23 September 2008
METRO says "safety" prevents HOV-lane openings; Judge Emmett criticizes
A reader who resides in Clear Lake emailed us yesterday complaining that METRO continues to run its park-and-ride buses on the main lanes instead of the HOV lanes, turning her commute into a two hour ordeal.
A quick check of METRO's expensive blog turns up this bit of reasoning as to why the HOV lanes are not open:
Our Park & Ride service has been running on its normal schedule since yesterday.
However, all buses are operating in the main lanes. Several of you have e-mailed us, asking why aren't METRO buses using the HOV lanes?
METRO Police Chief Tom Lambert says it's for safety reasons.
"There's no power to operate the vertical gates and the electronic safety signage. Also, some static safety signs are missing. These signs are being made at this time," said Lambert. "We are also working closely with Centerpoint Energy to restore power to HOV gates. We will not open or operate HOVs until power is restored and all safety critical issues are addressed."
In other words, METRO has no sort of disaster plan for the HOV lanes, and no plan to operate them manually in the event of an extended power-loss event. Because of "safety." No solutions to real problems -- That's the customer-oriented attitude we have come to expect from METRO!
Mayor White, who seems to fancy himself an urban General Patton (really!), might consider directing a profanity or two towards METRO regarding their poor planning at some point. Or perhaps Judge Emmett could be dispatched simply to fix things; he seems actually to get results.
BLOGVERSATION: Hair Balls, Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/08 12:32 PM |
22 September 2008
METRO's transit "backbone" up and running again
After taking more than a week off, the Danger Train will operate on its regular schedule today.
Good thing METRO had plenty of buses around as backup!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/22/08 04:50 AM |
19 September 2008
METRO's "transit backbone" still offline; buses back in service
Barry Klein passed along and highlighted some information on METRO in this Chronicle story that ran in Thursday print editions:
Because of continuing electrical outages on the region's HOV-lane system, Metro cannot operate normal park-and-ride service today, the transit agency announced Wednesday.
Park-and-ride service will continue on an abbreviated schedule, with buses leaving on the hour and half-hour from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Buses will continue to operate in the main lanes.
MetroRail is under testing but because of continuing traffic-signal outages, Metro will have to continue running buses down the MetroRail corridor.
MetroLift will resume normal operations today.
Metro has been running normal local service since Wednesday, but because many traffic signals are down around the city, Metro asks that customers remain patient if their bus arrives late.
More info on METRO operations can be found here.
It's rather a good thing that METRO has such a large fleet of buses, no?
On the other hand, it seems rather less of a good thing that the Danger Train runs down busy streets, at grade, mixes with vehicular traffic, and is dependent upon traffic signals having power (instead of a segregated system with its own infrastructure, including power, if we are determined that we must have rail in our relatively low-density city). We make the point about the follies of at-grade light rail frequently here (which seems to make some METRO fans -- including some who pose as professional journalists and neighborhood/transit "advocates" -- frown), but here's one more illustration of the problems that can result when the pursuit of world-class-ness is poorly conceived. Again, thank goodness for the large fleet of buses!
Just for fun -- leave us your over/under on how many days total that you think the Transit Backbone will be offline.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/08 09:17 AM |
08 September 2008
METRO's not-yet-express bus service
Seems there's been a bit of a delay in rolling out METRO's much-anticipated Signature/Express/Quickline/Whatever bus service. You may recall back in January METRO's expensive blogger announced the exciting new transit offering:
METRO's Board of Directors approved last month a contract that calls for Signature Bus Service to be on our roads by mid-August. You may be noticing enhanced bus shelters and furnishings, which we're installing this month.
We'll initially offer this Quickline Signature Bus Service on three routes, totaling 18 miles: Bellaire,Texas Medical Center/Palm and Tidwell. Future plans call for 28 miles of Signature service on Westheimer and Gessner.
Fast forward past August, into September, and the Examiner's Michael Reed reports:
Metro had been advertising the Aug. 25 launch — and painted large, circular logos into the pavement along the Bellaire Boulevard route.
