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White Announces Way Cleared For Fed Transit $


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This was just posted on the Chronicle website about five minutes ago. Bill White has announced that he, Metro CEO Frank Wilson, and Houston's Congressional delegation (including DeLay and Culberson), have agreed on a plan for $1 billion in federal transit funds for Houston over the next decade. The money would go to pay for new light rail and commuter lines, an intermodal transit facility north of downtown, and fixed guideway bus service. There are some interesting parts of this plan, which I have mixed feelings about, such phasing in rail line extensions by first building the tracks and stations and everything needed but the power supply, then initially using special buses to serve the new stations, and buying LRVs and the power system down the road. That's a pretty big compromise, and in other cities where such compromises have been made it's been years, if not decades, before buses were replaced with trains. There's also nine miles of light rail expansion in the plan, including the existing line north to the proposed intermodal transit facility, and a brand new line running from the UH Central campus to the area near Wheeler Station. From there it would continue west to Greenway Plaza and Uptown as part of the first phase of the Westpark light rail line that was approved in the 2003 Metro Solutions plan. This line would be served initially with LRVs, not buses.

The full article can be found onthe Chronicle's website by clicking here.

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I suspected that there would be a "fast track" stance taken on the line scheduled for the Westpark corridor. Too much existing ridership data support it and there is a great number of influential entities in place along this stretch who have access to METRO's board as well as the Mayor's Office.

I'm interested to see how much actual cash the Houston area receives. METRO has on its side the fact that it paid all of the $325 million necessary to get the current line running and that line is "the most efficient" per mile LRT system in use right now.*

* LRT not HRT.

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Yeah, just from the initial read, I am not thrilled about the guideway buses. But I have never been on one, so can anyone tell me what the experience is like and how effective they are? Can someone post pics of any guided buses?

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Whoa, Delay is helping get funds for this? MAN, we're sure to get alot of funds, then! (you should see how much they spent on the US59 expansion)

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Yeah, just from the initial read, I am not thrilled about the guideway buses. But I have never been on one, so can anyone tell me what the experience is like and how effective they are? Can someone post pics of any guided buses?

I've ridden some in both Denver and Boston. They can vary from being almost as good as at-grade light rail (but with much lower capacity) to not much better than a regular local bus. One of the things that helps speed up the service over a regular bus is that the number of stops is much more limited. Boston's Silver Line uses buses that are pretty much regular buses with a different paint job. Some of theirs are also dual-power buses, meaning they have traditional diesel engines but also have electric drive motors and can run off electric power pulled from overhead wires via trolley poles. These are used in some bus tunnels in Boston's waterfront area where the buses use electric power in the tunnels and switch back to diesel on the streets.

Denver has a downtown pedestrian/transit mall that is lined with shops and restaurants. The buses used on it are special equipment with more doors, almost no seats, and a driver's cab on the right side of the bus, not the left. This route only runs for a few blocks and is designed to transport large numbers of passengers a short distance, hence no seats.

We had fixed guideway bus service as a part of the Metro Solutions plan; there were about four or five "signature express" bus lines located on major routes such as Westheimer, Bellaire/Holcombe, and Gessner. The proposal was for these routes to have a very limited number of stops, with dedicated boarding platforms, and special buses to serve just these lines.

The advantage of having the light rail extensions be served by these buses first is that construction time will be reduced and the lines can probably be up and running sooner, at a much lower cost. The disadvantage is that Metro will still have to seek funding in the future to finish these lines and get them up and running with LRVs, and there's no guarantee that the rails will ever be used. The best case scenario is that the buses on these lines will be PACKED and our Congressional delegation will see the necessity of finishing the project so that capacity on these lines can be matched to the demand.

I am glad to see there is some light rail expansion, including a new rail segment that was not in the original plan, as well as money for commuter rail to Ft. Bend County (maybe they'll finally join Metro) and I'm very excited about the intermodal transit center north of downtown. It would be wonderful if we could get the two Midtown bus stations moved there, along with a Metro transit center, and the Amtrak station.

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This was just posted on the Chronicle website about five minutes ago. Bill White has announced that he, Metro CEO Frank Wilson, and Houston's Congressional delegation (including DeLay and Culberson), have agreed on a plan for $1 billion in federal transit funds for Houston over the next decade. The money would go to pay for new light rail and commuter lines, an intermodal transit facility north of downtown, and fixed guideway bus service. There are some interesting parts of this plan, which I have mixed feelings about, such phasing in rail line extensions by first building the tracks and stations and everything needed but the power supply, then initially using special buses to serve the new stations, and buying LRVs and the power system down the road. That's a pretty big compromise, and in other cities where such compromises have been made it's been years, if not decades, before buses were replaced with trains. There's also nine miles of light rail expansion in the plan, including the existing line north to the proposed intermodal transit facility, and a brand new line running from the UH Central campus to the area near Wheeler Station. From there it would continue west to Greenway Plaza and Uptown as part of the first phase of the Westpark light rail line that was approved in the 2003 Metro Solutions plan. This line would be served initially with LRVs, not buses.

