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Transit Tangents
The Podcast where we discuss all things transit. Join us as we dive into transit systems across the US, bring you interviews with experts and advocates, and engage in some fun and exciting challenges along the way.
Transit Tangents
Urban Quest - A Transit-Powered Scavenger Hunt
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What happens when you hand teams a stack of clues, the Transit App, a free bus pass, and then issue one non-negotiable rule—no rideshare? Urban Quest turns Austin into a living classroom where kids and adults learn to navigate Cap Metro, discover hidden gems, and build confidence through exploration. We tag along with two teams racing between the Texas Capitol, the UT campus, and Amy’s Ice Cream, racking up points with museum puzzles, hula hooping, and mural photo hunts, all while showing how transit skills translate into real-world independence.
Tammy Miller, executive director of ATX KIDS CLUB, shares how the nonprofit teaches children as young as four to ride public transit safely. Along the way, parents describe the pride that comes from their kids recognizing bus lines, reading a city map, and moving through public spaces with ease.
This story is bigger than a scavenger hunt. Urban Quest raises funds that open camp access for kids across all income levels, ensuring more kids learn vital mobility skills.
You can check out more about ATX KIDS CLUB and Urban Quest here:
https://www.atxkidsclub.org/
Enjoyed the ride? Subscribe, rate, and share this episode with a friend who loves transit—or someone who needs a nudge to try the bus.
A Perfect Saturday Kicks Off
SPEAKER_05It was great. It was a lot of fun. We got to explore uh the Nature and Science Center. We got delicious ice cream at Amy's. Um, we did some fun challenges at Joe's coffee shop. Um, we had a great time.
What Urban Quest Is And Why It Matters
SPEAKER_10Breakfast tacos, a scavenger hunt, passes to the local museum, ice cream, games, and free bus rides all day long. That sounds like a perfect Saturday to me. And I was fortunate enough to have that Saturday when I was invited to participate in Urban Quest put on by ATX Kids Club.
SPEAKER_18The Urban Quest Fundraiser is a transip-based urban scavenger hunt around Austin. So we are riding on the public bus system while we go and explore Austin as part of a way to raise dollars for our sliding scale program. So today we had 11 different teams competing against each other, earning points as they traveled around Austin while riding on the bus.
ATX Kids Club Mission Recap
SPEAKER_10That was Tammy Miller, the executive director of ATX Kids Club. And for those who are longtime viewers of the show, you may recognize Tammy from an interview we did many, many, many episodes ago. And in that interview, she told us about the really important mission of ATX Kids Club in teaching kids how to navigate their city. We're gonna go back to Tammy. She's gonna give us just a little recap on that mission.
SPEAKER_18ATX Kids Club is a nonprofit organization that educates young children starting at age four by teaching them how to ride on a public transit system here in Austin. Part of that process is building their resiliency, their confidence, their independence, problem solving, and critical thinking skills as we take them on a daily field trip adventure.
Teams Launch From Republic Square
SPEAKER_10And adventure is the right way to think about your experience with ATX Kids Club. During Urban Quest, we followed two teams across the city to many different landmarks and got to enjoy some challenges along the way. All of this started bright and early in downtown Austin at Republic Square. Here, teams were tasked with establishing their team name and decorating their name badges. There were definitely a lot of really creative ones out there. There were also breakfast tacos and coffee provided by local sponsors to fuel everyone up for the day. This event being a scavenger hunt meant that each team was given a unique destination in central Austin to navigate to and then complete a series of challenges before heading off to their next stop. Once again, this is a public transit-based challenge, and Tammy had one very strict rule. Now to introduce you to the two teams that we were following. And this team was made up of family, new friends, and a veteran ATX Kids Club camper, Isaac, who had no trouble using the bus throughout the day. With all of the morning introductions complete, our first team received their envelope with their first destinations, and off we go.
SPEAKER_18We're so excited.
SPEAKER_06Okay, so we are starting the Urban Quest 2026. We started off at Republic Park. We picked up our quest packets and we made name tags, named our team. We're the uh ATX boxes. And uh the first thing we had to do was figure out where to get our first bus. So we walked a few blocks, we got on the number seven, and we are headed to the football stadium bus stop. We're gonna check out what looks to be the natural history museum. Very excited.
