Amanda Rodriguez

Q1: First, I appreciate the inclusion of abilities in this discussion. All too often, people with differing abilities are left out of conversations around transportation and infrastructure, and this must change. My experience on Council and in organizing has taught me the importance of bringing everyone to the table. The Mayor sits on numerous regional boards and often utilizes these positions to acquire funding for transportation and infrastructure investments. However, information and summaries of these conversations are often not provided to members of Council or the public. I would work with stakeholders and my colleagues to ensure we take full advantage of these regional positions and make funding opportunities and potential improvements more accessible to the public.

Finally, I plan to utilize the annual Council visioning process to set strategic goals, including transportation improvements. If elected, I plan to host community conversations leading up to visioning so residents can identify priorities.

Q2: Yes. I support reducing and selectively eliminating parking minimums in San Marcos. Areas where walking, biking, and transit are realistic options, including downtown and near Texas State, are good places to pilot approaches. I favor a measured approach that gives us flexibility by neighborhood and development type rather than applying the same standard everywhere. We should also strive to prevent spillover parking in surrounding neighborhoods and make better use of existing parking through shared parking arrangements, as other cities have done.

Parking requirements can substantially raise housing costs, while excessive parking can encourage more car-dependent development. Reform should be paired with investments in sidewalks, bike infrastructure, transit, and safe pedestrian connections. The goal isn’t to eliminate parking, but to ensure our policies reflect how different parts of San Marcos function while allowing us to build more affordable, walkable, sustainable neighborhoods and improve quality of life and our environment.

Ryan Thomason: No Response

Alyssa Garza: No response

Jane Hughson:

Q1: The City of San Marcos has a policy for “complete streets” which means sidewalks and bike paths or very wide shared-use paths for new streets.

We have converted existing driving lanes to bike lanes in a number of locations, including in our downtown area. I have voted for bike lanes for years.

I supported the new CD-5 zoning district in the Land Development code which provides for zoning that should include housing and commercial uses. Unfortunately, many of our developers are only building houses and not the business services that would make neighborhoods walkable.

I look forward to the public comments when we open up the transit survey next year regarding routes. The federal government, the source of most of our transit funding, has strict rules regarding the process including timing.

Q2: I do not support eliminating parking requirements totally anywhere except where it is not required now – downtown. I suggest no changes there.*

San Marcos did require a lot of parking spaces in the 1980’s and there are parking lots today that are likely bigger than needed. We’ve all seen them. I would encourage an examination of those parking lots to see if the number of parking spaces could be lowered and the space no longer needed could be used in another way, preferable green.

An example of this is the Austin Community College Highland Campus parking lot transformation aired by The Central Texas Gardener entitled: From Parking Lot to Pollinator Plants (originally aired May 10, 2025 available on the PBS Video Portal.) A three acre asphalt parking lot was transformed into the beautiful St. John Encampment Commons.

I would also be in favor of reviewing our parking space requirements.

* Note for clarification: Properties within the Central Business Area (Downtown) are exempt from parking requirements. However, new multi-family development with 6 or more homes are not exempt from parking requirements.

Heather Hunter:

Q1: I have been involved with the Civics Club already supporting efforts to ensure all San Marcans are able to travel where they need to, how they choose to. With the Transportation Master Plan in full swing, we have provided feedback to the survey put out to the public to ensure we are asking the right questions to support all areas this particular question addresses. If elected, I will have more leverage to accomplish these goals to increase accessibility, especially for those San Marcans that need it most. Through my grant funding experience, I believe we can find additional federal dollars to support these efforts as well. We have already been allocated and awarded dollars through the Federal Transit Administration. Eligible activities include expenses associated with mobility management. Through this funding, we should be prioritizing areas that support our most vulnerable residents in need of transportation to and from their homes.

Q2: In order to truly encourage this, we need to work on securing better public transit options and increased walkability in SMTX. Where we are today, vehicles are still very much needed because of the lack of available and reliable public transit. Downtown, many students resort to parking on the street because there is not enough parking available in their apartment garage, thus limiting available space for businesses’ customers to park, shop, and visit. So, in order to support this type of goal, in reducing housing costs, the City needs to really look at the results of the Transportation Master Plan, which I hope will detail the importance of public transit and multimodal options to encourage this sort of idea in the future.

Shane Scott: No response

Miguel Arredondo:

Q1: I believe sidewalks, protected bike lanes, trails, safe crossings, shade, and reliable public transit are critical infrastructure, not amenities. San Marcos should be a community where a child can safely bike to school, a senior can walk to a neighborhood business, a person with a disability can navigate our streets, and a family can get across town without always needing a car.

