Yes, so? You measure the effectiveness and efficiency of a system based on riders per mile. How is that misleading? You realize that the ratio of rail miles to square miles the city covers is ridiculously imbalanced compared to almost every other city, right? What you just said is the definition of misleading.
You sound like bigtexxx's second account with that "game. set. match." statement. We have 7.5 miles of rail and have 37000+ riders. They have had to order more cars just to keep up with demand. So you first argue that ridership per mile doesn't count, but then you argue that ridership needs to be higher for the city. However the rail is so small how do you expect for more people to ride. It doesn't reach most people. For the small area it does cover ridership is extremely high.
Why not? We're already seeing the area inside the loop "densify" with many townhomes being built over the past 10 years. Building a light rail does nothing to alleviate traffic congestion on the freeways.
Well, the problem is, is that when other grade seperated rail was proposed, it was always stopped through similiar measures as Culberson is doing here. If the Richmond Line doesn't get built, then it's not like another line that connects downtown and uptown will. I light rail down Richmond connecting Uptown, Greenway Plaza, and downtown would be super effective.
It's measure of how crowded the trains are. It is not misleading because it shows that a lot of people ride the rail, even though it is not very long. I'm not sure you understand the concept of ridership per mile. Yes, but consider this: we spent $3 billion expanding Katy Freeway. Not to build it, but just expand it. And you know what? All of our freeways wil require that investment every 20-30 years or so. What does that add up to? I'm not saying we shouldn't be building and maintaining our freeways, because we should. But I'm saying that the cost of light rail is a mere fraction of what freeways costs, and it is a one time investment that has a greater impact per dollar.
Exactly, and you know why that is? Cause we only have 7 miles of the damn thing, lol. Build more and we will have more ridership.
And that's exactly why I'm in favor of building rail. Our population in the inner-loop is growing, yet our roads are not. OK, but that isn't the reason why I or most others are in favor of it. It's about providing an alternative way to get around Houston, attracting more riders to public transportation, which takes cars off the road, and overall making our city a nicer place to live.
The new Katy Autobahn is the envy of the world. Driving through the sky at 70 miles an hour in personalized air conditioned comfort, with the ability to choose any store, any restaurant , or any massage services at any time. The best public monies ever spent.
It's a start. You don't just wait until you have 20 million inhabitants and say we need mass transit. This smallish Light Rail is just the start for a much broader commuter system that prob won't be run by METRO. The foundation must be built and we don't have unlimited sums of cash to bury major rail lines. This is the most cost effective medium to our problem.
Maybe if we don't build it, we won't get 20 million residents. Unlimited growth is never sustainable.
It sounds like your number one objective is to attract more riders to public transportation. That by itself is not a sufficient reason. You're advocating rail purely for having the "luxury" of having another mode of transportation, and in your subjective opinion it will make Houston a "nicer place to live" -- whatever that means. We don't have a problem with congestion on roads inside loop 610. You have not convinced me why we need rail. You just want it to have the luxury of riding it. That's not reason enough. You're also driven by some weiner envy of other cities. Playing a "me too" strategy of trying to catch other cities on some subjective metric you dream up is not a wise vision for Houston if it involves spending the kind of money we're talking about.
There used to be street cars in Houston and they were taken out by political and business interests that had nothing to do with your mythical market place. This happened all over the country. The biggest waste of resources in human history is the modern suburban sprawl- none of it is about "convenience."
Despite having only 7 miles of LRT vs. 48 in Dallas, Houston's METRO "roars" past DART in transit access rankings.... A selected piece from this article: http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Bill-King-Metro-roars-past-DART-in-1685990.php
By your definition, Brook Lopez was the 4th best scorer in the league last season Per 48. The point I was making is the sample size is too small. You can't assume that it will be as efficient simply by extrapolating the numbers which is I made that 12:1 to 50:5 ratio comparison.
Scam by GM. All the people not wanting to give people transportation options are totally backward thinkers. This is why houston is a laughingstock when it comes to public transport. You can drive but another option has to be there or Houston will NEVER and I repeat never be a world class city
Yeah we'll never have the best boutiques and cafes and symphony, we'll just keep growing and producing and making money and kicking ass in general. Those "world class" cities can pound sand.
He wasn't extrapolating anything. He was defending the usefulness of the current rail line, which is very efficient and highly trafficked.
Wow texxx...really? This is a pretty simple concept. So you are either being intentionally dense or you just aren't thinking critically. The light rail being proposed now is the basis for a larger project later. You build it to go to key parts of the city...med center, UH, Uptown, etc...then once you can move people within the city, taking a commuter train into the city becomes more feasible for people. Only 25,000 people work downtown, so taking a commuter train makes no sense if you a stranded downtown and do not work there. The freeway traffic relief comes once the overall system is in place. As for townhomes, yes they are being built in droves. I work in the Rice Military area, where they have been building them like crazy for the last five years. The recent ones cost around $300-$350k, and they are about to break ground on ones that cost over $400k. I suspect that the people who can afford those aren't going to ride public transportation whether it is a train or a bus.