SPEAKER_10A great part of Urban Quest is that adults get to experience what campers get to experience at ATX Kids Club on a near daily basis. Riding Cat Metro around Austin is the prime example.
SPEAKER_18So one of the things that is awesome about the Urban Quest fundraiser is most of the time, this is our third year doing this fundraiser, and the majority of times that we have done this, most people that participate have never ridden on the public transit system in Austin, and some of them have actually never ridden on a public transit system anywhere. And so I find this is teaching a life skill that while we do it with children on a regular basis, this gives us the opportunity to do it with adults and families and businesses, and they really get to understand how awesome Austin is from the perspective of being able to get around on the public bus and visit all of the favorite landmarks.
SPEAKER_10Our second team to introduce you to is International Delights. And this team was made up of a group of friends who also have a really personal connection to ATX Kids Club.
SPEAKER_00So my connection to ATX Kids Club is that I found TMB about 10 years ago when I had a summer camp fall through for my son. I was a single parent on a limited budget, and ATX Club Kids Club was just what we needed in that moment. And I went on to become a board member and later a board president. So it's a place that's very close to my heart.
SPEAKER_10Their destination is in the same general direction of the ATX Foxes, so we all jump on the number seven bus and start our ride north of downtown. Isaac is our designated bus stop signaler for the day and is ready to alert the bus driver as we approach our stop.
SPEAKER_11You don't have any song fan left?
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_10First off the bus is the International Delights, and we follow them off to their first destination.
Discovering Texas History And Museums
SPEAKER_00Alright, so right now we are doing ATX Kids Club Urban Quest, and our first stop was at Texas Capitol. So we are here in the rotunda, and we were just checking out a picture of Ann Richards on the wall, our, you know, female governor. So we are just having fun and figuring out what our next bus route's gonna be and what our next stop's gonna be.
SPEAKER_10Here, the team is tasked with answering some questions about Texas history and given a little time to explore our beautiful state Capitol building. The Texas Capitol Building is right in the heart of downtown Austin. It has been the defining feature of our city since its completion in 1888, and despite the high-rise boom in town, it still remains a daily focal point. Checking in with the Austin Foxes, the team has finally made it to the UT Stadium stop, which is right next door to the football stadium at the UT campus. Here, they face their first challenge, finding the Texas Science and Natural History Museum. After a little bit of wayfinding and intuition, we're off in the right direction. The Texas Science and Natural History Museum is located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It opened as the Texas Memorial Museum during preparations for the Texas Centennial Exposition held in 1936, and FDR actually broke ground for its construction. So a really cool historic place in Austin. Here, the team is given a sheet of multiple prehistoric animals, and they are tasked with determining which are dinosaurs and which are not.
SPEAKER_03We are at the Texas History Museum at UT campus, and our goal today was to find out if each of these things was a dinosaur or not. And yes, one of our team members happens to be into dinosaurs, so was able to accurately and quickly figure this out for us.
SPEAKER_07We're at the UT Museum of Natural History and we're looking for the Pilesiosaur to figure out whether it's a dinosaur or not. I'm unsure because it lives in the water. So it could be pretty much either.
SPEAKER_10And when you were at a natural history museum, you have to ask, what is your favorite dinosaur?
SPEAKER_08My favorite dinosaur is a bronchiosaurus, and I like them because they're really tall.
SPEAKER_10If you're in Austin, this is such a great spot to visit, as they really do focus on fossils found locally in the Austin area. After our team answered their questions, they continued on their adventure, taking a little walk through the UT campus to their second destination.
Why Transit Skills For All Ages
SPEAKER_03We just left the Texas uh Natural History Museum, and we are headed to the Turtle Pond on UT campus, and it's a beautiful day, and we're stopping at some really cool new uh sculpture made out of boats and canoes.
SPEAKER_10While the teams continue to their second destination, we're gonna go ahead and check back in with Tammy on what the purpose of Urban Quest really is.
SPEAKER_18So part of the reason that we do this fundraiser every year is so that we can make sure that as we are getting ready to enter our busiest season, which is our summer camp season, is that every child has the opportunity to participate in our program. That requires us to have enough funding to be able to support those families that are in need of the extra dollars. So while we are a revenue-based nonprofit, we really do pride ourselves on making sure that we're paying living wages and that we're never turning any families away. So today's ultimate goal was not only to create a lot of fun and a lot of laughter amongst the teams that were competing against each other, but it was also an opportunity for us to raise those dollars as we're getting ready to receive a lot of sliding scale applications so that every single child has the opportunity to participate in ATX Kids Club.