I would prioritize filling sidewalk gaps, building protected bike infrastructure that actually connects neighborhoods to schools, downtown, Texas State, parks, jobs, and shopping, and designing safer crossings along our busiest corridors. We also need more shade trees, ADA-accessible sidewalks and bus stops, and stronger connections between our trails and street network.

Finally, we need to rethink public transit. Our current system simply does not work well enough for many working families. I support expanding frequent, reliable transit and exploring flexible on-demand service so transportation is truly accessible to everyone.

Q2: Yes. I support eliminating parking minimums, particularly downtown and near the urban core of San Marcos, while reducing them elsewhere when and where appropriate.

Requiring every new home or business to provide a predetermined amount of parking can increase development costs, consume valuable land, and work against our goals of creating more housing and walkable neighborhoods. We should give property owners greater flexibility to determine how much parking their project actually needs.

That does not mean eliminating parking altogether. We still need to consider accessibility, surrounding neighborhoods, employees, customers, and the different transportation needs across our community. What makes sense downtown may not make sense everywhere.

But especially in our urban core, we should be creating places designed around people, not requiring every development to be designed around cars. This is one practical way we can encourage infill, support local businesses, increase housing options, and build a more walkable and connected San Marcos.

Bill Miller:

Q1: I think that for this to be effective, there are some changes that need to be made.  First, we must secure a reliable public transportation program that reaches all citizens of San Marcos.  We need to invest in a proper public transportation system.  Either the city runs it or the university, it doesn’t matter.  We as a city just need to make a decision and run with it.  We got close in the past but then everything just petered out.  I also think adding bike lanes to more streets and places to lock bikes up in more locations will help. This is a lower cost addition that would help those citizens that ride bikes have a safer and more bike friendly space to travel in. Adding a bike lane to the park sidewalks will make things safer for everyone as well.  Bikes are ridden in our park system on a daily basis and I personally have almost been hit by somebody riding a bike around a blind corner.  If we had a designated lane for bikes versus pedestrians, those paths could be kept safe for all to use.

Q2: I do support doing the same in San Marcos for the downtown area, and surrounding neighborhoods.  The less concrete the better.  We need to be adding more plant life and less concrete.  Unfortunately, without reliable public transportation, doing this outside of the downtown area would only put a hamper on our citizens.  Everyone needs to buy groceries, go shopping, and have a reliable way to move around the city.  I would like to suggest we add a few semi-permeable parking areas within walking distance to the downtown shopping area to ease the transition to less vehicles on the road.  This would alleviate some of the congestion downtown and would be a centralized place for people visiting to park and enjoy our fine city.

Lisa Prewitt:

Q1: Follow our existing complete street design land development code to ensure new roadways are designed to balance safety for drivers, transit riders, pedestrians, and cyclists alike, especially our children.

Separated and Protected Bike Lanes. I have in the past and will continue to support installing physical barriers, like curbs, planters, or bollards, to protect cyclists from vehicular traffic.

Prioritize fixing broken sidewalks, adding high-visibility crosswalks, installing pedestrian-refuge islands, and implementing audible, accessible pedestrian countdown signals for the visually and hearing impaired.

At a regional and state level, advocate redirecting a larger percentage of transportation budgets away from highway expansion and directly into active transportation and public transit maintenance which TXDOT has stated in their 2050 mobility plan.

Bring housing, jobs, and grocery stores closer to neighborhoods naturally reduces vehicle dependency and makes walking or biking highly practical.

Work toward Vision Zero goals and strategies including lowering vehicular speeds.

Q2: I do support minimizing parking requirement to cut costs, protect the environment, and allow for more walkable community designs. But simply cutting parking spaces without providing alternatives creates spillover traffic and community friction.

Shared parking agreements: Allowing apartment buildings and commercial spaces to share parking structures that use spaces at opposite times will cut down on parking requirements.

Require residential parking permits and paid parking in downtown areas to prevent apartment residents and retail clients from spilling over into free street parking or residential neighborhoods.

Robust Transportation Alternatives that would help successfully minimize parking requirements:

Reliable public transportation within 5–10 minutes walking distance of destinations.

Continue public transportation partnership with TXST “bobcat shuttle” increasing federal funding to extend service times, expand routes for dependable public transportation.

Acquiring direct recipient status of our federal funding allowed us to partner with TXST as sub-recipients. This will have a big impact on transit expansion for all. I am very proud to have championed this initiative with our city staff during my tenure as City Council and CARTS chair.