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Yes in this instance it was a way for METRO to inflate the ridership numbers for the first line. Routing lines that formerly went downtown to now end at the med center transit center so that riders will have to now make a transfer which adds to their travel time.
Having the med center stop its buses from the out lying lot so users will be forced to use the train was another. Seems convenience factor was lost and buses were partially back last time I went.
Seems you don't understand what happens to bus routes when a new rail line opens. Every transit agency does this and not just Metro.
Quote:
As I mentioned earlier, city council has passed an ordinance for the new rail lines, not allowing them to have priority over vehicular traffic which would invalidate your statement for the Houston scenario that is being implemented.
How would that invalidate the statement? It clearly doesn't.
With the estimated ridership numbers, this was the only line that METRO hoped to get substantial federal funding. Unfortunately this was also the most expensive line and METRO wouldn't be able to pursue this without funding. METRO sent the feds wrong estimates purposely and then pursued contracts that knowingly violated the buy American clause. Then the feds asked them to resubmit accurate information so they basically took a step backwards and still have no funding.
Source?
The violation of the buy American clause was for all lines...
I actually agree with this one. The newer buses are actually quite nice, believe it or not. The older ones are still more comfortable than the light rail.
Wouldn't that make sense though? Since the Park and Ride buses travel a longer distance on average, I would expect them to be a lot more comfortable.
The light rail itself is pretty idiotic. It only serves the inside loop and it costs more to ride it and park at one of the light rail parking lots than it does to pay for parking downtown. The only people it really benefits are people living on the rail line and working or going to school downtown, the med center or Rice U. This is such a small portion of people as to be pretty worthless. Most people have to drive to get to it and its pretty pointless to take rail such a short distance once you're already in your car.
Additionally, it drives on the street for the most part so it gets stuck in traffic a lot. It stops WAY too long at each stop so that it takes a ridiculously long amount of time to get anywhere. Also, it KILLED a ton of people who didn't understand the complex way that it jutted in and out of actual traffic.
Light rail = two thumbs down
I agree that light rail is not the best option. But the anti rail (oil/auto industry) interests make any type of rail mass transit difficult to build.
That is how we ended up with the cheapest/fastest rail option.
I also agree at first look this system seems not to benefit many. In fact today it does not benefit many, although for its size it has been wildly successful flying against the predictions of all the detractors. But for it to benefit many, it has to be a system. You can't build commuter lines to service just one employment/education/shopping center. There has to be a system of rail lines of some sort connecting these centers. Light rail is the easiest option to get done.
After these lines are done and the first commuter rail line is connected to the system. So many communities around houston will be shouting at their local city governments to be connected to the rail SYSTEM.
Especially with the economies of countries like China and India building infracture and their populations driving and consuming gas and oil more and more gas is going to be trending more up and not down. Were going to be closer to 4 dollars a gallon and over and its not going to go back down below 3 dollars.
The commuter rail lines will follow existing rail right of ways (some just using the existing line) and have fewer stops on them greatly reducing the per mile cost of those lines and the speed at which they travel to connect to the inner loop system will be significantly faster.
After the system is finished to that point, and more population density occurs, I hope that the next lines are elevated and having an existing rail system is the only way more expensive systems can get built.
A few things to add in this discussion. and hopefully an little education on Houston.
1) People have stated that the city was designed around the automobile. that is both true and false. The first hundred years or so of Houston's existence was a compact urban center. They had mass transit (light rail) leading up and down almost ALL downtown streets and to the far suburbs of Montrose and Houston Heights. Those areas were created to be street car suburbs.
Here is a photo of Main Street in 1910. Notice the Light rail that goes right down the middle of it. []
Coincident or not, but most of the charming neighborhoods in houston were created to be serviced by mass transit.
2) The freeway. In the 30's and 40's Houston mayors started applying for every federal freeway grant they could get their hands on. They had a vision to replace all mass transit with freeways and open up the region to low density development. I don't want to speculate on their intentions, or make this a political debate, but it shaped the city.
Here is a aerial view of of downtown Houston in 1944, RIGHT BEFORE the massive freeways would alter our city.
[]
Notice how dense downtown is in terms of development. Blocks of empty parking are not there. The city had to be efficient to operate. Also, notice where Minute Maid Park is now. You will find the old Union Station. A station that received 13 rail lines INCLUDING a commuter rail to Galveston. Downtown residents that lived around the cbd could catch a train and spend the afternoon at the beach if they wanted to. This is how Houston was developed and for the first 100+ years of existence it was a compact city and developed like any other city.
The freeways were slowly introduced, demolishing whole sections of the city and isolating others. the neighborhoods around downtown were leveled to make way for speculative development that we are still waiting on.
3) Fast forward to the present. Houston has emerged as the 4th largest city in the US and has a strong economy that specializes in Energy, Medical, and others. We now have an extensive freeway system that services far off suburbs. Many, who make uo the 150,00 or so that work downtown and the large number (don't now exact figure) that work in the medical center. The inner loop is approaching a population of nearly 600,000 and most, if not all of the important cultural, sporting, entertainment, education, shopping, and business centers are located inside the loop. We have to have something in place for the city's future. the rail doesn't have to serve everyone but if the city wants to be considered a world class city it has to have some form of transit in place. The idea is to get commuters to downtown via Park and Ride and then get them around the city via the rail.
4) With that in mind, the city envisions that development must cater toward the rail line to be most beneficial. that is why they passed a city ordinance supporting transit oriented design around the rail.
