wakester

I don't think it is from the HOA. That is a different company than manages the water. Besides the HOA is $750/ year although high for a place that doesn't have a pool or tennis courts or those type of amenities but about what you might expect to pay.

I live there (Since 2006). I am not an expert but I believe they have there own well and treatment facility. This was built before the neighborhood was started. So at the end of the year you don't pay the MUD tax. The water and sewer lines are connected to the houses like any other "MUD" neighborhoods. So it is not a case where you have your own water well or septic tank. The only drawback is that in the beginning there was issues where a transformer would go out and the water would get cut off. But those issues seem to have been worked out since there has been no problems for awhile.

I commute from Cypress to Uptown and I can tell you (at least in my little part of the world) that there is a direct correlation between the price of gas and the number of people on the bus.

The TRE in Dallas is double decked, too:

Is that a model train?

Those are the new Hybrid buses. Also notice the bike racks in the front.

I just went on a cruise out of Galveston and the cruise terminal is like an old warehouse. But one thing would be nice about the Galveston would be if they had a train service.

Actually, it probably would have. The referendum only passed by a pretty thin margin. METRO was very deliberate in dubbing the route "Westpark" because they wanted to keep the possibility of staunch NIMBYism among wealthy constituents (the only ones that ultimately matter) in that corridor in check, and Westpark was the most forgiving alignment where negative externalities are concerned.

...

I doudt that the voters in Afton Oaks voted "FOR" the the referendum because it said Westpark. I am sure the people fighting it now voted "NO" no matter what it said. I would even go so far as to say more people would have switched their vote from "YES" to "NO" if they would have shown the Culberson plan.

I think the closeness of the election just came down to the question of whether we should spend money on public transportation not on whether it was going to be going down Richmond or Westpark.

Schools out. That takes a lot of cars off the road.

I started noticing the difference before school let out (around April). Also, last summer I don't think there was much of a change during the summer. Friday's was the only time you saw a change (this is because a alot of people get every other Friday off).

Any information on when this will open? I use the temp lot now and look forward to parking my car in the covered garage. I just hope they add more buses since pretty much every bus currently is at capacity. Right now any new riders that the lot may attract is going to find full buses.

One other thing, before this opened the slowdown at 290/1960 would back up to before Telge. Over the last few months I have noticed that that backup has shrunk quite a lot. Has any other changes been made to that section of 290 besides the Cypress P&R that would account for this? I guess taking 200+ cars off that section an hour would have a good effect.

If you look at the traffic patterns of 290, it is only bad during rush hours. Off hours and the weekends it is free flowing (not like I-10 which was bad all the time). Rail allows you more options for adding capacity. So during rush hours you add more passenger cars or more frequency. To add capacity to 290 requires adding more lanes that will take years to build and sit vacant during off hours.

That may be so, but with Metro already trying to cut P&R routes out to force users to go downtown and take rail--it wouldn't be quite so superior. It's already happened at the Kuykendahl P&R, and ALMOST happened at the Addicks P&R, had riders not practically stormed the METRO hearing on it--thanks to some clever word-of-mouth P.R. from the Med Center folks.

Notice the new, big Cypress P&R doesn't have a direct route to the Med Center? That's no coincidence. Considering the TMC is the largest employer in this city, you'd think there would be a bit more help on the commuter end of things.

None of the P&R on the Northwest (Cypress, 1960, West Little York, and Pinemont) have direct service to TMC. Since they all have to go through the NWTC, you have to transfer to the 298 coming from I-10.

Well they are going to build the 290 HOTlanes along Hempstead highway. There are tracks on the side. There's hardly room for the track, how are they going to squeeze in a HOTway and commuter rail line?

TxDOT has set a side 50 feet of right a way along the Hempstead Tollway for rail

It might end up being a blessing in disguise. Routing commuters from NW Mall down the Uptown Line to the University Line, then up the Red Line would be a bit discouraging. A Washington line would be a nice, albeit expensive, solution.

That idea by the UP guy of getting people to take the Uptown line, University Line, and Red line would be a joke. I think even if they had a Washington line that people still would not use it from Cypress. They would just go back to using the Park n Ride from 1960 (214) and the commuter train would be empty. I think even if the Commuter train went all the way to the Main terminal and they had to take to Red line and walk 3 blocks to where the current bus drops them off, you would see a lot of people go back to the 214 bus. You get pretty spoiled when you can have a one seat ride and no transfers.

Saw this article on the chron.com : Chron article

Looks like UP does not want to play along with Metro on the Commuter rail plans because the high fuel cost causing a boom in the rail business. Even on 290 they only want to allow it up to 610 (Northwest mall). I ride the 217 bus from Cypress and 90% of the people are going downtown so if it does not go downtown then it will not have the ridership.

As a resident of the Cypress area, I would just like to tell the people of Houston :

"Let my people free"

Actually, with the communities going in here, the Grand Parkway, and a future commuter rail line, I could see this becoming another business center. Which is a bad thing since right now I can sit in my backyard and look to the West and see a sky full of stars. That won't last for long.

When I hear politicians say they are opposed to a transportation improvement because the people most directly affected don't want it, I have a problem. The reason has to be more transportation-related than that.

Did he just call out Culberson? Slam.

One of the latest blog entrys was interesting to me: http://blogs.ridemetro.org/blogs/write_on/...in-History.aspx

Maybe these quotes from WIG (the company who won the bid) will help settle the nerves of small businesses, especially Richmonds.

I read that to be the small businesses that will sub-contract work on the line. Maybe the Brass Maiden can work on some brass rails for the stations.

I see this being used heavily by people working in Uptown and commuting from 290. If Metro made more stops at the NWTC from I-10 park n rides then out that area also.

The truth is that a lot of people will not use even commuter buses like the 286 (current Uptown line). It doesn't travel during the day (have to know to use the local 33 bus), are not very frequent (15 min during peak time), since it starts at Greenway Plaza not always on the scheduled time, and although the 610 construction helped with the traffic along the 610 access road it can still take time to get to the NWTC. I would even go so far as to say a vast majority of the people that work in the Uptown area and live out 290 do not even know it is there.

I think that when the BRT is in place it will get a lot more attention and people will be more inclined to "try" it.

Chron story

Helping the process along. Although this is sure to get the Anti-Metro crowd excited.

I think Christof Spieler makes some good points in his latest blog

A couple of weeks ago I was returning from San Antonio and saw the big Sizzler cow on wheels in one of the small towns.

I ride the bus to the Uptown area and I have taken the 82 when I have needed to go Downtown from there. Some of the people on the bus were "interesting".

Whatever happen to "Lets take it outside"?

Man fatally shot aboard Metro bus in west Houston

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...an/4668543.html

I guess everyone will be walking gently when they board the bus now.

Plus, seems like everyone on here says that the Houston area did a poor job of acquiring rights of way in the past. Hopefully they're looking to the future also and learning from their past mistakes.

At least along 290, TxDOT has set aside 50 feet of ROW for Transit (be it CRT,LRT, or BRT) along the future Hempstead Tollway.

But my question is, what will we do when the rail lines are at capacity? What do cities normally do? Or have cities like NY and European cities even reached that kind of level of capacity?

For Commuter rail, wouldn't they just need to add more rail cars and/or increase the frequency?