New Yorker gives Houston advice.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by rdz1979

Hey, I live in Houston and I love taking the bus. It's better than facing the traffic. I live in Southwest and I work in Uptown. I just have one transferr and apart from having the 32 line run late only when a particular bus driver works, I have nothing to complain about. Oh, and yes I see people from all walks of life taking the bus. If you build it, they will use it. I can't wait until they expand the bus system and the train. I save on gas, wear and tear on my car, as well as the headache I alway get when I'm stuck on Southwest Freeway. I HATE TRAFFIC, and when I'm on the bus I let someone else worry about it.

The problem is that eventually buses will be stuck in the same traffic quagmire as cars when we fill in and density increases. The street system just won't be able to process the number of cars attempting to navigate them. It's simply a numbers game.

If we knew density would not continue to increase, I'd say we should stick to mainly a bus system, but we WILL continue to increase density. This will require transportation that is separate from the streets - rail.

As one of those dreaded and evil Tea Party types, I don't want to waste money nor kick cans down the road. In order to save money in the future, we need to continue to work on rail now. It's an investment that is wise to make now.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

The problem is that eventually buses will be stuck in the same traffic quagmire as cars when we fill in and density increases. The street system just won't be able to process the number of cars attempting to navigate them. It's simply a numbers game.

If we knew density would not continue to increase, I'd say we should stick to mainly a bus system, but we WILL continue to increase density. This will require transportation that is separate from the streets - rail.

As one of those dreaded and evil Tea Party types, I don't want to waste money nor kick cans down the road. In order to save money in the future, we need to continue to work on rail now. It's an investment that is wise to make now.

Plus the amount of available free parking spaces will shrink - or at least not be able to grow as much as the population. So between increasing traffic and lack of parking, driving will get to be more of a hassle.

The typical local bus will continue to play a role but, as you noted, has a major drawback in that it also gets stuck in traffic. Most local routes also have frequent stops that slow them down. This makes them impractical for anything but shorter trips.

Rail is one possible alternative, provided that you're at least providing its own exclusive guideway to separate it from traffic. If you want to spend more $, you can grade separate it, at least in key places, so it doesn't have to stop at traffic lights.

You can also do things to significantly upgrade bus service. "Full Bus Rapid Transit" is basically light rail except using rubber tired vehicles - you can even get vehicles with multiple boarding doors like a train that are even with a boarding platform and have off-vehicle fare collection at stations. Rails and wires can be added later if demand justifies it. You can also thread multiple bus routes providing more typical mixed-traffic service at the end of their routes into a BRT corridor for the "trunk line" portion of the route.

Even just painting lanes for buses and right turns only can help - like in downtown at rush hour.

So, there's multiple options with different price points and impacts - I would hope that all get considered as we try to figure out how we'll move around in the future.

One other note - anything involving transit improvements should also involve pedestrian improvements and making sure it's legal for development to occur in a pedestrian-friendly manner. This is not currently the case except along designated light rail corridors and within downtown. Even in light rail corridors, the same on-site parking requirements apply as everywhere else. Those requirements need to be ditched.

[NewJeffCT]

Originally Posted by iNviNciBL3

I find it hilarious how they have to emphasize that this guy is a "New Yorker"
Like he's so special because he was born in NY... lol.

That was the headline in the Chronicle - it wasn't a self-written article by a New Yorker talking down to the people of Houston. The New Yorker himself was very positive about the people of Houston and their attitude.

Most of what he says is kind of just common sense - "plan for growth" and "attract talent" - and could have been written by any outsider.

[radiolibre99]

Heck people in Houston have been saying that for years. Its common sense because that's what every city in America does and Houston's problems are evident to a six year old, they're that obvious.