Transit Nut

is there a reason why METRO doesn't build stops at a station in both directions?? why have 2 different platforms?? This is a simple little thing that can be done to save money.

Platforms have to be a certain minimum width; those serving one direction only are narrower than those serving both directions. It depends on how much space is available and/or can be acquired.

at the meeting a few months ago, they were complaining about not having money for the bridge and yet, they all over a sudden "found" the resources to propose one closer to downtown along the same line.

The light rail bridge where the existing Harrisburg underpass is (closest to downtown) was always part of the plans. The light rail will follow its own alignment (rather than the road's alignment) due to some engineering issues.

Station locations could still change as design is advanced.

I'm kind of curious why the stations are listed that way; normally they are named after the nearest cross street, not landmark. I wouldn't mind seeing the source.

Also, if the stations, landscaping, etc. are enhanced, most likely the majority of the money would come from Uptown Houston (the district/TIRZ), not the city.

A better example of a street-level light rail "wye" is in San Jose, at N. 1st St. and W. Tasman Dr. (pick your favorite aerial map, like Google or maps.live.com); other cities also have wyes. If you are thinking of actual track crossings (at 90 degrees), downtown Portland will have two sets of light rail tracks crossing each other in a year or so; they already have their streetcar tracks crossing their light rail tracks.

Here's some additional info:

http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.l...737635f8e5f474d

I don't think this has been posted in this topic, but Christof Spieler did a blog article back in September (over 2 months ago) on how a Houston-Galveston commuter rail might work:

http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/christof/2...ng-good-habits/

METRO is planning to start a bus route between IAH and downtown hotels via US 59 in the next year or so, according to their FY 2008 Business Plan.

"METRO proposes to operate weekday service between George H. W. Bush Airport and several downtown hotels using the Eastex Freeway Corridor (US59). Currently, METRO offers express/local service between the airport and downtown. This limited stop service is targeted at existing customers as well as a new potential market

RedScare, I think you mean METRO Board Chair David Wolff, not Ed Wulfe. Both have similar sounding last names and are in the same profession, I think.

Riding by TSU today I saw Wheeler St. was blanketed with signs stating the following "We say no to Metro." Looks like another battle may be brewing.

Where exactly on Wheeler did you see these?

They're supposed to be building connecting corridors between the 3 blocks over Fannin and San Jacinto, right?

Almost all of western Harris County is included in METRO's service and sales tax area, but most of eastern Harris County isn't.

From what I understand, you must validate the pass on a bus or at a METRO RideStore (like at the Downtown Transit Center) the very first time you use it so that an expiry date will be printed on it. All future uses on METRORail do not require pre-validation.

http://www.ridemetro.org/Fare_Information/fare_facts.asp

http://www.ridemetro.org/Fare_Information/fare_guide.asp

If you're still not sure, call the RideStore: http://www.ridemetro.org/contact/index.asp

Also, despite what many people may think, fare evasion is very low on METRORail: http://www.ridemetro.org/News/METROConnect...ul07/070702.asp

Yes, the Q Card, which is being rolled out, will resolve some of these fare issues. Supposedly you can get one now and start using it to earn 5 free trips per 50 paid trips.

Metro consistently demonstrates that it has no idea where it's going. That train has "Fannin South" on it, yet is clearly going North.

I believe that train is just about to go up the bridge to enter UH-Downtown station. Since it will not be picking up anymore passengers to go north, it has probably just switched its sign to reflect the direction it will be picking up passengers for--that is, south.

By the way, I think this thread has gone off-topic.

So, has anyone used the new park-and-ride facility? How is it?

By the way, METRO posted some pictures, for those of us who don't live out in that area:

http://www.metrosolutions.org/go/doc/1068/116856/

Did anyone else attend yesterday's meeting? One of the earlier posts said that the pro-Richmond comments outnumbered the against comments by about 10 to 1, but the Chronicle said it was about even. Anyone have a 3rd point of view?

I'm also surprised that I couldn't find any coverage by the 3 main TV stations. Maybe it was due to the Astros' news.