The full article can be found onthe Chronicle's website by clicking here.

could you elaborate more on what is an intermodal transit center,where exactly north of downtown it would be located and how soon groundbreaking will occur on the proposed rail line extensions.

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Sorry I can't elaborate more. All I know is what's in the article in the Chronicle.

The intermodal transit center is an idea that's been kicked around for a while now. It would be a single station that combines access to Metro buses and light rail with a new Amtrak station and intercity bus (Greyhound, El Expresso) service.

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Intermodal is just as sullivan described, with all of the various modes of mass transit converging at a single place, thereby facilitating use of the various modes.

The suggested location in the article is North Main at Burnett Street. This is approximately 1/2 mile north of downtown where the railroad tunnel is. It is not the line that Amtrak currently uses. That one runs under the UHD campus.

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Yeah, just from the initial read, I am not thrilled about the guideway buses. But I have never been on one, so can anyone tell me what the experience is like and how effective they are? Can someone post pics of any guided buses?

They are great. They are really called trolley buses because they run just like light rail but on wheels. I always wondered why American cities do not build more of these except for light rail. It is a lot cheaper except for tearing up the lanes for a rail. They're all over Europe.

08020025.jpg

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I don't see why other cities can get heavy rail with no problem, but when it comes to Houston, they can't even get light rail, they have to settle for some crap ugly buses that they say move like light rail.

If there getting 1 billion dollars, they can do much better than that.

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Read the article again. They are talking about 28 miles of commuter rail (3 times the original proposal), plus the light rail line (9 miles) from UH to Galleria...all within 10 years, versus the 20 years for the original plan. The BRT is suggeted as a way to get the North, SE, and Harrisburg lines under construction quickly, so that they can be used quicker. They will be converted later.

Considering they propose that this happen within 10 years, it sounds like an overall positive.

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Guest danax

While this appears to be good news and I trust that our local leaders know what they're doing when they decided to go this route as in; better try this or we risk losing out completely, this might have also been due to Federal arm-twisting to go the BRT route.

My fear is that these BRTs will end up staying on those lines. Maybe they aren't quite on the butt-ugly level of regular buses (some examples and general info) but definitely don't have the pizazz of light rain trains. I'm hoping that these initial BRTs will eventually be swapped over to other lines that were originally designed to be BRT lines as part of the Metro 2025 plan and we will have our pretty LRTs as we have been promissed.

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This was definitely a politically organized coup. The question is for who? Did Bill White break a congressional logjam by getting commuter rail AND light rail tracks (albeit, without 'lectric) built within 10 years? Or, did Tom DeLay and John Culberson start feeling the heat of $2.00 gasoline pumped into 12 mpg Tahoes, driven 30 miles to Katy and Sugarland, prompting them to "save" West Houston by getting Metro and Houston to build Rail To The Burbs more quickly?

It remains to be seen, but did Houston rail supporters win? Probably.

The article is light on details, but it looked to be a "bang for the buck" deal, laying a lot of track and putting 9 new routes in operation in 10 years. The BRT lines would have rail and stations, suggesting that once we are halfway there, voters will clamor to finish the rest. Plus, as noted on Main Street, once the track is down, you can drive on it while the electrical work proceeds above.

The big wins, in my opinion, are the commuter rail routes, 3 instead of one, and the line from midtown to the Galleria. Tens of thousands of new riders will be connected to the Main St. line sooner, boosting ridership totals. Numbers are what shut critics up, and possibilities are what gains new supporters. Galleria will give us numbers, and commuter lines starting into the burbs will have every neighborhood screaming to "bring it here, next!"

Hope it all works!

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This was definitely a politically organized coup.  The question is for who?  Did Bill White break a congressional logjam by getting commuter rail AND light rail tracks (albeit, without 'lectric) built within 10 years?  Or, did Tom DeLay and John Culberson start feeling the heat of $2.00 gasoline pumped into 12 mpg Tahoes, driven 30 miles to Katy and Sugarland, prompting them to "save" West Houston by getting Metro and Houston to build Rail To The Burbs more quickly?

It remains to be seen, but did Houston rail supporters win?  Probably.

The article is light on details, but it looked to be a "bang for the buck" deal, laying a lot of track and putting 9 new routes in operation in 10 years.  The BRT lines would have rail and stations, suggesting that once we are halfway there, voters will clamor to finish the rest.  Plus, as noted on Main Street, once the track is down, you can drive on it while the electrical work proceeds above.

