After YEARS of battling and bickering, the city will get its very first light rail line from downtown through the medical center to the Astrodome. I would prefer a more comprehensive plan, myself, but as one person put it to me recently, "You gotta start somewhere." Groundbreaking will happen in the spring with completion set for late 2003 just prior to the 2004 Super Bowl. 2003 is going to be wild - new arena opens in September, light rail launches in the late fall and the Super Bowl the following January! ------------------ Time for a new cause.
So is Tom DeLay still threatening to kill this on the federal level? ------------------ RocketFuel is dead!
Now hopefully a 2003 nba championship ------------------ Ceo of the Walt Williams fan club. Web site coming soon atheistalliance.org
Welcome to the 21st century, Houston. ------------------ -------------- Did you know? Derrick Chievous sucked. It's true. -- from the ClutchCity.net "Did You Know" sidebar
In Salt Lake most people seemed to oppose light rail in the beginning, but now it's a huge hit. It's a predominantly republican area but we even voted to increase the sales tax to get more legs added to the TRACS system. Appeal to people's $$$ and waiting in stupid lines, and they'll eventually come around. ------------------ It just goes to show how skewed our priorities are when Mo Taylor makes millions of dollars while some high school teacher, that can actually rebound, scrapes to make a living. If Mo were half the power forward that Charles Barkley was, he'd be 3'2" and still board more than he does now.
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 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! [big finish]Monorail! Homer: Mono...D'oh!
I believe this starter line doesn't rely on Federal money, but will rather use only Metro funds. So, DeLay can't block it anymore. He could only block the use of Federal funds. ------------------ Houston Sports Board The Anti-Bud Adams Page
Where will the area coverage of the light rail be running in Houston? ------------------ Go Rockets and Comets! Stay in Houston!
Doesn't seem like much of an area to cover and it seems to cost an aweful lot not many people in that area but hey it is a start Rocket River ------------------
The size of the area is relatively small - approximately a 7 mile line through business districts. Basically, it is a starter line. Eventually, assuming it is successful, more lines out to the suburbs will be added. This line is important for the Super Bowl and the Olympic bid. ------------------ Time for a new cause.
Jeff, this sounds like a boost to Houston. i dont know if you remember the thread in the SOR forum about the economic effects of re-vitilizing downtown, as well as the use of mass transit to increase population density. well this is a subject that im verry interested. i would apreciate it if you could tell me where i could find more info about the proposed light rail. links would be great, or any other info would be nice. thank you, micah ------------------
This will probably give you a good start: http://www.hou-metro.harris.tx.us/ ------------------ Time for a new cause.
Outlaw.... great post... I loved that episode. I hope our light rail, doesn't become like the one in Springfield. rockHEAD "no one saw me do it, you can't prove anything." -Bart ------------------ *** THIS SPACE FOR LEASE ***
When this was more in the forefront, I read a great article on it in the Chronicle. Hopefully they'll put more on this. I wasn't really sold on light rail until I read it. Yes, it is a short line, that doesn't really go to any residential areas. But, it does provide connectivity to a lot of major points that people would want to travel to -- Astro/Reliant domain, Astroworld, Enron Filed, the new arena, the museum district, Hermann Park, the Zoo, the medical center, HCC, and Rice. It also connects to the downtown transit center, and what will be the South Park and Ride (South of the Astrodome, on Main just outside the loop.) This will give immediate park and ride service, 24/7, to all of the above, as well as replacing busses on the heaviest bus corridor in the city. The Medical Center, where I work, currently busses something like 20,000 employees from remote parking lots, EVERY DAY, most of which will transition to the rail system, cutting out 30-40 busses. But the biggest thing is connectivity for the rest of the system. Right now, Metro runs park and ride down almost every major freeway, many which connect through the downtown transit center, and most go to locations on the main street corridor. Those will all dump into the rail line, which will carry the passengers the rest of the way. Then, when Metro starts running rail out to the suburbs, it can simply replace the park and ride routes, one or two at a time, with rail service, which will connect to the central corridor. All of the HOV lanes on the freeways were designed to eventually accommodate rail -- they just have to lay track. These lines can tie into the transit center, where passengers can continue on to wherever they want to go -- down the main street line, or by bus to other locations. The big thing they emphasized is the connectivity of the Main Street line. If they were to run rail to Katy and Sugarland, for example, to alleviate traffic down I10 and US59, where would the line end? It has to go somewhere. To the transit center? Who would want to ride a nice train there, then take a bus the rest of the way? This central route gives other routes a central rail line to connect to, with places on it people would want to go. Until the other lines are put into place, this line gives commuters an immediate option, by tying in with the existing park and ride system. In turn, the use of the park and ride system will tell the city where it needs suburban rail lines, and where bus shuttles would be more appropriate. ------------------ Stay Cool...
Trivia: Who wrote the monorail episode? ------------------ "He was under more balls than a midget hooker."-Bobby Hill visit www.swirve.com and, http://www.geocities.com/clutch34_2000 for great Rocket insight by some of your fellow BBS posters!
Pretty obvious huh? ------------------ "He was under more balls than a midget hooker."-Bobby Hill visit www.swirve.com and, http://www.geocities.com/clutch34_2000 for great Rocket insight by some of your fellow BBS posters!
