AUSTIN (KXAN) — Capital Metro has announced that Eric Robins will be the new chief administrator of Austin’s new transit police department. 

Once the transit police department is certified by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, Robins will then be the department’s chief of police. He will start August 1. 

Robins was born and raised in Houston and has worked in law enforcement for 30 years in Sugar Land, Texas, where he has served the past several years as chief of police.

Implementing a transit-specific police department has been a project long in the making. At this week’s CapMetro Board of Directors meeting, both operators and members of the public voiced their gratitude for this new aspect of law enforcement

“I’ve been a victim who has been assaulted on the bus,” said a CapMetro transit operator. “I’ve asked before for CapMetro to have police at bus stops, or ride on the bus, and I think that it’s a great time to have a police force.”

Rev. Dr. Daryl Horton told the board he thinks they are moving in a great direction by having this security force in place, not just for the safety of the drivers and the operators of CapMetro, but also for the public.

“I think the community will provide their support that you need and so again just wanted to say thank you for what you’ve done to this point,” he said.