There was no notification, though, of the delays (see accompanying story).
One Metro spokeswoman Carolina Mendoza said the delay involved “development issues” involving elements of the special stops and not separate road construction along the roadway, which planners knew about in advance.
She said the line would be running “as soon as some of those issues are resolved.”
Another Metro spokeswoman, Raequel Roberts, also indicated the new bus service had been delayed by “some final construction work and tweaks to the system.
“Once we are satisfied everything is working to our satisfaction we’ll announce the start. Nothing major — just want to make sure it’s providing the service we want and that people understand completely how it works,” Roberts said in an e-mail.
But Bellaire City Manager Bernie Satterwhite received a timetable and a different reason from Metro.
“They say start will be in 30-60 days depending on the progress on Bellaire Boulevard in Southside Place,” said Satterwhite in an e-mail response to an Examiner query about what Metro was telling the city.
Typical METRO. METRO is so unburdened by having to provide quality customer service, the agency couldn't be bothered to notify riders:
Bellaire City Councilman Will Hickman was one Bellaire rider who tried to use the new service. Instead, Hickman complained at last week’s City Council meeting, he ended up on the old Bellaire No. 2 bus to the Medical Center.
It wasn’t the sleek, swift ride he had expected. Hickman complained that it took him more than an hour to get to work.
When he finally got to his office, Hickman said he checked Metro’s website. Sure enough, it said the Quickline service was scheduled to fly.
Metro updated its website Tuesday morning, announcing the new service was “coming soon.”
Good grief! All those handsomely paid people inside the Lee P. Brown Administration Building, and no one thought to update the website??!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/08/08 07:09 PM |
22 August 2008
This week at METRO: Frank Wilson gets a raise; bad bus drivers keep on driving
KPRC-2 has a story posted about how METRO's "Three Strikes, You're Out" rule for bus drivers is just more hot air from the transit agency that could power its own wind farm:
Motorists reported some startling behavior by bus drivers, including road rage, speeding through school zones, cutting off other drivers by swerving into lanes, aggressive lane changes, and nearly running people over in crosswalks.
"We play just like baseball," said METRO Vice President of Operations David Feeley. "Three strikes and you're out. If you have a particularly egregious situation, we say goodbye pretty quick."
Despite that policy, Local 2 Investigates found some drivers remaining behind the wheel with as many as nine or 12 strikes, including numerous complaints alleging the same sort of dangerous driving behavior.
Here's the best part:
Overall, [VP Feeley] said dangerous driving complaints are down 23.9 percent from last year.
"We're doing something right," he said.
And:
Hers was among 7,236 pages of complaints reviewed by Local 2 Investigates, starting from July 2007 and continuing through July of this year.
The 7,200 complaints is a declining trend -- woo!
In completely unrelated news, Rad Sallee reports METRO CEO Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson is getting a retroactive pay raise:
The Metropolitan Transit Authority board approved a 10 percent raise Thursday for president and CEO Frank Wilson, bringing his total compensation to more than $340,000.
Board member George DeMontrond said Wilson's annual performance review was "most satisfactory" and noted that he did not receive raises in 2005 or 2007. Wilson's new base pay will be $307,340.
DeMontrond said the increase in base pay — 21 percent since Wilson was hired May 3, 2004 — was "nominal" in view of inflation. The raise will be retroactive to May 3, 2008, said Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts.
[snip]
Although his new contract details were not immediately available, Wilson in 2006 also received $20,000 per year in salary deferred until retirement, a car allowance of $12,600 and membership in the Houston Club. Roberts said those items have not increased.
He still has his car allowance. Because he's too important to ride public transportation.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/22/08 06:11 AM |
21 August 2008
Grand Parkway F-2 segment will require condemning many homes
Some new residents in Spring have just discovered what many of us have been railing against for a while now: The Grand Parkway F-2 segment is going to require the demolition of many homes (via the Chron):
Plans for the Grand Parkway have been on the books for 25 years, but only 28 of its proposed 185 miles have been built. Environmental and neighborhood groups have opposed the project.
