New ride for the new year Festivals mark inaugural day for Metro train By LUCAS WALL Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory/2330363 Houston, long known for its massive freeways, sprawl and car-loving culture, rings in the new year today with a new form of transportation designed to promote a new era of urban density and the ability for some residents to forsake their automobiles. The launch of Metro's $324 million Main Street light rail line ends a 64-year period without rail transit in Texas' largest city. Today also marks Metro's 25th birthday, the end of nearly three years of painful construction that ripped apart the heart of downtown, and the last day in office for term-limited Mayor Lee Brown, who set the train in motion early in his first term six years ago. Brown will drive the first passenger-carrying light rail train out of the Metropolitan Transit Authority's rail yard at 10 a.m. and bust through a paper barrier before an audience of more than 500 invited guests at the Fannin South Park & Ride. Near his final day in office, he described himself as filled with mixed emotions as the rail line, what many believe will be Brown's lasting legacy, begins operating. "I had a vision to make our Main Street the signature boulevard of the city," Brown said. "I think people will come from far just to see what we have here. I'm extremely excited about it -- it's really a vision come true." Metro President and CEO Shirley DeLibero and the authority's board of directors will join Brown in cutting the ribbon to officially dedicate the 7 1/2-mile line, after which the dignitaries will board a train for the inaugural trip to the University of Houston-Downtown. Another ceremony and a VIP brunch follows, then everyone heads to Main Street Square, a new fountain-laced pedestrian plaza, for its grand opening at 1 p.m. Trains will open to the public at 1:30 p.m. and run every 12 to 15 minutes until 5:30. Rides will be free, but passengers should expect to take the train one way and return via bus to allow more people to get on board. While the trains are running, festivals will take place at seven rail stations, and Main Street will be turned into a pedestrian mall for four blocks between Capitol and Congress. Workers continued making final preparations Wednesday, installing station signs, welding railings and removing scaffolding. The line will open with some missing items such as signs and maps at some stations, street signs at various intersections, and a few sidewalks. Some old parking regulation signs remain up, a few train signals are temporarily tied to poles awaiting their permanent fixtures, some maps have been installed backward and three trains have yet to arrive from the California factory. A building under demolition at Main and Walker, just north of Main Street Square, presents an eyesore and blocks the southbound traffic lane. Metro stressed these minor details will be completed later this month, in time for the arrival of Super Bowl visitors. "The system has been operationally sound for some time," Metro spokesman Ken Connaughton said Wednesday afternoon. "The efforts today have been largely cleanup and tweaking, continuing to make sure all systems are functioning." Trains made their final test runs Wednesday as construction crews labored on their last-minute tasks. Dozens of people were seen checking out the station platforms and watching the trains go by. "I'm real excited about it," said Liz Torres of Montgomery, who works at Foley's adjacent to Main Street Square, as two of her friend's children played with a ticket vending machine at the platform outside the store. "I will use it to go to the Texas Medical Center for doctor appointments. ... It'll be something different where you don't have to park." Though always dubbed the Main Street line, it's actually labeled the "Red Line" on signs to give it a distinguishing color on maps with future lines Metro anticipates building. Those who have strived over the past six years to make the city's first light rail line a reality -- and who have endured Houston's 30-year debate over what role trains should play in the transportation mix -- smiled broadly Wednesday in anticipation of the big day. "It's a dawning of a new era," said Ed Wulfe, chairman of the Main Street Coalition, a group of civic leaders supporting redevelopment from Reliant Park to downtown. "You'll be amazed at the turnout we'll see." How many people show up to ride the trains today is a great unknown. Rail line grand openings in other cities have attracted crowds of more than 70,000 people, but no one is quite sure how Houstonians will respond to the Main Street line. To spread out first-time riders, Metro is offering free rides through Sunday. The weather could reduce turnout, as the forecast calls for afternoon showers. But it will be a bright day for the city regardless of the conditions, said Bob Eury, director of the Houston Downtown Management District, which contributed to enhancements along the rail line. "What's so exciting is all these pieces weave together today," Eury said. "All of a sudden, the relation between Reliant Park and the Medical Center, the Museum District, Midtown and downtown all change. We become much closer neighbors." (Go to the Chronicle wesbite for a Flash interactive guide about the light rail system.) I doubt it will work that well; who is really going to give up their cars? I think METRO will only lose out and their bus service will suffer. You would at least think METRO would get a new logo. If their trains are supposed to look futuristic, their buses look uuuuugly. Maybe Two Roads can make something better. Oh yeah, and if anyone plans on taking innagural rides, take pictures!
I'll ride it next time I need to get from the Astrodome to Downtown. That will probably be in about, let's see....never?