I don't have the complete listing but part of the presentation to the City was to show all of the development that has already occurred within 1 mile of the rail SINCE 2002. It was quite an extensive list, including Discovery Green, One Park Place, Pavilions, Apartments in Midtown, and the Museum District, and many other developments. There were a few other announcements recently including new apartments in midtown, a new MFA museum, and other so the city is developing around the current rail and tons around the future rail, including major developments around UH and Uptown anticipating the arrival.
5) Government. I don't want to get into the full background but the city has to rely on federal funds (grants) to get this thing built. I've heard some say why don't they build a line that connects the suburbs. Well, why would the city do all the work to connect to Katy, or the Woodlands, etc. and ignore the centers they have IN HOUSTON. Katy could always apply for the federal grants and work with Houston but its not THE CITY of HOUSTON'S job to pick which suburbs it works with.
The city of Houston has the responsibility of making the city a viable city and continuing to search for smart economic advancements. the suburbs need to understand that Houston is the "Golden Goose" of the region and having a more desirable city helps all of of the suburbs. After all, no one is telling the suburbanites to abandon their car...no, just to understand that the CITY is trying to improve its infrastructure in a way that doesn't use local taxes.
Again, I encourage you to ride the rail line at least 20 times, at different times of the day, and find who you see riding it. the uses will only grow when the new lines service UH, Theater District, Uptown, East End, etc.
This rail is really about the future of the city because after we are all gone, and the newest master planned community 40 miles away or highrise inside the city has been created we will be left with the CITY. It will always be there.
A few things to add in this discussion. and hopefully an little education on Houston.
1) People have stated that the city was designed around the automobile. that is both true and false. The first hundred years or so of Houston's existence was a compact urban center. They had mass transit (light rail) leading up and down almost ALL downtown streets and to the far suburbs of Montrose and Houston Heights. Those areas were created to be street car suburbs.
Here is a photo of Main Street in 1910. Notice the Light rail that goes right down the middle of it.
[IMG]https://www.city-data.com/forum/[]
Coincident or not, but most of the charming neighborhoods in houston were created to be serviced by mass transit.
2) The freeway. In the 30's and 40's Houston mayors started applying for every federal freeway grant they could get their hands on. They had a vision to replace all mass transit with freeways and open up the region to low density development. I don't want to speculate on their intentions, or make this a political debate, but it shaped the city.
Here is a aerial view of of downtown Houston in 1944, RIGHT BEFORE the massive freeways would alter our city.
[IMG]https://www.city-data.com/forum/[]
Notice how dense downtown is in terms of development. Blocks of empty parking are not there. The city had to be efficient to operate. Also, notice where Minute Maid Park is now. You will find the old Union Station. A station that received 13 rail lines INCLUDING a commuter rail to Galveston. Downtown residents that lived around the cbd could catch a train and spend the afternoon at the beach if they wanted to. This is how Houston was developed and for the first 100+ years of existence it was a compact city and developed like any other city.
The freeways were slowly introduced, demolishing whole sections of the city and isolating others. the neighborhoods around downtown were leveled to make way for speculative development that we are still waiting on.
3) Fast forward to the present. Houston has emerged as the 4th largest city in the US and has a strong economy that specializes in Energy, Medical, and others. We now have an extensive freeway system that services far off suburbs. Many, who make uo the 150,00 or so that work downtown and the large number (don't now exact figure) that work in the medical center. The inner loop is approaching a population of nearly 600,000 and most, if not all of the important cultural, sporting, entertainment, education, shopping, and business centers are located inside the loop. We have to have something in place for the city's future. the rail doesn't have to serve everyone but if the city wants to be considered a world class city it has to have some form of transit in place. The idea is to get commuters to downtown via Park and Ride and then get them around the city via the rail.
4) With that in mind, the city envisions that development must cater toward the rail line to be most beneficial. that is why they passed a city ordinance supporting transit oriented design around the rail.
I don't have the complete listing but part of the presentation to the City was to show all of the development that has already occurred within 1 mile of the rail SINCE 2002. It was quite an extensive list, including Discovery Green, One Park Place, Pavilions, Apartments in Midtown, and the Museum District, and many other developments. There were a few other announcements recently including new apartments in midtown, a new MFA museum, and other so the city is developing around the current rail and tons around the future rail, including major developments around UH and Uptown anticipating the arrival.
5) Government. I don't want to get into the full background but the city has to rely on federal funds (grants) to get this thing built. I've heard some say why don't they build a line that connects the suburbs. Well, why would the city do all the work to connect to Katy, or the Woodlands, etc. and ignore the centers they have IN HOUSTON. Katy could always apply for the federal grants and work with Houston but its not THE CITY of HOUSTON'S job to pick which suburbs it works with.
The city of Houston has the responsibility of making the city a viable city and continuing to search for smart economic advancements. the suburbs need to understand that Houston is the "Golden Goose" of the region and having a more desirable city helps all of of the suburbs. After all, no one is telling the suburbanites to abandon their car...no, just to understand that the CITY is trying to improve its infrastructure in a way that doesn't use local taxes.
Again, I encourage you to ride the rail line at least 20 times, at different times of the day, and find who you see riding it. the uses will only grow when the new lines service UH, Theater District, Uptown, East End, etc.
This rail is really about the future of the city because after we are all gone, and the newest master planned community 40 miles away or highrise inside the city has been created we will be left with the CITY. It will always be there.
You need to understand what a light rail is...it is not the fancy modern train you think of, it is a type of rail
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North Line Expansion
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