Turtle Pond Challenges And Records
SPEAKER_10As you can hear, it is a very worthy cause that enables this organization to take on kids from all socioeconomic backgrounds and really introduce them to the city that they live in, which I think is very, very cool. Team ATX Foxes has made it across the UT campus to their second destination, the UT Turtle Pond. Built in 1939, Turtle Pond on the UT campus began as a research facility for the biology department, and today undergraduate students continue to work with faculty members to conduct ecological research into the pond and its inhabitants. And those inhabitants currently consist of at least 100 turtles, a majority of which are the red-eared sliders. There are other notable species found in this turtle pond with names such as the Texas Cooters and the Florida red bellied cooters. Yes, I guess those are real turtle names. There's also a few spiny soft shell turtles and at least one snapping turtle. The second destination is also where the Urban Quest volunteers present two challenges to our teams.
SPEAKER_16So y'all have a choice between jumping jacks or hula hoops. Which one do you want to do? My name is Max. Uh, this is my third Urban Quest volunteering. I've been with ATX Kids Club for like, I think 11, 12 years. It's been a really long time. I like grew up with them. Um and I'm here right now just kind of overseeing the challenges. We have like the hula hoop challenge and then the uh card sorting, so they have to hula hoop or do jumping jacks or something for as long as they can and then sort the cards as fast as they can. And I'm just kind of here uh any teams that come by and like helping guide them through the challenges and making sure that they're not uh that they're not cheating. And they get the extra bonus points if they uh if they win the challenge out of the other groups. So yeah.
SPEAKER_10Big shout out to Isaac and Franz for beating the day's record for the longest amount of time performing jumping jacks. Around the same time, our other team, International Delights, are completing their physical challenges in front of the international headquarters of Whole Foods Market. One of their team members shares with us her family's connection to transit in Austin.
The Sweet Stop At Amy’s Ice Cream
SPEAKER_01So, Austin Public Transit. I have two teenage daughters, and when my youngest daughter started high school, the school she went to was quite a ways away from our home, and she was able to go to Saltillo Plaza and hop on the train and take her bike along for the ride and make the rest of the commute back to her high school and then come home the same way, which was a godsend in many ways because we didn't have to brave traffic and rush hour and use gas that was unnecessary, and she enjoyed the independence of being able to get herself where she needed to be and to navigate the transit system here in Austin, which she still does today. She is 18 years old and prefers to ride her bike, and she'll hop on a bus when she needs to, and again, bike along for the ride. Um, she's very savvy, she knows how to get around the city better than I do in terms of public transit, and I'm very jealous of that. But I'm happy to have this opportunity today to give it a spin.
SPEAKER_10From here, both teams are gonna make their way to their third and arguably best destination of the day, Amy's ice cream. And to get there, each team is going to use the transit app.
SPEAKER_00So I use the transit app today for the first time to get around on Cat Metro downtown here in Austin, Texas, and I found it really easy and intuitive. Um, we went to the Capitol, we went to an ice cream shop, and then we navigated our way back here to the park all with the use of the transit app. It doesn't just show you bus routes, it also shows you walk-in routes and and things like that. So it's super easy to use.
SPEAKER_10Cat Metro has adopted the Transit App as its preferred wayfinding partner, and we talked about this app in many previous episodes, having used it now in cities all around the world. If you want a fully multimodal trip planning experience, the transit app is the way to go. It includes all public transit options such as buses and rail, but also biking and rideshare options.
SPEAKER_17But as Tammy said, There is no ride sharing today.
SPEAKER_10If you're trying to get around Austin, the buses have also now adopted Tap and Pay, where you can use your phone or credit card. And if those options are not available, you can also use the Umo app for buying passes. All that information can be found on the Cat Metro websites. Using the transit app, the Austin Foxes are on the move. We walk down the UT drag to find the nearest bus stop and then wait for the number three bus.
SPEAKER_12The wall time is on to cross 24th at Guadalupe. The wall sign is on to cross 24th at Guadalupe.