The permanent park-and-ride will not be opening next Monday, Aug. 13. See the bottom of the page:

http://metrosolutions.org/go/doc/1068/168211/

However, the parking structure and bus canopy looks really nice! I passed by the facility on Monday, and it basically looks complete.

I think when MidtownCoog said "fake," he meant a "hoax," like April Fool's. Not fake in regards to the snow.

At first when it mentioned "River Walk," I thought it was the Astrodome, but they would never let them mess up the general look of the Astrodome. Also, if the company is foreign, the article may be translated, hence the bad English.

One of the reasons BRT is cheaper than LRT is because you don't have to have overhead wires and the poles to hold them up. However, many cities, including San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver include electric buses (a.k.a. trolleybuses) as part of their fleet.

Actually, for a long time, maybe since the beginning of METRO, Park & Ride buses have been over-the-road coaches (like charter buses), not like typical local transit buses. You can also add capacity with buses; you can run them every 3 minutes instead of every 4 minutes, as they are during the peak of the peak. Yes, there is something called "rail bias" (people who would ride a train but not a bus), but I don't think that really applies to Park & Ride routes, considering how popular they are right now and what the alternatives are. One other thing to consider is that you can currently catch a bus every 4 minutes to your destination, but you can only catch a train maybe every 30 min because the capacity is so much higher. It's a balance of frequency vs. capacity per unit (bus/train).

There is no P&R bus to the Medical Center because there is little demand for it right now. According to the TMC Master Plan, the majority of employees live in the southwest (like Missouri City) and south (Pearland), not up along 290. There are buses from Westwood and Missouri City which serve the TMC. They were also trying to start P&R service from Pearland, but apparently the parties involved have had trouble agreeing to the details.

There were also plans to start P&R service from Katy Mills Mall this year, but they may have had trouble coordinating with the mall or something. According to the METRO Solutions Spring Update, there's supposed to also be a new P&R in Clear Lake by 2012, and another 3 P&Rs by 2025.

In many ways, commuter bus service on a free flow HOV lane is just as good or better than commuter rail. While METRO probably wants to make sure the option of commuter rail isn't precluded, the existing service works quite well.

Trae, thank you for introducing us (or at least me) to the Peachtree Streetcar idea they have in Atlanta. However, the Portland, Peachtree, and similar streetcars are essentially low-capacity, low speed light rail vehicles. According to your graphics, a streetcar holds about 2/3 the passengers and has a max. speed of 30 mph, less than the speed of Houston's light rail vehicles now, and less than half of its max. possible speed. It is also meant for shorter distances. There are some long term (stress the "long") plans for a circulator around the outer edge of Downtown and Midtown Houston, but that won't happen for a while, like at least post-2012.

Back to your original map. The plan still is basically the same; however, that is what things should look like in 2025, 18 years from now. It takes a long time to build these things. Every system starts out small and grows over time; no city builds there entire rail network at once, finishes, and never expands again. While they may seem neat and extensive now, systems like MARTA, New York's subway, and Washington's Metro were once much smaller. Even London's system was once just 1/3 of the Circle Line.

Note the title of this thread.

http://www.2035plan.org/

Here's a link (there are others too):

http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/kho...n.2ab7aed5.html

Based on various news stories from Ch. 11 and 13, it sounds like there will be stations near the Museum of Natural Science, Miller Outdoor Theatre, and at least one of the METRORail stations.

Actually, with the connections to METRORail, this may end up like something Mr. Spieler joked about last April 1 (scroll to the bottom):

http://www.ctchouston.org/blogs/christof/2006/04/01/35/

I'm not sure if these have been posted yet, but there are at least 3 new PowerPoint presentations (Calhoun Lofts, Lecture Hall, and Cullen St.) on the UH Master Plan website, http://www.uh.edu/plantops/fpc_masterplan.html. Lots of good pictures and maps!

Installation of bike racks schedule:

http://www.ridemetro.org/TransportationSer...es/bobsched.asp