Makes you wonder why Metro had to recently overhaul their bus system. Rail fail? <iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VpUQ_EMV23c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Rail is a horrible idea. The major cost of each Bus is the driver and soon we will have busses that can drive themselves. Strategic rail going to the airports would make more sense than what they have now
I'm not going to say there isn't truth in that video but it reminds me of something a libertarian Michael Moore might put together, with very cherry-picked information and interviews spliced together to make their point. Rail tends to work in cities where it was already a part of the city fabric. Forcing light rail into infrastructure not equipped for it? Potential for fiasco.
Pretty much this. It doesn't take an urban development genius to realize DC's rail would be a disaster. It has less to do with rail and more to do with politicians. Seattles rail works very well. I dont think Houstons is that bad either.
What are people's thoughts about the north expansion of the Red Line? I don't like it. The TMC-Downtown connection makes sense because there is better freeway access in downtown for people to be bused to their respective suburb. I also am not a fan of the purple or green line. Metro should have built on the red line by establishing commuter rail lines. There are existing land tracks and rail tracks for commuter rail. As far as sex appeal, New York and Boston both have commuter rail - so it is hip.
I worked in Houston over the summer and **TRIED to use the light rail, since I pretty much use it everywhere I go in Denver. I never realized what a piece of **** it is. You can't even park at the individual stops, only at the north and south ends of the line.
The Denver light rail system is much better than what we have in Houston as far as design and effectivness but that is not the point. Rail is a massive waste of money, look at the cost to ride it in Denver and the fact they are broke. Imagine lower cost busses with the same platforms that become even cheaper when drivers are eliminated in the near future. The same exact space can be designated for bus routes at a fraction of the cost
You cant just throw more buses on the road when congestion continues to grow without buses. Unless you want to build dedicated bus lanes that is. That's part of the problem with Texas as a whole. Congestion on roads is growing faster than transportation spending. Rail is perfectly fine as long as it isn't built just for the sake of having rail. The Red line has been a success in terms of ridership and year of year growth. Dallas for example has tons of rail but ridership per line is frankly mediocre at best (kind of like Denver's). As an individual stretch of track, the Red Line has done very well for itself. I can't speak for the new rail lines however. Perhaps those were poor choices. I have no idea. Here in Minneapolis, we only have two light rail lines but both target very heavily trafficed areas and the result is that ridership has been way above projections on both lines. Both lines were built to serve a very specific purpose. If you pick and choose your transit projects, you'll get results. But to your point, buses are important too. We have a very strong commuter bus system but that's only possible because unlike Houston, there is quite a bit of planning and organization to the metro area. Houston is a mess in terms of planning so building mass transit becomes that much harder. Instead of turning this into a bus v. rail discussion, this should be a discussion of how you develop a mass transit strategy. Rail is part of that especially when you get into areas like the medical center and downtown because buses will always run slower than rail there. But effective bus transit from the suburbs is the only viable option for Houston. Those wishing for commuter rail are in fantasy land. Houston's suburbs aren't dense enough and are way too spread out to ever have commuter rail. Strong Bus links are the only real way to connect the suburbs to the urban core in Houston. With that said, Houston's highway expansions should build in support for a bus lane. Lastly, Houston needs to stop walling off HOV lanes. I still dont understand why that is a thing.
Without actual numbers in front of me I support what is happening on post oak with dedicated bus lines. This will be much more cost-effective and eventually busses won't need drivers. Rail seems more cosmopolitan but there is a better chance light rail lines are torn up in the future than the program ever being in the black
I dont find the importance on whether rail will ever gets its ROI back. We spend billions of dollars on our roads and we do not get a penny back. I find it much more important that rail systems are built appropriately. I would love to see the HOV lanes ripped out and see rail put in their place.