SPEAKER_06Okay, so we just left the turtle pond on the UT campus, and we are about to jump on the number three bus and go a couple of stops down Guadeloupe to go to Amy's ice cream and claim our free tiny ice cream. We're very excited. It's like a reward at the end of the quest.
SPEAKER_08We might be we might be heading to Amy's ice cream. Oh we're gonna eat ice cream.
SPEAKER_19What did you just do here?
SPEAKER_08We were we're at the turtle pond.
SPEAKER_10And you just won a challenge. What kind of challenge did you win?
SPEAKER_08Jumping jack challenge.
SPEAKER_10The International Delights have a shorter journey to their deck's destination, and they walk about one block over to the downtown Amy's ice cream. If Amy sounds familiar, it's because Lewis and I have a severe disagreement over which ice cream is better between Amy's and Jenny's.
SPEAKER_13When you're in Austin and it's hot, the best thing to do is get Amy's.
SPEAKER_09I'm actually more of a actually, I don't even know if it's local or not, but I'm a big Jenny's fan.
SPEAKER_13Oh, don't say that.
SPEAKER_09Jenny's is so good. We're gonna run you out of town. I can walk to Jenny's from my from my apartment. All I'm hearing is that you're a trader. I guess.
SPEAKER_10If you have experience with both, I invite you to tell us in the comments which one is your favorite and why Amy's is the superior one. Team Foxes make their way to Amy's on Guadalupe, and both teams are tasked with answering a few Amy's trivia questions for extra points.
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah. Our answers are 31, over 350, or just 10 classes.
SPEAKER_20And mysteriously Mexican vanilla, chocolate thunder, or super strawberry?
SPEAKER_10Do you get ice cream juggling your genies? I don't think so.
SPEAKER_11Chocolate? What's your favorite flavor?
SPEAKER_08Vanilla.
SPEAKER_11Vanilla? Nice. You have a favorite flavor?
SPEAKER_02Um well this new, I just tried this pineapple guava sorbet, and this might be my new favorite. It's fabulous.
SPEAKER_11What are some of the highlights from today? What's been your favorite part of it?
SPEAKER_08Um tea.
SPEAKER_13Go to UT? What about you? What's been your favorite part of the day?
SPEAKER_07I don't know. I think it was like going to UT and seeing the turtles move around. Not counting this part.
SPEAKER_11What do you think about the bus?
SPEAKER_07Sometimes they're disgusting. They're okay.
SPEAKER_11Yeah.
SPEAKER_10After everyone has had their fill of delicious, delicious ice cream, both teams begin their journeys to their fourth and final destination, going back to Republic Square.
SPEAKER_20Yeah, we're gonna go bus three. It arrives in four minutes back to Republic Square.
SPEAKER_10On the way back, both teams also seek out some of Austin's mini murals to take photos for additional bonus points.
SPEAKER_15Okay, so we've had so much fun just walking around town and taking the bus to get to different places, and we just got done at Amy's Ice Cream. Um, had a great little treat, and now we're on to some of our bonus tasks, which are finding murals in town and one block away. Here at Suzy Cakes is a mural that I just painted a couple weeks ago, so I brought everyone in here to get a little uh little peek of it and take a picture in front of it. But and now we're off getting the bus ride again and go to see some new good stuff.
SPEAKER_10As the teams make their way back to Republic Square, we took a moment to ask two of the parents on the teams why they send their kids to ATX Kids Club and what sort of lessons and experiences that they've brought back.
SPEAKER_00So it was really neat. He participated for a number of summers. It was really cool because they would go on actual school field trips in school, and he would find that they would go places that he had already been in ATX Kids Club. And so when I'd ask him about his school field trips, he'd say, Oh, I already knew my way around because of ATX Kids Club because we went there this summer. So he learned where landmarks were in our city and would recognize places around town when we were driving because he used public transit during the summer on ATX Kids Club to get around. So I think that it definitely has given him a sense of what's around him and made him more confident when I even just ask him to like pop out and run into the store and do something for me. The fact that he's had to interact with other adults and people in the public through his adventures in ATX Kids Club has certainly helped his confidence in that way.
