walkable, and a little rough around the edges.— TOWERS
  • Number of lawsuits Ken Paxton's office filed in counties with tenuous connections to the underlying cases — the same practice he publicly condemned as 'a threat to judicial integrity':More than 30— Texas Tribune, May 2026
  • Texas cities that received AG letters asserting illegal tax increases, implying specific violations had been identified:More than 130
  • Number of those specific violations Paxton's office released publicly:Zero. The letters were broader and more preemptive than the implied findings.
  • Annual SNAP cost Texas would absorb under the federal reconciliation bill currently moving through Congress — an obligation the Legislature did not budget for because it did not exist when the session began:$826 million
  • Number of independent physicians who have reviewed Andrea Pedro Francisco's case and agreed she requires surgery to remove an ovarian cyst. Number of times ICE has approved the procedure:Nine doctors in agreement. Zero approvals.— Texas Tribune