Trying to find a parking spot at Barton Springs Pool can be terrible. Whether you’re at the south lot off Azie Morton Road or in the smaller one on William Barton Drive, getting a spot on a busy weekend day often feels like a Sisyphean task as you wait behind a person with their blinker on or end up stuck in a traffic jam.
Enter: the Zilker Loop, which launched last summer as a way to help reduce traffic congestion in the area.
The city is running a free shuttle service around Zilker Park through Labor Day weekend so you can avoid parking headaches. The shuttle service operates Saturdays and Sundays and on holidays through Sept. 7, and includes four stops on its route: Stratford Lot, Barton Springs Pool, Beverly S. Sheffield Zilker Hillside Theater and the Violet Crown Trail Head, and Zilker Botanical Garden.
The shuttle. (City of Austin)
You get two hours of free parking if you park in the Stratford Lot at 2228 Stratford Dr., using the code FREE2STRATFORD. Otherwise, the cost is $3 per hour. The lot is the area covered in gravel near the intersection of Stratford Drive and Lou Neff Road. From there, you can get to any stop on its route. No pets or coolers are allowed on the shuttle.
The Loop runs noon to 6 p.m., and comes by every 20 minutes or so. During the Zilker Summer Musical July 10 through Aug. 16, the shuttle will run until performances end. This is the first year that the shuttle is taking riders to the hillside theater.