Winners, Takeaways, And Community Impact
SPEAKER_03We love ATX Kids Club. We've been going probably for four years straight. And um, I love sending our son because he enjoys it. He gets to learn a little bit of independence taking the bus. He feels really proud. When we drive around town, he'll point out to me, oh, that's the number three, that's the number five that I've taken. So I know he's he pays attention and he's proud. I well, when we travel, we would use public transportation, but we didn't use it in Austin. So now that he's been doing it, we do. So if we know we're going somewhere for a weekend to a festival or to an event, we'll sometimes take it. And it's great. But it really helps when we travel because he's really comfortable taking trains and buses and transportation. He loves it, and so makes makes traveling really easy.
SPEAKER_00We love ATX Kids Club, it's a great way to get your kids out and learning about their city as well as getting some exercise without even realizing that they're doing it. So I think it's a great thing for everyone to experience.
SPEAKER_10The Austin Foxes are the first to make it back to Republic Square, and they give us a little recap of their day.
SPEAKER_19After Amy's, we went around, we got a couple mural photos with the team. Uh then we waited for the number 30, 30 bus. Came down uh Guadalupe, right back to Republic Republic Square. Um, I haven't taken the the cap metro that I don't think I ever did, maybe once prior, but um everything ran real smooth and um that was a great experience with the the bus system.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. I I same. I loved riding the bus. It was very easy and it was very fun, and the kids were a blast to get to know them, and the museum was awesome, and getting some good ice cream at the end wasn't bad either.
How To Support ATX Kids Club
SPEAKER_10As all of the teams return to the square, there are a few more games and challenges where teams can pick up a few extra points, but after all the points are tallied, it's finally time to announce the winners of Urban Quest 2026. Unfortunately, neither of our teams placed in the top. Three. However, congratulations to the winning team. It was made up of a group of transit enthusiasts and consultants for the transit industry. So they may have had a slight advantage in the competition. But before the day was over, I did catch up with one of their winners to hear about their experience with ATX Kids Club's Urban Quest 2026.
SPEAKER_05We won gold! It was great. It was a lot of fun. We got to explore uh the Nature and Science Center. We got delicious ice cream at Amy's. Um we did some fun challenges at Joe's coffee shop. Um we had a great time. I'm Nadia Barrera Ramirez, and I manage cross-agency programs for transit and mobility at Cat Metro. And I came out today mainly because Akash asked me to, and last year we had so much fun. It's such a great time enjoying the city and discovering the city. I always see something new and experiencing something new, something new with the Urban Quest. Um I think that ATX Kids Club is so great for our kids to learn about how to navigate our transit system. Um it gives them the feeling of independence and freedom. The fact that it's free for them is also really great and and makes it easier as they transition into being teenagers, that they can just hop on a bus and get to where they need to go without having to worry about paying the fare, etc. And they already have that basis for learning the system. So I really support ATX Kids Club for that reason. Um, and I'm glad I could be here today.
Show Support And Stay Connected
SPEAKER_10This was such an awesome day, and I'm just so thrilled that we were invited to be a part of it to tell the story of this organization and all of the just amazing work that they're doing in our community. Kids should not be scared of the places that they live. We should be teaching kids how to get out and navigate their city and introduce them to cultural institutions. And a big part of that is also teaching them how to use public transit when it's available to get around their city or, you know, any other city that they visit. So huge, huge kudos to ATX Kids Club and to Tammy Miller for creating this organization and really doing good work uh with kids in the Austin community. If you want to find organizations like this, they may also exist in your city. Just look around for opportunities to uh join these groups to volunteer time. And if you're in Austin, Tammy will tell you exactly how to support ATX Kids Club and to get involved.
SPEAKER_18So if you want to learn more information about ATX Kids Club, our website is ATXkidsclub.org. We are also on Facebook or on Instagram. You can follow me, Tammy Miller, on LinkedIn. We have a TikTok page, and there's lots of ways you can get involved in helping our organization. We not only have a teen leadership program for teenagers 13 to 17, but we also have an adult volunteer opportunity that if you have two hours any day and want to come and help us with our groups, we would be happy to have you join us.
SPEAKER_10Thank you so much for watching this episode. If you would like to support us, you could always join our Patreon. You can go to the merch store. I'm supporting one of the shirts right now. Uh, you could also just like and subscribe to this video, share it with your friends. All of that helps to get stories just like this out to you and also to reach new viewers. But with all that being said, thank you so much for watching and enjoy the rest of your Transit Tangents Tuesday.