U.S. transportation chief: Houston needs to 'get its act together' on light rail

He didn't mention race, others assumed that is what he meant. There are tons of homeless white people in and around the light rail and downtown, and to assume there aren't is ignorant as well. I've been to, and volunteered at the Star of Hope many times... and there are an eclectic mix of folks there, just like there is in our city.

People are making a race issue out of something that isn't even there. It is no surprise to anyone that lower income people, of all races, use public transportation more frequently.

Park and ride were put in place to get to the suburbs and back. Last I checked homeless people didn't want to go to the suburbs because A, there aren't missions/shelters there and B, there isn't foot traffic to panhandle to. I have ridden on the park and ride with lots of "poor" people, and it is still a cheaper alternative than a taxi at $2.50-$5.00.

 

Cheaper and more flexible.

 

How does the new east-west line cross the Red line? They don't have intersecting tracks do they? I would be scared to death of a crash.

 

That is false. You can take a P&R bus from the suburbs into DT or the Med Center and use the light rail to get to your final destination. Approximately one-third of light rail ridership commutes from the burbs into DT and the Med Center.

 

There's a lot ignorance here about how things are supposed to work. First of all, our road SYSTEM works well because it is a SYSTEM of streets, boulevards, avenues, freeways, toll roads, and interstate. Our public transit SYSTEM doesn't work well because it is missing a lot components of a good system.
Light rail was never and is never supposed to be THE answer, just part of the answer. Houston needs to get its act together and start seriously considering more public transit options getting commuters out of cars because it's been adding 1 million people/decade.

 

could have taken the P&R then transferred to another bus

DUH

 

Feasibly, how much more freeway capacity can this city build? There are only so many lanes that can be built from a structural viewpoint.

Also, if you need an ambulance and have to worry about getting across Houston in one...you are probably already screwed.

 

Light rail has a much more capacity than buses and is more reliable. The Main st line has the second highest ridership per mile because putting a train between two large, dense employment centers just is good transit policy.

 

You can only widen I10 so many times until it is prohibitively cost ineffective (double stack 16 lanes). This city has no choice but to invest more in public transit.

 

lol ever heard of cost?? Rail is expensive as hell.

"ridership per mile" -- what was the bus ridership along that route that got replaced by the toy train?

 

plenty of opportunity to build larger and more freeways

besides, once the driverless cars take hold you'll be able to triple freeway capacity, if not more

we need to look to forward looking technologies, not technology from the 1800s (trains)

 

Define "expensive as hell". Rail certainly costs more upfront but it has a much longer shelf life.

LOLZ. "Toy train". Son you ain't got much of an argument when have to refer to it as such. *chuckles*

The bus ridership was lower before it. You got any hard questions?

 

Oh we will have to, been adding a million per decade. But there is a limit. We'll have to build more public transit too. Fo' sure.

Ok. Well we ain't there yet. Most of the world is still investing in public transit along with road infrastructure. You ain't special.

Why? Still ain't nothing more efficient than a train. 21st century is all about efficiency son.

 

I agree completely. But, they started with light rail, which was the WRONG way to start. They should have started with high-speed rail lines that went out to the suburbs, again like Chicago's Metra system which I mentioned earlier.

Park and Ride is HUGELY successful, and so successful that many remote lots actually overflow because of the popularity. Most people commute to work and don't live in the city - so the current light rail (and proposed light rail) lines are pretty worthless at lightening congestion by meaningful numbers. In fact, I'd put money on the vast majority of light rail users, were using Metro buses before to begin with so they've only moved from one form of public transit to another.

 

You're right, driving is not safe.

 

Billions that will never be recovered unlike toll roads.

 

Because Park & Ride buses run at near maximum. Try finding a spot to park in Clear Lake or Bay Area as an example. Many Park & Ride buses are standing room only as well.

If you compared passengers per operation hour it isn't even close between the two. Remember the light rail runs 23 hours a day, and the Park & Ride runs just eight hours.

http://www.ridemetro.org/News/Documents/RidershipReport.aspx

33,111 people rode Park & Ride in October 2013, while 40,346 rode MetroRail during the week.

This doesn't even take in to consideration the Woodlands Express. An area that would benefit greatly from real commuter trains like Chicago's Metra.

 

The problem with Houston light rail is the same problem with Metro buses, period. They just haven't gotten anyone besides the lower class to buy into it. I'm sure Sundays getting to Reliant it's nice and all, but on any rush hour traffic or God forbid late at night on the weekend, there's just homeless people up and down the train cars harrassing commuters or soliciting them for cash. My old classmates had so many stories about homeless or crazy people doing stupid things on the rail. I just bought a scooter instead and did whatever the hell I wanted to in the med center. People have no idea how to react to motorcycles and scooters in this city. It's at once fantastic and really dangerous.

 

And it has nothing to do with race. Ya'll who think the rail is safe on a weekend night need to give it a try for once. I went to a Rockets game on it last month, and I've pretty much given up on it for good. I live in the Heights, and the next time I go to watch the Rockets I'm riding my bike. No kidding. It's a great ride. Just don't hit me bro. I follow road rules.