It would include 11 segments traversing seven counties. The 12.1-mile Segment F2 would cut directly through the Lakes of Avalon Village, a subdivision with several hundred homes located on FM 2920 just west of Kuykendahl Road.
About 60 homes are in the right-of-way and would have to be demolished to make way for the parkway once construction began, Gornet said. Other homes, like Martin's, are just outside the right-of-way.
Houston's Planning Commission and Harris County's Public Infrastructure Department could not deny the developers the right to subdivide the land and sell houses on it because no government agency had committed to build the segment, officials said.
Developers sued the city in 1994 after they were denied the right to subdivide land that fell within a different section of the parkway's proposed alignment. They won $1.3 million in a case that was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The current F2 alignment was chosen in 2005 and was included in a draft environmental impact study the association published the following year, Gornet said. The developer applied to the Houston Planning Commission for the plat in late 2005 and received approval in 2006, he said.
Gornet said he met early last year with representatives from the Friendswood Development Company, a Lennar subsidiary that bought all the lots from Hudson, and told them the Grand Parkway would pose a problem for homes being built in its right-of-way.
The 60 homes mentioned in this story are only a portion of the homes in the way of the current F-2 alignment. There are many others, particularly in the Mossy Oaks subdivision, which will have to be demolished.
As for the developers, since the land was never bought up by TxDOT or HCTRA, there was no reason for developers to sit on perfectly usable land, waiting for something that might never happen. As the Chron's story notes, the current alignment was only chosen in 2005. While the subdivision in this story may not have been constructed then, there were many other homes in the way of the F-2 segment when the alignment was chosen. The Grand Parkway Association knows that and doesn't care.
And then there's the whole issue of whether or not this parkway is needed. Most of us who live in the Tomball/Spring/Klein area say no. Finish widening Kuykendahl, improve FM 2920, whatever. There are other options, rather than us having to sacrifice our communities.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/21/08 05:40 PM |
18 August 2008
Frank Wilson: Go for the greed
As he was speaking to the Asian Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Southwest Houston Chamber of Commerce last week, Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson tried to encourage Asian business owners to get some of the $2 billion worth of business five new light rail lines are generating:
"If you've never ridden the train in your life, or if you don't even like the train, look at this from self-interest and greed," said Wilson. "This program is as real as it gets. It's the time for you to start focusing on how to get involved, not just as users."
Sheesh. Between Frank Wilson and Raequel "9-volt battery" Roberts, METRO sure has picked some winners.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/18/08 04:41 AM |
16 August 2008
Grand Parkway F-2 segment FEIS ready
The Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Grand Parkway's F-2 segment (the section that runs from SH-249 to I-45) is complete and comments are now being accepted.
Scroll down for the links on this page of the Grand Parkway's website.
PREVIOUSLY: Grand Parkway archives
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 08/16/08 07:21 PM |
10 August 2008
Chron offers underrepresented view on METRO service; METRO complains
Several days ago, the Chronicle ran a surprising article by Leslie Casimir on the challenges faced by some named commuters who do not have cars, and who must rely upon METRO to get to/from various points that do not always include downtown or the Medical Center.
Various complaints raised by real METRO customers in the story include:
* Slow commute times (10 minute drives by private car can take 2 hours using METRO)
* Lack of service outside the loop
* Multiple transfers
* "Service improvements" that mean discontinuation of bus routes crucial to some customers
None of these complaints will be new to blogHOUSTON readers, as we have regularly questioned METRO's increasing focus on expensive light rail in our spread-out, low-density city, as well as its focus on inner-loop real-estate development -- and whether there are enough resources to build the sorts of world-class trinkets favored by comparatively affluent activists/bloggers and people in the industry while still serving the transportation needs of less affluent people spread all over the city who rely on transit to get to work and the doctor and the grocery store and elsewhere, and can't just hop in the minivan to pick up some veggies from the Discovery Green farmer's market when the whim strikes on any given Saturday.
