When will Houston have world-class mass public transit? (Clint: construction, bill)

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by Bike4Life

It won't happen since Rep. John Culbertson has been re-elected AGAIN! OMG, I can't believe he's still in the office. He LOVES searing hot concretes and NO rail. I still can't believe this!!!!! We need HELP!

I can't stand his extremist right-wing rhetoric better suited from the mouth of a talk-show host than a United States Congressman. (Remember what he said in front of the cameras at his party after he won re-election?)

The DCCC needs to work on District 7 and to a lesser extent District 22! I didn't see assistance for Michael Skelly from 527s during the election when transportation is a big issue in growing Houston. But then and again, Conservatives are slow in embracing new things or admitting that managing growth means change. 50 years ago, there was significant opposition to freeways and conservatives embraced public transit. The pro-freeway supporters miraculously squeaked by--hopefully we will have a window of opportunity in the near future.

[jfre81]

Culberson sucks. Too bad I didn't live about a half-mile to the west of where I do, or he'd had another vote against him. Skelly's also a tool for not making transit part of his platform.

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Oh look what I found!

What's wrong with libertarianism

Two can play this game.

Also a good article. It seems that almost any school of thought is ill advised when taken to the extreme.

[Mom2Feebs]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

When the Republicans are run out of office by Progressive Democrats. There's a reason we needed Change in Houston--the politicians are in bed with the oil lobbyists in Washington. Unbelievably prostitution is extremely popular in D.C.; more so than the reputed Las Vegas. Coincidence?

Oh yeah! How much longer do I have to wait for my commuter train? I can't wait for the lobbyists to go away for much longer. The free market pols aren't giving me the free market choices.

Riiiight. It's the Republicans that have done this. Yes.

Whatever!

Originally Posted by chris_ut

Ah Progressives, the bringers of such wonders as Jim Crow Laws, erosion of State's Rights, and New Deal price controls.

Progressive Insurance: Why libertarianism matters more than ever in Obama's America - Reason Magazine

Thank you!

[jfre81]

It's not a partisan issue. You're either in bed with oil and anti-transit developer interests or you're not.

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by txguy2009

When can we expect this by? Why don't we have trains running along the I-45 and 59 and 288 and 290 corridors? This is insane.

Because having trains run down Houston's major corridors generate much lower ridership than you would expect. For example, rail along I10 would have only generated ~15,000 riders/day for billions in infrastructure. It seems many are under the impression building rail along our highways would give Houston world class mass transit but that is nonsense. We need to continue to focus on inner city light rail, increasing bus, and increasing park and ride. There are a few places where commuter rail would be great but we need to rely on a variety of options to manage congestion (rail, bus, carpool, nonpeak work hours, upgraded highways, etc). Houston is just not dense enough to have an effective commuter rail system; we need to start off only with a couple of commuter rail lines.

[jfre81]

Well, before you go bringing people from the burbs into the city via rail, you'd need a proper inner-city rail system. It wouldn't do any good to bring people into the city without a car and without a way to get around.

[Wysiwyg]

Originally Posted by jfre81

Well, before you go bringing people from the burbs into the city via rail, you'd need a proper inner-city rail system. It wouldn't do any good to bring people into the city without a car and without a way to get around.

nah thats not true. bus stops every 4 blocks will do. in Newark NJ they have 'The Loop' bus route and in NYC they have the "34th street loop" bus as part of your train ride.

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by jfre81

Well, before you go bringing people from the burbs into the city via rail, you'd need a proper inner-city rail system. It wouldn't do any good to bring people into the city without a car and without a way to get around.

Exactly. I think the University and Uptown lines will do wonders for inner Houston. Also, we can start to actually begin to build a rail SYSTEM once we connect our largest employment centers together.

[westres1]

I agree...as long as Culberson is in office Houston will not have decent rail system. I cannot believe he was re-elected!