CapMetro Runs Late for Halloween: Rail Until 2:30 A.M., Night Owl Buses Until 3 A.M. from Sixth and Congress
With Sixth Street closed to cars and rideshares kept outside the fence, the transit agency is the city's official way out of downtown tonight — and it is running hours past its normal close.
CapMetro is stretching its schedule for Halloween night, Saturday, Oct. 31, according to the agency's official service alert. CapMetro Rail runs until 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning, hours past its usual close, carrying riders out of the Downtown Station at Fourth Street — a short walk from the Sixth Street closure zone.
The Rapid bus routes stay out late too, if not quite as late: routes 801, on North Lamar and South Congress, and 803, on Burnet and South Lamar, operate until midnight.
The last rides of the night belong to the Night Owl routes, which run until 3 a.m. and all depart from Sixth and Congress: Route 481 to North Lamar, 483 to Riverside, 484 to South Lamar, 485 to Cameron and 486 to South Congress. Late Night service costs $1.25 a ride.
The schedule carries a built-in wrinkle the agency flags on its own page: daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, when clocks fall back an hour — so the extended rail window spans the time change, and the Night Owl's 3 a.m. close comes an hour later in the night than the clock first suggests.
The departure point matters tonight. Sixth and Congress sits at the edge of the police closure zone, where cars and rideshares cannot enter — which makes the train and the Night Owl buses the rides that come to the crowd, instead of the other way around.