Generally, however, that perspective is NOT one that we see in Rad Sallee's stories, or that we generally have seen from many of his colleagues at the Chronicle, who have generally been cheerleaders for expensive light rail that may not be in the best interests of many people who rely upon METRO. So the Chronicle deserves credit for finally presenting the perspective of real users of METRO that have long been underrepresented in Chron transit stories.
Interestingly, METRO media relations official Raequel Roberts is not at all pleased at this underrepresented perspective getting the play it did this one time in the newspaper. Her letter to the editor is reproduced below the [Read More] link (since it may disappear). If the Chronicle hadn't been a METRO cheerleader for so long, Roberts' concerns about balance might resonate more. However, given the frequency with which the Chronicle uncritically reports on METRO -- almost sounding as if Ms. Roberts is providing the copy -- and the fact that one rarely hears from everyday users of METRO and their problems with the service -- it's harder to take Ms. Roberts complaints about balance seriously. In a sense, Casimir's story is some needed, and overdue, balance.
Around the local blogosphere, Cory Crow has posted some sensible thoughts on METRO's core mission failures, Tory Gattis questions whether Houston has its transit priorities in order, and Neal Meyer suggests that jitneys could be one solution to some of our transit woes (if they were not so heavily regulated -- good luck getting Yellow Cab, er, Council to ease up on that). Please feel free to add your thoughts to the discussion.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/10/08 10:22 PM |
26 July 2008
The joy of riding public transportation
We've noted before that most people who say they want more mass transit are hoping other people will use it. Ninety-five percent of the driving public has no intention of giving up their personal transportation freedom.
Recently Metro's blogger Mary Sit wrote a post about mass transit etiquette:
Once on board, move to the back when more commuters step on. Let exiting commuters disembark before you step on the train. Don't stand directly in front of the train doors - stand to the side of the doors to give room for those on the train to step off. There have been many times when I've tried to exit, and there are bodies standing directly in front of the doors, leaving me little space to walk off the train and onto the platform.
More suggestions from the Los Angeles Times reporter: Don't shout, don't shove, once on-board, step away from the doors. Don't swing a huge handbag or backpack around - it could hit someone. And offer your seat to the elderly, pregnant women or disabled.
Sounds like fun! Especially when one reads the post's comments. Here's a gem:
Another suggestion is to carry some hand sanitizer with you. I was riding a train a couple of weeks ago and a man put his hand down his rear end and then proceeded to go all through the car and wipe his excrement on all the handrails. Since then I started carrying a small bottle.
Which reminds me of a comment one of the guys at the Power Line blog recently made:
One of the liberals' favorite antidotes to high gas prices is public transportation. If we would only ride buses and subways, they say, we'd barely notice $4 a gallon prices. Besides, there is something about seeing people crammed together in equal discomfort on public transportation that liberals just like.
Maybe that explains why METRO CEO Frank J. Wilson has a $12,000 per year car allowance even though he lives near a Park and Pillage.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 07/26/08 07:21 AM |
10 July 2008
METRO: Why waste the brain cells?
This week's "Move It!" column in the Chronicle concluded with more useless filler than usual:
It's hard to get answers to some perfectly reasonable questions.
"I was wondering," writes Joel Santos Shepherd, "if Metro is denied federal funding to build a few of their next light rail lines, will they still continue with construction of the East End line, since they had planned to pay for that one out-of-pocket anyway?"
That a reasonable inference, but in such dire straits, Metro may re-evaluate its overall plan, compare the five planned lines against each other for costs and benefits, and rank them by priority. We asked, of course.
"Why speculate on something that likely won't happen? Waste of brain cells," Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts said. "Plus, the variations on the question are endless."
It's always nice when public representatives blow off legitimate questions from the public about the organization they represent.
One Chron.com commenter did have a nice response, though:
Perfect.
