SXSW Tips: Getting Around the Fest
Yesterday was an experiment in transportation. I'm usually loath to be without my car, but downtown traffic is tough, parking is expensive and sometimes you need to quickly get from point A to point B. So, after watching Paul Williams: Still Alive yesterday at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, I determined to leave my car parked there and take the shuttle downtown for the Paramount show, The Raid: Redemption.
As I waited in line for the shuttle, however, I saw one of the Catch a Chevy cars and along with my friend Jeremy Kirk (@jeremykkirk), Film School Rejects writer and Golden Briefcase host, we hopped in.
The Catch a Chevy program is like a free taxi to anywhere SXSW-related. As long as you have a badge, they will take you to satellite venues, party locations, the convention center, even the airport. The driver told us you can visit http://www.chevy.com/sxsw using your smartphone to get a map of locations near you. This is a useful and innovative way for Chevy to advertise and give thousands of test drives in just a week or two. The cars are only available until 9:30 pm, however.
When The Raid: Redemption ended at midnight, I needed to get back to South Lamar. Fortunately, the SXSW Film Fest Flyer shuttles are running until 2 am. I walked a few blocks back to the Austin Convention Center and then had to wait only 5-10 minutes for the shuttle to arrive at the location marked with a big blue flag that says "Film Shuttle."
Getting on after me was a large group of out-of-towners who needed to get to the Canon theater location at the Long Center, because they're staying in a hotel near it. The driver said the shuttles don't go to several satellite locations after 11 pm, because there are no events going on at that time, but he relented and agreed to take them, since it was on the way to the Alamo.
The shuttles are comfortable, clean, roomy and well-lit, and the driver had some good music rocking on the radio. He deposited me in the Alamo parking lot in just a few minutes.