forget that, what you folks need is a monorail! Lyle Lanley: Well, sir, there's nothing on earth Like a genuine, Bona fide, Electrified, Six-car Monorail! ... What'd I say? Ned Flanders: Monorail! Lyle Lanley: What's it called? Patty+Selma: Monorail! Lyle Lanley: That's right! Monorail! [crowd chants `Monorail' softly and rhythmically] Miss Hoover: I hear those things are awfully loud... Lyle Lanley: It glides as softly as a cloud. Apu: Is there a chance the track could bend? Lyle Lanley: Not on your life, my Hindu friend. Barney: What about us brain-dead slobs? Lyle Lanley: You'll all be given cushy jobs. Abe: Were you sent here by the devil? Lyle Lanley: No, good sir, I'm on the level. Wiggum: The ring came off my pudding can. Lyle Lanley: Take my pen knife, my good man. I swear it's Springfield's only choice... Throw up your hands and raise your voice! All: Monorail! Lyle Lanley: What's it called? All: Monorail! Lyle Lanley: Once again... All: Monorail! Marge: But Main Street's still all cracked and broken... Bart: Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken! All: Monorail! Monorail! Monorail! Monorail! Homer: Mono... D'oh! take that you seinfeld freaks.
i'm all for monorail...i realize it's butt-ass expensive. but it seems to me if you're going to spend this much money, you do it right...you remove it from street level, at least for easing commuter/freeway type traffic...if we really believe that rail is the way, it seems to me we should do everything we can to make it work...and i don't think light rail, which doesn't move very quickly and competes with traffic, affords us that opportunity
You have to do this already since most people travel to freeways before heading in anyway. I don't see light rail as a solution to cars for short errands. In college, I made sure I lived on the bus route. I expect the same metality will prevail over people in future of light rail. I would be more for an elevated system, but still see light rail as an improvement over current structure which I project will be unfeasible in 15 years.
huh? i don't have to park the car and then wait on a train/bus. i stay in the car...in my case, i drive less than a mile to I-10...and i'm on and going. imagine me taking the park and ride from where i live, near Kirkwood at I-10...and travelling downtown. the nearest park and ride is about 3 miles WEST (the opposite direction from where i'm going)...i go there, fighting traffic...find a place to park my car...walk in the heat/rain/cold/whatever...wait on a bus...board the bus to sit next to people i don't want to sit next to when i could be listening to sportsradio or my music as loud as i want in my own car...and drive right by where i originally started my trip...and into work amongst the same traffic i was hoping to avoid. makes zero sense. and it costs me MORE money than it would to just drive my own car to work. last time i checked, park 'n'ride was roughly $7/day...i can fill up on about $16 and that lasts me just over a week. again...unless you can give people a compelling reason to give up the privacy, comfort and costs of their own cars, they won't.
No it will shut down at night - probably around midnight I'd guess. There are very, very few rail lines/subways that run all night in this country, I believe NYC being an exception. The one in Dallas shuts down at midnight, if I'm not mistaken.
As a frequent visitor who has relatives not too far from Hobby, I'd love to be able to take rail on the weekends to the Zoo and the like with the kids, or to clubs and theatres at night and not have to drive. I hate driving in Houston. Wouldn't the rail be running later on weekends? Seems like it should run until at least 2am. What sort of speed (mph) are we talking about here? Interesting stuff. Now, if only Houston would get zoning!
what Houston needs is something revolutionary and not the tired old concepts that don't apply to our city. What the city needs is PRT. PRT are small little cars on guideways that take up to 4 people DIRECTLY without ANY stops to their destination the costs of such a thing is within line of what a comprehensive light rail line would cost but this thing would work a ton better and would go where people would need. It combines the best of both worlds. Your own little private car taking you nonstop to where you need to go but on a high capacity system that does not clog our streets and freeways. Houston has always been on the cutting edge. I wish Metro would at least seriously look at this. The only problem is that a full system has never been built; however that thinking didn't stop us before. We did build the Astrodome after all. Here is how this would look. http://www.taxi2000.com/ http://www.acprt.org/index.cfm
several of the capital cities in australia have trams running on their roads, rarely do you hear of collisons with cars.
I agree, and that's the shape the plan seems to take. The thing is, say you're trying to go from Sugar Land to Hobby. That means hopping on the commuter line to the Main St. line (which is cool), going all the way Downtown, ( ) and then going back south on the SE\UH-TSU line to Hobby. That's South to North to South again, i.e. more trouble than its worth. My dream scenario is for the rail system to resemble a wheel. Downtown serves as the "center", the lines as the "spokes", and an eventual line running along parts of 610 to form the "rim." Light\elevated rail should tie in everything inside & near 610, with a few exceptions, and commuter rail (much faster, heavier, louder, fewer stops) should connect the outlying surburbs, with a few of them terminating near Downtown in a "Grand Central" type station. Either way, it's going to be so nice to have an alternative transit option.
What I meant was that you would use exiting buses to shuttle people to light rail stations so people wouldn't have to drive to it. I wouldn't see it meant for everyone.
My wife drives 15 minutes to get to the park and ride on I-45, but loves it. Her company pays for it, and most of the people on it are typing at their laptops, reading the paper, or napping anyways. She hates it on the rare occasions she has to drive into work, but she loves the park and ride.
For those of us who wonder if you should vote for the plan, some words from one of our leaders: "It's going to be a fairly tough sell. ... Won't we know more about our transportation needs after 2009 in 2009? Shouldn't that be something that the next mayor ought to have some say on?" That's from former Mayor & Metro Chairman Bob Lanier. Interesting, following Lanier's model, we now know our needs for 2003, and guess what, it's going to take 20 YEARS to address those needs! So much for "planning for today", huh?
Seems to me rail isn't about getting people to and from work anyway. It's a quality of life thing, like sporting arenas. The current rail line is specifically built to take drunken superbowler bigwigs from luxury hotel to Reliant stadium and back. We need the Galleria feeder to take them to strip bars. Luckily, we have a contingency plan to bus the strippers in.
i think this is exactly right. this is not about residents commuting to and from work. this is about attracting visitors and providing them a way to move around town. hope it doesn't undermine the hotel/rental car taxes that are funding our stadiums!