"Why waste the brain cells", needs to be adopted as Metro's Mission Statement. It is the attitude. Might as well be the logo. HAHAHA
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/10/08 10:01 PM |
01 July 2008
TMC to start Park and Ride service
Texas Medical Center employees will soon have a new transit option according to KHOU-11:
“Soon, Texas Medical Center employees could come to this AMC theater parking lot in Sugar Land, leave their cars and hop on a bus for a ride.”
“I’m definitely excited,” employee Dionne Flynn said. “I’m waiting for it to actually start working.”
Flynn and her fiancé work at the Medical Center and hope to take the park-and-ride.
Like so many employees surveyed, they say something’s got to give. and it isn’t gas prices. Eighty-one percent of employees said yes, and they’re about to get it: bus rides from fort bend county to the medical center.
“And it’s like door-to-door service,” park-and-rider user Percy Patel said. “I can’t ask for more, right?”
Sugar Land is the first proposed location, but the system will grow—paid for by the Medical Center’s parking garages. Spaces no longer used by employees will bring in more money. That’ll subsidize bus costs, and riders will shell out a few dollars.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Patel said.
There's no mention of Metro's "transit backbone."
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 07/01/08 04:58 AM |
23 June 2008
Taxed, but not serviced -- and Rad Sallee explains why
Here's an amazing admission from Rad Sallee in today's Move It! column:
Metro and Harris County are planning commuter rail, and outlying counties are interested, but now it's the inner city's turn. It voted for rail. Affluent suburbs generally voted against it. Years earlier, some of the same suburbs also voted not to be part of Metro. Some didn't want its 1-cent sales tax. Some just didn't want transit and what it might bring. Metro cannot legally extend service outside its taxing jurisdiction, except by contract.
So there you go. METRO won't provide transit services to the outer 'burbs because those folks didn't vote for light rail. Oh sure, there are several (overcrowded) Park and Pillages, and a few token bus routes, but by and large, METRO will continue to collect tax revenues from the outer loop residents, and as punishment, will make sure the inner loop gets the lion's share of the pie. It's nice to see Sallee confirm what many of us have suspected.
I'd rather see my tax money go to Harris County to pay for the upkeep and expansion of the roads we use, many miles from any METRO transit offerings.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: There was another amazing admission in the column:
Transit service does not pay for itself and is not expected to. Its core mission is to serve low-income areas, where a high percentage of residents depend on it. Metro needs some improvement on that score, and distributing the planned rail lines around the city is a start.
He was doing such good work, until he got to the last part. Unfortunately for low-income residents, they've mainly seen their bus service reduced (despite the promise of a big increase in the referendum) and the routes adjusted to feed the existing light rail line to nowhere.
METRO in recent years (without much adult supervision from the mayor, we would add) has acted much more like a development agency for affluent types who desire a world-class city than it does a transit organization whose primary mission is to move people who can't afford cars.
And here's an interesting admission in another Rad Sallee piece (on plans for rail in the East End):
The Metropolitan Transit Authority has loyal supporters in Houston's East End, whose voters approved Metro's transit plan in 2003 by a 14 percent margin.
Voters in the East End and other lower-income areas certainly helped push the 2003 referendum to its narrow victory. They almost certainly were persuaded both by rail and by promises of a 50% increase in bus service. The promised bus service hasn't actually panned out, and the rail service remains a work in progress (although the folks in the Gulfton area in southwest Houston are probably wondering why there aren't more rail stations for them in METRO's grand plans).
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/23/08 06:30 PM |
19 June 2008
Today was "Dump the Pump Day"
METRO blogger Mary Sit wants us to give transit a try:
[Thursday] is the third annual, national Dump the Pump Day in which transit agencies nationwide are urging people to take public transit, save gas and help save the environment.
If you’ve never tried METRO before, it’s a good day to take a ride – and then make a commitment to ride public transit one day a week.
What does she suggest for folks who live within METRO's tax boundaries, but who are provided no transit services?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/19/08 06:56 PM |
15 June 2008
TxPIAs for Dummies (The METRO Edition)
We've written before about Tom Bazan's regular attempts to pry ridership data, fare revenue, and other assorted items of interest out of METRO, and how METRO routinely ignores his requests. When Tom gets really insistent (translation: he gets the TXOAG involved), METRO reluctantly complies, but even then it's often only a partial fulfillment.