The big wins, in my opinion, are the commuter rail routes, 3 instead of one, and the line from midtown to the Galleria.  Tens of thousands of new riders will be connected to the Main St. line sooner, boosting ridership totals.  Numbers are what shut critics up, and possibilities are what gains new supporters.  Galleria will give us numbers, and commuter lines starting into the burbs will have every neighborhood screaming to "bring it here, next!"

Hope it all works!

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My thoughts: DeLay gets a line to Sugarland that the Referendum didn't mention. So much for the will of the voters BS he was spouting at the time. Also, unless I'm wrong, the riders from Sugarland don't pay Metro sales tax. If that's true, I guess you could say they are getting a FREE RIDE.

I absolutely love the line from downtown to the Galleria.

Where does the UH trolley line actually end. I didn"t understand the article well enough to figure it out. Can anybody help on that?

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My thoughts: DeLay gets a line to Sugarland that the Referendum didn't mention. So much for the will of the voters BS he was spouting at the time. Also, unless I'm wrong, the riders from Sugarland don't pay Metro sales tax. If that's true, I guess you could say they are getting a FREE RIDE.

I absolutely love the line from downtown to the Galleria.

Where does the UH trolley line actually end. I didn"t understand the article well enough to figure it out. Can anybody help on that?

It sounds as if the UH to Uptown line will be light rail and will probably hook up with the next-in-line-to-be-built line, the Southeast line, or should it be Southeast Busline now. This east-west line is good....That Wheeler Station will be hoppin. Third Ward will be even more vulnerable in it's position to maintain it's current demographics as the Midtown-Third Ward-UH will connected.

As for Delay, he will get a MetroRail extension to Sugarland but now the "poor sides of town"; East, North and Southeast get buses. I'm guessing he had something to do with that, since he was so against light rail. Thanks Tom.

Buses. The more I think about this the less I like it. Those rails that they'll lay might just rust waiting for the magic moment where economic conditions, ridership levels and a favorable alignment of the big dipper and Uranus all converge. First we heard 2011 for the Harrisburg line. Now, it's probably 2011 for the Harrisburg bus and maybe never for a train. <_<

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I think you're right danax. The Southeast line sounds like it will be bus from DT to UH to Hobby. But the UH kids can shop till they drop at the G.

Delay could have forced the bus lines on the "poor" sections as a shot across the bow of Democrats Sheila Jackson Lee and Mr. White himself.

We still would have some of the bond money left over, so those lines that prove themselves could get electrified in the next 10 years. Who knows, these BRTs could become a low cost proving ground for new light rail routes. Would that be that bad?

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Whoa whoa whoa--this sounds good to me on all counts. Perfect? Nope. But what in planning is? As far as the idea of putting buses in the "poor" areas of town and moving rail to the "rich" areas--

All that is doing is the main thing that rail transit planners want anyway--attracting the 'choice' riders--those who have a chocie of car vs. transit. DeLay is no rail transit planner, but Wilson is, and Wilson knows that the ridership on lines like Harrisburg are already captured with a more transit-dependent population.

I think it's great that they are still going to do more improvements on the lines that have been switched to BRT. It could be worse--like LA, where all the transit money went to pretty new trains to the rich folks and ended up sucking their agency kinda dry, which caused them to cut the backbone bus service.

In all honesty, I've thought that lines like Harrisburg may be better served with streetcar until it was ready for LRT, especially since (as reported in this Forum) there won't be much time savings from LRT there.

I am also very excited about the "extra" 20 miles of commuter rail out 290 and towards Galveston (!). Wouldn't this possibly mean commuter rail on 290, 90A, and the Gulf Freeway all the way out to the Beltway?

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How about some nice trolley (streetcar) lines? These would not cost too much, since trolleys cost waay less than those metrorailcars...

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I think the trolley buses will be cool. I've been in them in Europe and when I lived in San Francisco and they are definitely unique. Plus we will have both light rail and trolley buses. I think some people are complaining because they are not familar with them and do not realize how well they look in an urban environment, but they are quite cool. No complaints here.

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Ok, so my next question is what will the commuter line numbers look like going to Sugarland? I live on the far Southwest side, and as some of you know, 90A is at the midpoint of being transformed to one of those Super Roads where one will not have to stop for traffic lights from 610 South all the way to possibly Murphy Road in Stafford, if not further. Basically like a freeway, it will be a nonstop drive right down the path of the commuter rail.

290, I can totally see adding Commuter Rail RIGHT NOW, but my feelings aren't so clear on 90A, considering this Super Road will be done soon, plus the construction on the Ft. Bend portion of the Southwest Freeway through Stafford and the most congested portion of Sugarland has been completed (thanks to Mr. Delay ). Any thoughts anyone?

