Bob,
Austin sounds a bit like the SF Bay Area in terms of its problems.
For example, we have a top-notch rapid transit system, BART, that works well for where it's got stations. But it's been over 30 years and it still doesn't go to the biggest job market in the Bay Area - San Jose. It's a ridiculous situation that is based more on inter-county squabbling about who will pay for what, and it also made working my previous well-paying jobs in the San Jose area a commuting hell (over an hour to go 25 miles).
The Bay Bridge retrofit (remember part of the bridge collapsed in the '89 earthquake) should have already been completed. But the proposed skyway to link Yerba Buena island with the east shore was vetoed by Oakland, because it wasn't impressive enough. So instead they chose an unproven huge self-anchored single tower cable-stayed design, which has added billions to the cost and years to the final completion date. To be honest, I also wasn't happy with the skyway design, but to tell the truth, it was functional and would have worked just fine for the purpose, and would have saved a bundle of time and money. It was rejected during a time when the area economy was booming, due to the high tech and dot com phenomena. Now things have changed drastically, economically, and I bet there are a lot of people besides myself who are wishing they'd just gone ahead with the simpler, less costly design.
I am a liberal, far left on some things. But I think it's important to admit when mistakes have been made and important to do the right thing to fix them and move on.