Troopers give motorcyles a try again

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Texas Highway Patrol hasn't used them since the early 1970s. Now, state troopers are testing out motorcycles again in Austin.

Mark Proveaux is one of only three troopers trained on the two special law enforcement Harley-Davidsons, which the state is leasing for the pilot program.

"Our ultimate goal here is public safety," said Proveaux. "We want to make sure the Capitol is safe. We want to make sure all the visitors and all the people that come and go to and from the Capitol are kept safe."

For right now, the troopers on motorcycle patrol are concentrating on a small section of Downtown Austin surrounding the Capitol between Trinity Street,  Lavaca Street, 10th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Some of their time is spent sitting at crosswalks in the Capitol complex looking for expired inspection and registration stickers and making sure drivers are stopping for pedestrians.

"That's all we want is just voluntary compliance and little by little, we're getting it," said Proveaux, whose last ticket went to a state employee pulling out of a parking garage.

"She had so much on her mind from the day's work she almost hit someone in the crosswalk, and I was sitting there," said Proveaux.

Motorcycle troopers have made contact with more than 3,000 people since the program started on Aug. 27, which includes warnings, traffic stops, crashes and serving warrants. For every ticket, Capt. Laurencio Saenz said troopers write three to four warnings.

DPS said the motorcycles have a lot of advantages over a car including speed, maneuverability, and cost savings. The motorcycles use half the gas and are cheaper to maintain.

They came in handy working crowd and traffic control during University of Texas home football games.

DPS will evaluate the program at the end of August. If they like the results, more Harleys could be hitting the streets.