A recent example of METRO's delaying tactics was when the transit agency finally handed over March's ridership details -- in the middle of May. The reason for the stalling was apparent: March's numbers showed a decline in ridership.
Anyway, Tom has decided to help out the poor dears who compile the information. He's now making daily TxPIA requests for ridership and fare data, thinking this might make it easier to get him the numbers. Presumably METRO tallies its numbers daily, so forwarding that shouldn't be too hard, right?
So, how's it going? Well, I did see an email last week from METRO paralegal Jacqueline Maldonado regarding the June 8th TxPIA request. METRO will notify Tom by June 23rd if/how it will be complying.
Now seems like a good time to recall the immortal words of METRO CEO Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson:
We operate the METRO organization in a completely transparent manner.
Can you imagine how much worse it would be if METRO weren't completely transparent???
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/15/08 02:47 PM |
METRO's insanity
I thought these three opinions on METRO's current focus were worth highlighting. First up are two letters to the editor in today's Chronicle:
MARTA vs. Metro
Councilman Peter Brown is against any delay in the Metro light rail vote, saying we are "woefully behind Atlanta." (Please see "Amid concerns, council delays rail line vote," Page B2, Thursday.) Has he ever ridden Atlanta's rail system (called MARTA)?If we had a system like MARTA, we wouldn't have a majority of Houstonians against our own rail system. MARTA is grade separated, so it doesn't stop for every red light, and never has street accidents. MARTA has real train stations, where you actually use a ticket for entry, instead of Metro's "honor system." MARTA has built parking garages at many stations, so commuters can drive to the closest station, park and ride to downtown. How many of us would like to use Metro light rail, but there is nowhere to park near a station? And most importantly, MARTA runs from the suburbs through downtown and to the airport.
In most cities, residents fight to get the rail system to come to their neighborhood. In Houston, we fight to keep it out. And this won't change until Metro realizes street-level rail will never work.
STUART FELDMAN
HoustonDanger of currents
On Wednesday I earnestly asked City Council to deny Metro consent to build rail on Richmond Avenue because of the 66-inch high-pressure waterline that lies beneath 2.6 miles of Richmond Avenue, from Wheeler Station to Cummins and beyond. There is no question that the water line would be subject to stray currents produced by the rail line above it. The steel pipe cannot be fully protected from stray electrical currents, nor can it be properly inspected with the rail line built on top of it.
During Wednesday's City Council meeting, we witnessed the remarkable appearance of Dr. Richard Wainerdi, president of the Texas Medical Center. Wainerdi graduated from the University of Oklahoma in engineering, and then took a masters and a doctorate in engineering from Penn State. Wainerdi stated he was speaking as a "professional engineer.
The Medical Center is concerned about stray electrical current eating away at their building foundations near the rail line, but they are beyond anxious about stray current opening up "pinhole leaks" in the enormous system of high-pressure steam pipes that form the backbone of the Medical Center's heating and air-conditioning capabilities.
Wainerdi pointed out that if a pinhole leak developed in a high-pressure steam pipe, it would burst with a catastrophic blast, probably injuring or killing people nearby. Even more devastating, it would mean immediate loss of heating or cooling in the entire Medical Center, where "there are at least 800 babies in bassinets at all times." It would make the Medical Center uninhabitable for 150,000 employees, patients and staff. Wainerdi said that for such a failure not to occur under the circumstance of stray current from the rail line, "you have to repeal the laws of physics."
What does this have to do with Richmond Avenue? Everything. The source of the stray current is the same: the electric rail that Metro intends to build on top of 2.6 miles of high-pressure steel pipe. And the effects of that stray current on the Richmond pipe would result in precisely the catas-trophic failure and blast of the pipe that the Texas Medical Center is so anxious to avoid.
