Why did it take so long for Houston to get a rapid transit system?? (Dallas: transplants, for sale)

[brajohns81]

The city has had a population of over 1,000,000 since the 1970 census, but the city just recently got a light rail system, and it has just one line thus far. Look at it's almost equal in size sister to the north Dallas, they have had a massive rail system for a long time now connecting the city to the suburbs. Some of Dallas' system is also in a subway. The much smaller Atlanta area has had a rail/subway system since the early '80s. Pretty much all cities with a population of over 1,000,000 has had rail/subway systems for awhile now. Yet pretty much every Houstonian I have ever talked to has complained about the heavy traffic in the city.

[HtownLove]

politics. Google Tom Delay.

AND FYI Houston had a rail system way before the 80's.

There was extensive rail here in the 1920's

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by brajohns81

The city has had a population of over 1,000,000 since the 1970 census, but the city just recently got a light rail system, and it has just one line thus far. Look at it's almost equal in size sister to the north Dallas, they have had a massive rail system for a long time now connecting the city to the suburbs. Some of Dallas' system is also in a subway. The much smaller Atlanta area has had a rail/subway system since the early '80s. Pretty much all cities with a population of over 1,000,000 has had rail/subway systems for awhile now. Yet pretty much every Houstonian I have ever talked to has complained about the heavy traffic in the city.

To put it in few words...
There are politicians that are in favor of investing in building infrastructure for the future
and there are politicians that are against it and want us to wait until we are going insane when we are stuck in traffic.

Too many people here vote for the ones that are against investing in our future.

[HouTXmetro]

Originally Posted by Dopo

To put it in few words...
There are politicians that are in favor of investing in building infrastructure for the future
and there are politicians that are against it and want us to wait until we are going insane when we are stuck in traffic.

Too many people here vote for the ones that are against investing in our future.

+1 to infinity and beyond. It's sad but true.

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by brajohns81

The city has had a population of over 1,000,000 since the 1970 census, but the city just recently got a light rail system, and it has just one line thus far. Look at it's almost equal in size sister to the north Dallas, they have had a massive rail system for a long time now connecting the city to the suburbs. Some of Dallas' system is also in a subway. The much smaller Atlanta area has had a rail/subway system since the early '80s. Pretty much all cities with a population of over 1,000,000 has had rail/subway systems for awhile now. Yet pretty much every Houstonian I have ever talked to has complained about the heavy traffic in the city.

First, I wouldn't call light rail "rapid transit". Second, Dallas and Atlanta have done no better in dealing with traffic congestion than Houston. Refer to the TTI 2011 Annual Mobility Report, Table 7 - Congestion Trends 1982-2010. This table measures annual wasted hours per commuter. Houston went from 24 hrs to 57 hrs for a negative change of 33 hrs ranking it 10th. Meanwhile Dallas had a negative change of 38 hrs ranking it 6th. The other cities with the most negative change reads like a Who's Who of Cities Who Built Rail.

There may be good reasons to support building rail lines but reducing traffic congestion certainly isn't one of them.

[tebor79]

Only folks driving to the suburbs sit in traffic. Off the freeways, there isn't that much traffic.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

You can rest assured, first the Federal Government is going to mandate "black boxes" for vehicles, this early phase starts next year, and mandatory in 2015 (do a Google search on black boxes for cars). The government said that they would be used for accidents only. I have some swamp land for sale if you buy that. You know darn well they will use it to tax you by the mile, that is their goal. Fuel efficiences (that they mandated BTW), and electric cars are taking a big bite out of the revenue stream to pay for more roads, and maintenance, so they will look to use GPS tracking data to levy a tax on vehicles.

When this happens, people will begin to think twice about commuting, and rail. People who work in the city and live in the suburbs will be the most affected.

I'm looking towards the future... I purchased a second home already inside the loop while the prices are still "attainable".

The residents also look at cost, and I don't get it... if something is expensive now, do you really think it will be less expensive 10, 20 years later? Imagine if Houston built a proper rail system, and kept in place, decades ago? Also, too many people who are not engineers insist that any subway will flood. There is modern technology that mitigates, or eliminates that all together, just see San Francisco, or Amsterdam as examples.

I started a thread about this a long time ago.... http://www.city-data.com/forum/houst...ding-rail.html

[tstone]

Originally Posted by tebor79

Only folks driving to the suburbs sit in traffic. Off the freeways, there isn't that much traffic.

You haven't driven around the city very much, have you?

[crone]

For years Houston had street cars and a great bus system. The help had to be able to get to and from work. Especially with the laws in many areas that the help had to be off the streets by sundown.

Some kind of change happened in the 50's and 60's. Houston powers that be decided everybody had a car and did not need busses. It kinda morphed into why should we tax ourselves so others can have transportation? The unintended consequence was gridlock.

The city planning agency never considered traffic or expansion of any kind when permitting any building.

Somebody even built a short experimental monorail out around So. Main and OST in the mid 50's to encourage the city to think about something other than cars. Didn't work.

[jtothemak]

I think we are also forgetting something special about Houston. It is an oil and gas town and we love our cars. Do you really think mass transit would have worked 10-20 years ago, people would have stayed driving their cars to work from there big SUVs and pickup trucks. It is the Texas way! Why do you think the Katy Freeways is one of the widest highways out there. Transplants do not understand this but yes now we have a gazillion transplants living here and we have grown that much more it is finally time for a rail system.