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

too bad the light rail does ZILCH to help rush hour traffic on freeways. Rush hour traffic is a problem due to commuters from suburbs clogging freeways

the toy train doesn't even extend outside the loop so it's worthless to help freeway congestion.

 

I would continue to use my car as would the majority of suburbanites.
Seriously, think of why people move to the suburbs? Lower population density and less inter-class mingling. Personal space and privacy.

That's not everyone's motivation, but it is for some people.

 

And even when it's not a person's motivation for moving to the suburbs, people just naturally, as people, like space and privacy.

Not having to constantly deal with the potential of dealing with threats around you is really comforting, even if you are okay and able with being out and about in the streets around all sorts of classes and people.

 

gee, I wonder why that is...

 

yea.. but the psyche this media climate we live in says people will take privacy in a speeding deathtrap over a train with *****s and latinos anyday

 

Or maybe just a desire for privacy and personal space.
Would I rather travel in a spacious car or a packed bus/light rail?

Not a hard choice.

 

is that a bus? I thought this was about trains.

 

That's the problem, light rail ISN'T faster. Have you ridden in one? You travel about as quickly as you would by street bus, so they aren't good for commuters like park and rides are.

If they were going to build a train that people used to get in town (read daily commuters), it would need to be like Chicago's Metra Rail, which works fantastic. Light rail is slow, and worthless for day to day commuters who travel more than a few miles.

 

i read the context of the post above mine and posted that as a way of invalidating your argument that it's strictly about the minorities

it's purely about disposable income and the independence it buys

In Houston, there are a lot of people with it because of lower real estate prices

though to be fair, I would love a rail option from my burb home in a situation like tonight where i'm going to the Rox game

 

Being on the rail with a conductor talking/texting on the phone is a pretty damn big threat to the riders or other nearby vehicles. Ask the folks in Spain.

 

He's saying that thanks to Tom Delay, Houston lost out on federal funding to build a more effective rail systm.

Not by itself, no. But it can certainly play a part in a much larger transit solution.

DC's rail system is anything but a boondoggle.

 

Ah, yes, there's nothing the Conservative South responds to better than the federal government telling it to get its act together.

It's too bad, really. If Houston had top-notch public transit it could possibly catapult into Alpha+ status.

 

God forbid you mingle with the common man. Public transportation is good for creating a sense of connectivity and civic pride. It acts as a vein of cohesion for the city. Being in your little steel bubble might be great and all, but all it does is create a sense of insularity and inconsideration for others around you. It's time for all Western cities to cut it out with the ridiculous sprawl and start trying to create some functional urbanity. Even the notoriously vast Los Angeles is in the midst of getting its act together with public transit, and the last thing Houston can afford to do is fall behind.

 

Remember, European cities that are dense, as well as cities like NYC and Boston, formed that way because they were there for centuries before the automobile and they had to. Houston is very different, and nobody should force "functional urbanity" (whatever the hell that is) on anybody else. Sorry, dumb idea.