Metro and the city of Houston Engineering Department are untruthful when they state that stray current will be contained on Richmond Avenue and proper inspections of the pipeline can be achieved. How do you inspect 2.6 miles of pipeline through a few manholes placed along the route? Stray current is highly unpredictable; it can cause a pinhole leak at any point along the entire pipeline.
I urge City Council not to let Metro build on Richmond, but move the rail back to West-park, where it already owns the right of way, and where none of these problems exist.
CHRISTIAN N.SEGER
Houston
I don't recall any local media stories highlighting Dr. Wainerdi's appearance before City Council last week, but because of a busy week, it's entirely possible I missed it.
Secondly, Kevin highlighted this post by Lou Minatti last week, which translated some METRO spin for us. In response to a commenter, Lou Minatti posted a comment that nicely sums up what many of us think:
So clue me in: How does Metro's light rail plan remove cars from the roads, other than via collisions? The Red Line is a charade, and the numbers Metro touts are due to the fact that TMC employees use it to get from remote parking lots to their offices. (It's handy during Rodeo time, though.)
Hands up: How many of you will be riding light rail once it's expanded out to Hillcroft and out to the east side? That's what I thought.
Light rail in low-density cities like Houston, Atlanta and Dallas is not about moving as many people as efficiently as possible from work to home to play, it is about the city promoting land development. They think that by running light rail along certain corridors that people will naturally want to live work and play along these corridors. Well, that's great for monied DINKs with $300k townhouses and condos. The city also thinks that's great because of the additional property taxes. Meanwhile, it doesn't get one single person in Sugar Land, Katy, Woodlands, Pasadena or west Houston off the road. The light rail lines benefit a tiny handful of inner-loop residents (and property developers) at the expense of all of us. You 1 million people up along FM 1960, do you enjoy paying your 1 percent Metro sales tax despite having NO SERVICE WHATSOEVER?
The only thing I would add is that there is bus service along FM 1960 between Kuykendahl and SH 249. I've been meaning to take pictures of all the bus stops along that westbound stretch to highlight how METRO treats the folks who have to ride the 86. Generally speaking, the bus stops consist of a METRO sign and a small square of concrete. One or two have benches, and a couple have trash receptacles. None has a mural covered shelter. About the only shelter any of these bus stops have is a nearby tree or the overhang of a nearby business.
But hey! I'll bet inner loop residents will enjoy their new light rail stations.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/15/08 08:06 AM |
11 June 2008
Councilman Rodriguez wants 200 more red light cameras!
Houston's elected officials continue finding ways to make the city more inviting.
I wonder if Councilman Rodriguez has considered checking out the engineering at all 200 intersections. Well, actually, I don't wonder at all, because he admits it's about generating revenue:
According to the amendment, Rodriguez wants to use the extra revenue for police "public safety programs including, but not limited to the recruitment of new officers to ensure safer neighborhoods."
If it were about safety (which it never really is -- wink, wink), all engineering issues would be addressed at proposed intersections, and yellow-light times would be increased. But those actions don't generate revenue.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/11/08 07:01 PM |
09 June 2008
METRO's man at the Chron spins dismal ridership statistics
Rad Sallee, METRO's man at 801 Texas Avenue, had this interesting bit of spin in Monday's transportation column:
At the same City Council committee meeting, one speaker claimed loudly that Metro has "decimated" its bus system. You decide.
Local bus boardings for October through April were up 4.2 percent from a year earlier, rail boardings were up 6.3 percent and Park & Ride boardings up 13.1 percent.
Boardings are a rough gauge of ridership, because each transfer is counted as a boarding, so let's look at other measures.
From April 2006 to January 2008, Metro says, it increased the number of bus trips 4.6 percent, bus miles traveled 2 percent and bus hours of operation 2.6 percent.
Metro also says it has increased weekday bus service in each of six consecutive route revisions since August 2006.
Before applauding too loudly, remember that bus boardings were 98 million in 1999 compared to bus and rail boardings of 101 million in 2007.
That's a puny increase of 2 percent in eight years, several of which brought spiraling gasoline costs.
