Despite the idiots that don't look before turning left, I am impressed with what light rail has accomplished. I have rode the trains probably 2-3 dozen times at all times of day and night. There have ALWAYS been a notable amount of people on it. Only a couple time have there been less than 10 people riding. I read somewhere that ridership is 25% higher than predicted. All the people complaining that nobody will ride it because it is <8 miles long and doesn't go anywhere...well those people were dead wrong. People ride it like crazy. They still have a couple kinks. It stops too often for red lights. I thought it was supposed to have all green lights. All this and the trains still only run 10-15 minutes apart plus cooresponding buses still run up and down Main St. Once peope stop running into the trains, they'll start running every 6 minutes and eliminate those noisy buses with competing routes. Then ridership will be even higher. Development along the line has been excellent and will now improve with the proven success of the line. One recommendation for the next proposed lines. Build it under ground or elevate it where possible. It will reduce traffic problems and increase speed.
We have my wife's first doctor's appointment for our pregnancy in the Med Center tomorrow afternoon...after the appointment, she's driving home and I'm catching MetroRail over to downtown to meet some friends for dinner and then on to the Astros game. How great is that?? I'm addicted to that freaking train. I ride it whenever I can, even if it's LESS convenient. What a freak.
Incredibly weak points on how the light rail is "successful so far". 1) "Only a couple time have there been less than 10 people riding." ???!!! 10 people?? What is that, 1 per every 4 rows on the train?? That's hardly a measure of success. 2) "I read somewhere that ridership is 25% higher than predicted." You read this "somewhere"? That's solid evidence, right there my friend. Never mind that the two biggest boosters that this light rail will ever see happened in its first 5 weeks of operation (the grand opening and the Super Bowl) 3) "People ride it like crazy." Wow, that's rich. They ride it "like crazy". Ridership alone doesn't make it successful. I want to see a complete analysis of how this money better transports Houstonians than it would if it were spent on another form of transportation, such as buses or freeway infrastructure. You would think Metro would be happy to provide that. In fact I'm sure they've tried to pull this analysis together since it would silence all the rail critics. I haven't seen this analysis. Probably because it doesn't exist. The fact that the rail system has had over 30 accidents in 3 months of operation is terrible. In fact it has become a laughingstock. At some point you can't just attribute each crash to another "idiot driver". At some point you must admit that the rail system wasn't properly designed. I will grant that this rail system is useful for things like Max did. Taking it from downtown to the Med Center is great. Nevermind that buses have been doing that for probably 50 years, but if it's cool to ride the train down there, more power to ya. Bottom line is that Houston overpaid for a "cool-looking", unsafe train that does nothing a bus hasn't done for years. I'm a huge supporter of mass transit, just not the way this light rail was done. My ideal solution would have been an express bus system similar to the one in Curibita, Brazil, which has dedicated bus lanes and loading/unloading platforms that are set aside from the rest of traffic, similar to train platforms.
I'm just hoping for the echo. Of course, it's usually bigtexxx that does the echoing. Maybe because he came out second?
I think its fairly obvious that anything said about the limited rail system in place at this early point is meaningless. Its only 4 months into its operation. I too remember seeing that ridership was higher than excepted and I think that is a good start. A better question right now would be for you would be: What WOULD constitute a success in your mind? I seriously don't think anything related to the rail will be viewed as sucessful in your mind, you think we should stick to the same 'build huge highways and more busses' plan that helped create the traffic nightmare in the first place. I was down in the Hermann Park area on Saturday and the trains I saw were all packed with the platforms full of expectant riders. What more could you ask for?
People are riding. It adds convenience to people's lives (see MadMax's post above). People who would NEVER ride a bus are more than willing to get on a train. It is a great beginning for the eventual commuter rail lines (the ones that WILL take loads of traffic off the freeways). It adds the perception of modernism to our city (and perception is everything). Texx, you can boo-hoo about how you THINK rail is too expensive, but thankfully the people of Houston see the value (not just the ridership, but ALL the value) to having a modern mass transit system. You might as well get set to keep it up (the whining) because rail is not only here to stay, but the system will continue to expand in order to increase the options available to all people who want to use mass transit. Get used to it.
Andy thank you for answering my question, unlike some of the other "no-content" posters on this board. I don't fully agree with your points, although a couple of them have merit. See I think it actually adds a lot more inconvenience than convenience. An untold number of businesses on Main Street had to shut down due to the construction of the line. Driving downtown was intolerable for a looong time due to construction of this thing. The new Main street in Midtown is incredibly inconvenient with the no left turn laws. I live in Midtown and have YET to ride the rail because it has never been the most convenient form of transportation for me to get where I'm going. I have ridden the bus several time since the rail started, btw. This system is no more convenient than the buses that have been there. I agree this is a problem. But instead of perhaps marketing our outstanding bus system better in an attempt to change its perception, we choose to solve this problem by spending hundreds of millions on a light rail? Hmm. This is where Houston has failed most miserably. We have received national bad press for our rail line which was supposed to add to the perception of modernism. This includes national reporters joking about the number of accidents that would occur when they were here for the Super Bowl, and this gem from the USA Today. USA TODAY: "Houston's Crash Course in Light Rail" www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-03-07-houston-rail_x.htm The train being called the "Wham-Bam-Tram" and the "Amusement Park for Idiots" is looking to be justified.
Sorry, I don't want to get into this thread, but texxx calling our bus system outstanding was too funny to not point out. Not that I'd blame Metro for it. Houston's geography is such that mass transit systems have a hard time being effective. But, getting around much of Houston by bus is, well, terrible.