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Most likely, the rail will be to the side of the road. There will be stations of course, (with a major one located at 90@6- perhaps a park and ride). Besides, it also runs through Missourri City, and that portion is not going to be a super Road (I think).

Also, the line passes by the Sugar Factory, which may become an interesting, rail based development.

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This new plan is no surprise to me; I've been expecting it for months. After Bill White's inaguaration as mayor, the subsequent change of the makeup of METRO's Board of Directors, and the arrival of Frank Wilson as METRO's new President and CEO, it was very clear that changes were going to be made to the METROSolutions plan approved by voters in 2003. There were just too many factors that became obstacles to the implementaton of the original plan: concerns resulting from the accident rate along the Main Street line, the Main Street line's capacity constraints that might not have been able support the network as designed, the fact that the original network depended on a tunnel underneath downtown that was way too costly to build in the short term (and downtown interests did not want any more at-grade rail), the fact that federal transit dollars are scarce and that the current administration is pushing bus rapid transit over light rail, the fact that, as much as Tom DeLay and John Culberson say they're willing to support the will of the voters, they're still rail critics, etc. I think this new plan represents a compromise that recognizes both the political and fiscal realities of the day, both at the local and federal level. And I honestly don't think it's a bad plan, provided the federal match for it comes through. It essentially provides *more* high-capacity transit, at a lower price, within a decade than the voter-approved plan would have provided, albeit now most of the high capacity transit is BRT instead of LRT.

A few thoughts:

1. The "new" light rail line from Wheeler Station to the University of Houston is not really new, because it was one of the possibilities presented in the Southeast Alternatives Analysis. Its advantage is that it serves TSU, UH and transit-dependent Third Ward more directly than the Scott street alignment would have. I'm not sure what route it will follow; Wheeler itself makes the most sense but it would require a train to run through the middle of the TSU campus, which their administration does not favor. An Alabama alignment might be a possibility. I'm not sure where the terminus of this line would be; perhaps it would only go as far as Scott Street but it could go all the way to Calhoun.

2. Bus rapid transit shares many, but obviously not all, characteristics with light rail, and although it has its disadvantages I think it makes sense for these corridors in the short term: specially-designed buses, operating in an exclusive right-of-way, will serve these lines while a ridership base is developed, and as ridership grows such that a rail-supportive economy of scale will be reached, trains (either those similar to the ones along Main Street or smaller-scaled streetcars like those in use in Portland or Europe) will eventually replace them. My fear, as others on this thread have expressed, is that these lines will always be bus rapid transit and not be upgraded to rail. To that end, I wonder just how extensive the trackwork underneath these lines is proposed to be. Will it include switches, for example?

3. The commuter rail line down 90A was indeed part of the overall METROSolutions plan, although it was not included in the initial phase. METRO can only build the eight miles to the edge of its service area in Missouri City; everything else (the entire length of the line out to Rosenberg is about 25 miles) would have to be built by a separate funding mechanism because the sales tax rates of Stafford, Sugar Land, et al are maxed out and they cannot join METRO. As I mentioned in another thread, the political will to get this line built out to Rosenberg is there. The folks in Fort Bend county are just going to have to figure out how to get it funded.

4. What surpises me the most about this plan is the commuter rail up 290 to Cypress. I had always understood that, given the imminent reconstruction of 290 and the addition of managed lanes along this corridor, commuter rail along 290 was way off and trains along 249 would be more likely in the short term. I can only guess that this represents a larger plan to build rail all the way to College Station that has been mentioned from time to time, and that the reconstruction of 290 was seen as an opportunity to get it started and at the same time provide more commuter capacity to one of METRO's busiest park and ride corridors.

5. The signature express buses proposed by the plan will be similar to those operated in Los Angeles in other cities. They won't be as capital-intensive as "full" BRT (for example, they'll operate in mixed traffic, as opposed to dedicated lanes) but they'll still provide "better bus" service by having fewer stops, signal pre-emption systems, and the like. These were proposed along OST, Bellaire, Westheimer, Gessner and Tidwell in the voter-approved plan but it looks like Bellaire and Westheimer won't be part of this revised initial plan. I really like the proposed signature express line that appears to run west of 610 down Chimney Rock or South Rice to the 90A Commuter rail line. It wasn't part of the original METROSolutions plan, although it always made sense to me because of the high volumes of transit-dependent people in the "Gulfton Ghetto."

I have to catch a plane in a few hours, so unfortunately I cannot go into as much detail or respond to previous comments and questions as much as I would like. I'll have more to say about this plan later.

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