Still, the bus system is a long way from decimated.
Raequel Roberts had to smile after reading that. Perhaps she even supplied the statistics!
Pedantic debates over the verb "decimate" aside, however, the fact is that Harris County's population has surged over a period of years, gasoline prices have surged more recently, and neither METRO system ridership nor METRO bus "service improvements" have come close to matching either. Quite the contrary!
And of course METRO's man at 801 Texas Avenue neglected to mention that the 2003 referendum promised a 50% increase in bus service that has failed to materialize (and, in fact, that broken promise has even disappeared from METRO's website). Apparently that wasn't germane to the dissection of the verb "decimate."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/09/08 10:54 PM |
08 June 2008
Councilwoman Noriega will swoon for wide, shady, pole-free sidewalks
Yesterday's Chronicle carried an op-ed by the (previously) indecisive Councilwoman Melissa Noriega, who has found something she can be decisive about: sidewalks! Not just any sidewalks, mind you. No, she wants sidewalks that are:
[...] shaded by trees, wide enough for couples to walk side by side, unobstructed with poles or signs. Wheelchair users must get through and moms with strollers shouldn't need to step into traffic. The city must set sidewalk standards and hold Metro to those standards.
How idyllic! It'd be almost Portland-ish...well, except for the weather.
Of course, she's referring to the consent agreement METRO is trying to get out of Council. By the way, apparently the committee impasse was broken, because this week's agenda item number 26 is for Council to approve the consent agreement with METRO:
26. ORDINANCE approving and authorizing contract between the City of Houston and the METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY OF HARRIS COUNTY (“METRO”) consenting to the construction and operation of Phase II of the Metro Solutions Plan Light Rail Project; authorizing the Public Works & Engineering Director to approve amendments to the agreement to consent to Metro’s construction of other projects approved by the voters in the 2003 Metro Solutions Election; containing various provisions relating to the subject.
Except that what METRO wants to build isn't exactly what voters approved in 2003, but that's not a concern of any local officials. There is world-classness to attain!
And shady sidewalks that are wide enough for couples to stroll side-by-side on, without the threat of walking into a pole, are just what's needed to get Councilwoman Noriega's stamp of approval.
Sorry, Kirby Drive, no op-ed for you.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/08/08 07:24 AM |
02 June 2008
METRO finally to transfer land held for Main developers
The Chronicle's Nancy Sarnoff reports that METRO is about to sell some land that it has been holding for developers along Main:
Owners of the Continental Club and other investors are buying two Midtown blocks just north of the music club and next to the Ensemble/HCC light rail station, moving a step closer in their plans to develop the parcel.
The property is owned by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which bought it last year and has been holding it for the investors in what became a controversial development strategy.
The blocks are along the west side of Main Street, bordered by Holman, Winbern and Travis.
Bob Schultz of RHS Interests, whose group originally assembled the land from multiple owners, said the closing on the property will happen in two or three months.
The investors are considering several development scenarios to promote walking and transit use, potentially including student housing, apartments, office space and a hotel. William Cannady is the lead architect.
One thing is certain. It will include a retail component similar to what Schultz and his partners did next door, which was fill the space with small, independent retailers. Those tenants include the Continental Club, the record store Sig's Lagoon, Tacos A Go-Go and the Big Top bar.
The well-known Continental Club in Austin is on South Congress, a street of eclectic shops and restaurants. The developers envision the same sorts of tenants for this part of Midtown.
"We're trying to bring some of that to Houston," Schultz said.
Construction could start in 18 months.
Last year, the transit authority's board voted to spend $7.2 million for the property. The new owners will reimburse Metro for what it paid.
The idea was that the transit group would carry the land for a specific amount of time and later sell it to Schultz and his partners, who were sensitive to the adjacent transit station and rail ridership in general.
Too bad we can't all use METRO as our private development bank, huh?
PREVIOUSLY: METRO (nontransparently) makes $7.2 million real-estate deal.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/02/08 10:04 PM |
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