Light Rail Progress (Houston, Richmond, Kirby: maintenance, safe, ordinance)

[Houston Native]

Originally Posted by DANNYY

Yes and almost all of those "business centers" are inside the Inner Loop of Houston besides West Chase Business District, Memorial City, & Energy Corridor.

Lets see:
- Texas Medical Center: Check (Inside the Inner Loop)
- Downtown Houston: Check (Inside the Inner Loop)
- Neartown Houston: Check (Inside the Inner Loop)
- Midtown Houston: Check (Inside the Inner Loop)
- Uptown Houston: Check (Inside the Inner Loop for 55% of it)
- Greenway Plaza: Check (Inside the Inner Loop)

And are any of the light rail lines under construction going to the med center, neartown, midtown, uptown or greenway plaza? NO therefore the lines under construction will not provide relief.

[DANNYY]

Originally Posted by Houston Native

And are any of the light rail lines under construction going to the med center, neartown, midtown, uptown or greenway plaza? NO therefore the lines under construction will not provide relief.

Wrong.

The current line already goes through Midtown, Downtown, & Medical Center. The line for Greenway Plaza & Uptown are the next ones to start construction after the two current lines finish and they will be located on Post Oak Drive, approval has already been taken care of.

The lines under construction right now will be for the corridors where traffic is either at the worst (North) or where rapid developments are shooting off (Southeast). I'm sorry, but you're not making any arguments here at all.

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by TDAlmighty

Houston Native -- Scarface713 will jump in any second now and tell you how the inner loop continues to densify. "The inner loop has gone from 450K to 600+ since 2000" he will say (although I do not know the source of these numbers).

But take a closer look at the official census numbers and I tend to agree with you. The city of Houston grew "officially" by 7.5% from 2000 to 2010. But Harris County at 20.3%, Fort Bend County at 65.1%, Montgomery Country at 55.1%, Brazoria County at 29.5%, and Galveston County at 16.5% all grew faster than the city of Houston.
Census 2010 News | U.S. Census Bureau Delivers Texas' 2010 Census Population Totals, Including First Look at Race and Hispanic Origin Data for Legislative Redistricting

There are obviously pro-densifyers and anti-densifyers. One thing is clear--at least to me--however, the current vision for the light rail works better if the inner loop continues to densify. Every time I hear about a new corporate campus in the burbs it makes me say "Great for Houston!!...but I wish they could do something more central." I know it is not the company's responsibility to do so, but one could wish...

I see no reason why the inner loop won't continue to densify nor do I see a exodus of companies. Population wise (time will tell as the census data is further analyzed) I bet we'll see that the southern and northeastern portions of the inner loop declined, while the western half has densified.

Originally Posted by Houston Native

And are any of the light rail lines under construction going to the med center, neartown, midtown, uptown or greenway plaza? NO therefore the lines under construction will not provide relief.

Technically you are true. It all depends on the money received from the Feds, as METRO has stated it will scale back the plans for the SE and N lines. However, the SE line does connect to the University of Houston, which is a minor activity center.

However, your view is to short sighted, we are trying to build a system.

[Houston Native]

Originally Posted by DANNYY

Wrong.

The current line already goes through Midtown, Downtown, & Medical Center. The line for Greenway Plaza & Uptown are the next ones to start construction after the two current lines finish and they will be located on Post Oak Drive, approval has already been taken care of.

The lines under construction right now will be for the corridors where traffic is either at the worst (North) or where rapid developments are shooting off (Southeast). I'm sorry, but you're not making any arguments here at all.

DANNYY luckily I don't use a crack pipe regularly. As I stated in bold letters, I was only mentioning the lines under construction. There is zero funding for the Richmond (or as you say Greenway Plaza & Uptown) line because METRO is depending solely on federal funding for those segments. METRO hasn't approved anything because there is no funding.

I've never heard that Fulton has the worst traffic in Houston nor have I heard that rapid development has been happening off of MLK. Can you please provide supporting information for these statements?

[Houston Native]

Originally Posted by dv1033

Technically you are true. It all depends on the money received from the Feds, as METRO has stated it will scale back the plans for the SE and N lines. However, the SE line does connect to the University of Houston, which is a minor activity center.

However, your view is to short sighted, we are trying to build a system.

