CapMetro suspends trip to dialysis clinics due to road conditions, outages

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- CapMetro has had to suspend routes to dialysis clinics due to a combination of severe roadway conditions and outages at local health facilities, a spokesperson told KXAN Wednesday morning.

In an email, officials said CapMetro attempted a test trip to an area clinic and the vehicle "was stuck for an hour."

"We have determined that we will not put a medically vulnerable person in that dangerous situation," the spokesperson said, adding they've been told multiple dialysis locations also lost power.

"We are monitoring the road conditions and once we're able to successfully complete a test trip, we intend to continue with the dialysis trips," they added.

These test trips were one of several recommendations made in the transit authority's After-Action Report following the February 2021 winter storm. At the time of that storm, teams were able to continue dialysis trips for some time.

While the February 2021 storm included multi-day outages, precipitation and lower temperatures than the current storm, this last Winter Storm Warning in Central Texas features a high concentration of ice on roadways.

"At this time, road conditions, road closures & power outages at multiple dialysis locations are preventing us from being able to make those trips," the spokesperson added.

CapMetro officials said they have been in contact with dialysis patients and have briefed them on the situation. As of late Wednesday morning, all CapMetro services are suspended through the end of the day, except for transporting people to overnight shelters.

Tuesday evening, CapMetro buses helped transport residents to shelters until approximately 10 p.m. The spokesperson added CapMetro has some buses and staff members ready and available for more transports as roadway conditions improve.