Why Is Metro Not Building The Light Rail On the Freeways?

1) link the stats.

2) the HOV issue is maybe more opinionated than anything.... but having 1 HOV lane total as opposed to one each direction seems pretty short sighted to me. you can't tell me entrances every mile isn't superior to 1 entrance every 10 miles (and only at park&ride locations). PLEASE! even cali got it right on that one!

 

Why'd you pick my post to say F-you to the anti-Dallas people. I'm a pro Dallas person (which is why I live here).

But I do think rail to the airports probably should've been quicker, and I am upset that DART found a way to misplace $1 billion, an amount that will hamper expansion of rail services and could have jeopardized the rail line to D/FW airport.

But I love parking (for free) at the Park-And-Ride in Plano, sitting down on the train, putting on my iPod, relaxing the whole way downtown and getting dropped off no more than three or four blocks from where I need to be.

Driving downtown is often nerve-wracking and expensive.

 

1. You go find them yourself. I will save you embarrassment on the forum. If you honestly think I would pull those numbers out of my ass, then .

2. Many of Dallas' freeways only have one HOV in each direction, so I don't know what you are trying to say there. Hell, the only freeways in Dallas with HOV (and I lived in DFW last year) are 35 South, 75 North to Plano, parts of 635 along the Tech Corridor, and I believe 30 East has some.

By the way, I-10 in Katy, and 59 in Sugar Land have HOV's in each direction.

 

Hey, you know you can do that in Houston? It may not be rail (yet in some areas), but you can still do it. It is called Park and Ride. My dad used it all the time from Katy on into town. He parked, got on his Coach-style bus, and rode into Downtown. Parking is free, too.

 

And to tag onto this, METRO has one of the, if not THE, most successful Park and Ride systems in the country. No city in the South comes close.

 

I wasn't trying to imply that I couldn't. I was just noting that despite my complaints about DART leadership and strategies, I still like and use the service they provide.

 

Yeah, they provide good service, despite their 100% over-budget.

 

i have enough faces, one more isn't going to change anything. i don't think you made those numbers up... i just think they're stretched a bit.

which on our great highways have HOV in both directions? you proved my point. while dallas has HOV in both directions... and not limited to 1 entrance/exit, houston only has 1 HOV lane in either direction, and it is limited (in most cases) to and entrance/exit at park&rides.

 

There are HOV lanes going North on 35 and South on 75, too, not just South and North.

 

most HOV lanes:




houston HOV lanes:



hmmm only 1 lane?


(as they say) PWND!




oustide of saving ~8ft, tell me the benefits of having only 1 HOV lane as opposed to 2.

 

Yeah, but for some reason, Houston's HOV lane system trumps every other one in America, and gets a ton more ridership than Dallas' (small) HOV system.

 

Oh no sir, they are not .

I actually underestimated Dallas' system. It is 63,000 (forgot the McKinney Streetcar).

 

I agree with rodrick_98 100% (except liking the Cowgirls/Dallas). Dallas's HOV lanes are FAR superior to Houston's 'secret entrance' HOV lane. You can get on and off at your convenience on the Dallas HOV lanes, and it's governed by strict, high-dollar tickets and honesty. The best answer for Houston is to use the existing HOV lane for a light rail, as mentioned by numerous other people. It would be relatively easy to implement since the infrastructure is largely there.

 

If Dallas' HOV lanes are far superior, how come Houston's has more usage? And it is not as if all of Dallas' HOV lanes are one each way. For example 35 South has just one.

And you can get on and off at the transit centers with Houston's.

You also don't use light rail to move mass amounts of people. That is what commuter rail is for. Light rail is for the inner city. Commuter rail is for moving those mass amounts of people.

If some of you all studied before posting, you would know METRO has plans for five commuter rail lines now. It wouldn't be easy to implement (light rail). You have to string over the electricity, rip up a lot of traffic lanes for room, etc.

Commuter rail is usually built along old rail lines, so it is not a problem.

 

To tag on my post, I don't really see the secret entrance, either. I mean, when I am on I-10 in Katy, there is one BIG entrance to the HOV. I-10 is the only HOV system with only two entrances. The new Katy Tollway will have entrances, and exits everywhere (free for those with three or more passengers).

METRO's plan was better though. They had four mainlanes each way, HOV lane each way, and commuter rail down the middle.

I hate Tom Daley, John Culberson, and Bob Lanier. All are so shortsighted. A 25-mile light rail plan was approved by voters when Bob Lanier was in office, but he opposed it. Dumb.

 

I guess it is a start but so we need so much more help

A person flying into hobby would spend more than 70 dollars in a taxi going to IAH.

these are my suggestions.

Sugar land to DT to Kingwood with service to IAH
Woodlands to DT to the edge of Houston near clear lake (Hobby people could get on this track and take it to IAH)
Katy to Downtown
290 area like the outlet mall part of town to DT and then the Galleria where 290 end/begins.

 

I didn't realize that there was that much of a market - demand for transportation between Hobby and IAH.


Sugar land to DT to Kingwood with service to IAH
US 59

Woodlands to DT to the edge of Houston near clear lake (Hobby people could get on this track and take it to IAH)
I-45


Katy to Downtown
I-10


290 area liek the outlet mall part of town to DT and then the Galleria where 290 end/begins.



Overall, it seems like the right areas are being served, but the logistics of acquiring the needed Right-of-Way are daunting. Probably have the I-45 leg through downtown overlaid on top of the US 59 leg (George R Brown Convention Center area).


Cost for doing all of that?
Huge.

 

Wouldn't a line with "back door service" be better served running through the Montrose area?

 

LA has a ton of ridership on their HOV lanes(except there is virtually no difference)

 

Where are you going to place the track? People have this fantasy proposals.

First, if Sugar Land wants commuter rail (you use commuter rail in this situation, not light rail), then it needs to fork over money to METRO. For now, Missouri City will be getting the light rail.

And you know what, I'm just going to post the maps:

Phase II:



Phase III:



http://www.ctchouston.org/information/factsheets/railexpansion/railexpansion2.shtml

All are light rail. The black dashes are commuter rail.