Honestly, no I can't, nor could I argue that it hasn't. I don't have the desire to look into it any moreso than I have any desire to investigate whether our waste disposal services are economically efficient, etc. Plus, I believe it's way too soon to be able to accurately determine whether or not light rail is a success. Maybe in a few years and once it's expanded to more far-reaching areas. That being said, everyone I've talked to that's taken advantage of the train loves it. I don't have much sympathy for people who can't read street signs, however. There's not a wreck yet that couldn't have been avoided by drivers obeying traffic signs. Of course, you've never really given anyone a reason to respond to you in a civil manner. 99% of your posts here contain some sort of GOP talking point about liberals hating America. Why should anyone bother with you? That being said, the place isn't the same now that most of the conservatives have left. I understand how it could be very annoying as a conservative during this time on the BBS. I wish there were more around, including you and Trader_Jorge, but without all the crap involved. I'll be the first to make a pledge right now to leave personal insults (personal or ideological) out of any of these debates as long as more conservatives would come back.
The rail will be most effective when it connects to main hubs of the city such as IAH, Hobby, Greenway Plaza, Downtown, and the Galleria. I think we're about ten years away from seeing that, however. But, one of the fundamental tenets of light rail is that it should connec the main hubs of the city.
My defintition of success is an antidote...not hard fact. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. I figured it would be obvious by the language I used. What is clear to anybody that has been on the train, it is heavily utilized. It seems other folks that have responded here agree. Regarding your point that the rail in inherenty unsafe: This Chron article describes the independent report by A&M that says otherwise. Read the first paragraph in this article. My wife is from Toronto. They have street cars (aka light rail). God forbid, people are even allowed to drive on the tracks. It isn't a problem there. The report found there is nothing fundamentally different about our system than any other street level system in the world. Our drivers just don't know how to respond to it yet. So is your justification that Houstononians are too stupid, relative to the rest of the world, and therefore we should not have built it? Maybe we should have done a driving IQ test and if we failed, then we better not do it. The system isn't unsafe, our drivers are. Sorry to bust your buble but EVERY accident, w/out exception has resulted in a driver violation.
Let me respond to your other points so you don't blame me for avoiding you. Good job in taking what I said out of context. I said, only a couple times where that <10 people. Most of the time (of the 2-3 dozen times I rode it) there are dozens of people. Okay I can't find the Chron article that stated that. But since Chump also said below he saw that article, I know I'm not crazy. But I'll retract that statement, if your gonna hold me to it. So you would like us to spend even more money on a "complete analysis" on justifying something that voters already approved. There's a good use of money. It's been proven over and over that people don't like buses. Even if it is technically less expensive to build (BTW, but buses are more expensive to operate, pollute the air and are noisy), why pour money behind something that is proven that the majority of people won't use? Cliche: Pouring good money behind something bad makes it a bad use of money.
I like it so far, I just wish they could get it to actually reach some needed areas. I have only been on it once so far, back on Super Bowl weekend (the only time this year I have been to downtown Houston) Man, down towards memorial area there used to be old tracks along old Katy (and I-10) , It would be so sweet if they still had the tracks in there and the train coming that far out. I would be on the sucker so often if that was the case.
And the businesses that are there now are boooooming with the revitalization efforts, the TC, Minute Maid, and the rail line. The rail line is a necesssary component. If you don't like Main Street to drive on, there is a very simple solution: take another road in or out of downtown, every other one goes the direction you want. This system is not nearly as convenient as it will be once it is expanded to include commuter rail to the suburbs, but it is a very convenient way to ride anywhere along its route. Keep in mind, this is a STARTER line and as such, is limited in its scope. I speak as someone who spent 3 years with the bus as a primary mode of transportation when I say OUTSTANDING BUS SYSTEM?!? ARE YOU TOTALLY BONKERS!?! And yes, we chose to face the various problems with buses by looking at rail as an alternative. Yeah, well I remember the trashing Houston got (hellhole, etc.) when the NY press was here for the Finals. We have never gotten a fair shake from the national press and wouldn't have even if we had provided all press members with a gift package on par with what the Oscars presenters receive. What you, individually, believe is pretty irrelevant at this point. The voters have spoken and they have chosen to move ahead with rail. For better or worse that is our direction and I foresee that with our current Mayor, those plans will probably do nothing but accelerate. You would be better served trying to modify the plans to your liking than tilting at the windmill that rail has become.
I work at the Reliant building. There is a rail stop on both sides of the fountain (which some coonass drove into, and I drive around it every day and still have no idea how ANYONE could do that). While my coworkers do not make up the majority of the downtown population, I can tell you that we all use the rail at least 3-4 times a week. Pho lunch, Cali sandwich or Phoenix Chicken in Lil' Vietnam? Rail. Hotdogs at the Zoo? Rail Benefit at the museum? Rail Med Center? Rail Continental club? Rail Rodeo BBq? Rail Rodeo concerts? Rail Dinner at Cava Bistro? Rail Needless to say, I am glad we have it. Oh, and the earlier poster was correct....I hate the bus system, I love the rail.
Okay BigTex, Ch. 13 reported tonight that Metro saw 308,000 boardings for the month of March. Considering the trains are only running every 12 minutes in the current limited service, I estimate that they are averaging about 100 people on every train. That's an AVERAGE. I'd guess there aren't 100 people on the late night trains. Let me repeat...people are riding it like crazy. In May, trains will run every 6 minutes and they'll stop running paralell bus routes. They expect daily boardings to raise to 38,000 per day.