So METRO wants to scale back on the SE side. Is METRO's view also short sighted?

[Wonderful Jellal]

Dannyy can't wait lol, like kids about Christmas toys

[astrohip]

Houston transit takes a $168M hit for useless projects | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Metro admits it blew a large fortune
Ill-advised plans to the tune of $168 million to be written off

The Metropolitan Transit Authority is preparing to declare that it has spent $168 million on what have turned out to be useless assets.

Most of it was spent over several years on rail expansion projects that never will be built or will have to be started over.

For example, Metro has given up on what it calls an intermodal terminal just north of downtown at Main and Burnett streets on the planned North rail line despite having spent $41 million on it.

"We're not going to put the public's money into monuments. We're going to put it into transit services," Metro President and CEO George Greanias said.

The design for the terminal included bus bays, a kiss-and-ride area, light rail, commuter rail and possibly a Metro RideStore, restrooms, food service, newsstands and gift shops.

Greanias said there will be a light rail stop at Main and Burnett, but it has not been determined whether the station will serve other modes of transit. He added that the now-shelved design called for a facility that would have cost far too much to maintain and operate.

An additional $28 million went to a Spanish rail car firm for a now-canceled deal that never produced a single car. Metro actually spent $42 million on a contract with the firm, but recently persuaded the company to return $14 million.

Metro ran afoul of federal rules requiring the transit agency to buy American-made rail cars, so it had to eat the money it sent to the Spanish firm and rebid the rail cars or forfeit eligibility for $900 million in Federal Transit Administration grant money.
'Unrealized assets'

Metro lists another $61 million in what it calls "unrealized assets" for rail expansion in addition to the terminal and rail car spending, including:

· $17 million: A result of switching contractors to do design work.

· $7 million: Redundant development work by a third contractor.

· $9 million: Related to Metro's switch from a light rail plan to a bus rapid transit plan, and back to light rail.

· $16 million: From repeated design changes that occurred after laborious review and negotiation.

In addition to the $130 million on projects for which Metro has nothing to show, it also is wiping from its books $38 million in operating expenses that had been listed incorrectly as capital expenses.

[TDAlmighty]

Originally Posted by dv1033

I see no reason why the inner loop won't continue to densify nor do I see a exodus of companies. Population wise (time will tell as the census data is further analyzed) I bet we'll see that the southern and northeastern portions of the inner loop declined, while the western half has densified.

The point is that it appears that the outer suburbs grew faster than the core. That is to be expected in a city with unlimited land resources on its outer boundaries and a (mostly) excellent freeway system. In my opinion, however, it is not conducive to the rail system as designed.

Look no further than the planned Exxon Mobil campus and the continued suburban hospital construction as examples of large movements of jobs to areas that will not be served by the rail (but instead by the Grand Parkway). These type of job movements have a profound effect on where people live.

Someone mentioned a few posts ago that rail-naysayers always use buses as the alternative argument to the rail. There is a very good reason for that--the current rail is no more convenient than a bus system but costs a heck of a lot more to build and operate. In addition it is less flexible to changing demands on the transportation system. Lastly, buses can share the road with cars and have very minimal impacts on traffic flow, the rail takes up real estate that is only used once every seven minutes or so.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by Houston Native

So METRO wants to scale back on the SE side. Is METRO's view also short sighted?

I would say yes. The next line easily should have been the University line. The Southeast line could have waited.

Someone mentioned a few posts ago that rail-naysayers always use buses as the alternative argument to the rail. There is a very good reason for that--the current rail is no more convenient than a bus system but costs a heck of a lot more to build and operate. In addition it is less flexible to changing demands on the transportation system. Lastly, buses can share the road with cars and have very minimal impacts on traffic flow, the rail takes up real estate that is only used once every seven minutes or so.

So your problem is the way the current system is designed. See this is one of the disadvantages of Houston's large size of around 600 sq. miles. Houston is building an urban transit system, not a rapid transit commuter like system like DART. You say LRT runs every seven minutes or so, well buses run every 30 minutes, sometimes an hour, or so on it's lines. Rail is more efficient on getting people around the city than buses in most cases. Not to mention they are more comfortable and does not get crowded as quickly. But I personally think they should elevate the lines instead of running it in the street.

[annie_himself]

Where will the uptown line go?