Do You Use Light Rail?

[Parrothead]

After today's disasterous commute #36 (oh yes, we're counting) with my poor husband, I think Metrorail sucks big toes. Big nasty dirty toes at that. So, I am wondering how many here use the rail every single day and your thoughts on it.

BTW, today's disaster was a phantom wreck and they put all the riders on shuttle buses to get to downtown only to find there was no wreck at all, in fact the minute my husband was seated on the shuttle another train passed them right by... the shuttle driver didn't know which way to go, and we are now working on a 1 hour commute from MD Anderson hospital to right inside downtown at 45 and Main (56 minutes to be exact). I wonder how long it will take him to get home from there? My guess is another hour at least.

Thanks, Metro! You've done a bang-up job, no pun intended.

[citykid09]

I rode it once.

[UrbaNerd]

I rode it twice(well, I rode it about a million times for two dys, lol). It was great!

[Parrothead]

BTW, he's still not home yet

[ricco67]

Well, whenever I have business in the medical center that won't take that much time, I park the car over at the wheeler station, hop on the train, get there in about 6 minutes. I then complete my business and hop on the train and that takes another 6 minutes or so and I'm gone.

It's ALOT faster than trying to find a parking spot downtown.

Hell, it's definately faster than doing the valet parking in the various buildings.

Ricco

[dbigtex56]

BTW, today's disaster was a phantom wreck and they put all the riders on shuttle buses to get to downtown only to find there was no wreck at all

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Local news showed helicoper shots of the wreck, near the McGowen Station.

Another SUV ran into the train. Of course.

[Gary]

I also use the Wheeler station and have had no problems.

[Parrothead]

According to hubby, a wreck was reported--but trains were still running, and people were really pissed off about being put on the shuttle buses. He says he did not see any wreck at all. I cannot find anything on KTRK's website or KPRC's about a wreck today, but I wonder if they even report them anymore. Either way, it was an unorganized mess, it isn't the first time this has happened for him or for others that use this in their daily commutes, and he is really hating Metro right about now.

He got home at 6:35, following a walk to the train, off the train to a shuttle bus, a walk to the 131, and then to the Tollway and I-10, where he walks home. So it took him a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes to get home--for a 13 mile trip. This isn't his longest commute by far--the longest was when the 131 didn't show up for an hour on a Friday and he was about 2 hrs 20 min getting home that night.

His solution? He is thinking about driving in from now on and just paying the parking fare and dealing with traffic--or just going back to taking the 298 from Katy. He is seeing no benefit whatsoever with taking the train and frankly, neither am I! But it's nice to know all that money has helped those who occassionally use it.

Do I sound too bitter? Sorry!!! It's frustrating.

[debmartin]

for about a year i have been using the metrorail to get to the med center a few times a week, although recently we've been getting dropped off as i refuse to drive there anymore. besides paying up to $15 to valet the car, gas is through the roof and traffic on fannin is often bumper to bumper. there are also times we have to go to more than one building, and with no "in & out parking" this becomes impossible.

the trains run about every 7 to 10 minutes, although many times they have been delayed due to technical problems, wrecks, etc. when this happens they make announcements at the stations, although with traffic and noise it is not easy to hear. then there are the buses that are supposed to help navigate rail passengers past the problem and many times these bus drivers are clueless.

since i live by the galleria, i drive to hillcroft transit center, catch the 132 to wheeler and catch the rail to dryden tmc station. the 163 and 53/82 busses SHOULD connect to rail, but they sail through midtown and take you all the way downtown, forcing you to backtrack which is a waste of time. if i'm alone, i can get off at holman and walk a few blocks over to hcc/ensemble station - this just gives me more options since the 132 only runs once per hour off-peak.

right now my son's illness has taken a turn, and we are being dropped off because the dryden station is an impossible walk for anyone going to md anderson. i have said this before, but what i enjoy about taking metro busses and trains is that i can sit back, crank up my ipod and use the time to reduce my stress. i've been using metro since 2000, but can remember all the years i stressed myself out driving to the med center - i've often wondered if the stressed out drivers contribute to all the accidents with the light rail.

debmartin

[Casual Observer]

the trains run about every 7 to 10 minutes, although many times they have been delayed due to technical problems, wrecks, etc.

[The Voice of University Oaks]

This is another one of the drawbacks of building a street-level system: it's unreliable. If it's not the constant service disruptions caused by car-vs-train wrecks or by morons slamming into OCS poles or by trees falling onto the catenary wire, it's the fact that any system that runs in mixed traffic is going to be significantly slower than a system that operates in its own right-of-way. As anybody who rides the train knows, the signal synchronization system that's supposed to give the train a continuous green between stations doesn't work too well and the train oftentimes gets caught at red lights. And then there's the peculiar shared left turn lanes in the Medical Center, which slows trains down enormously during hospital shift changes.

And don't even get me started on the fact that the Main Street line has severe capacity constraints. Consists are limited to two cars because of downtown and midtown block lengths, and headways much shorter than six minutes will be difficult to acheive given the operating conditions.

It's too late to do anything about the Main Street line (which I used to ride all the time, by the way, until I moved). And like I've said in another post, don't blame the METRO PEC folks because they did the best they could do with the budget they were given. But it's clear that, as the extensions are built, something different needs to be done.

As for Parrothead: stick with the 298. You'll get much better service using park and ride service that operates in an HOV lane than you will using the slow-as-molasses 131 Memorial and the train.

[VelvetJ]

And like I've said in another post, don't blame the METRO PEC folks because they did the best they could do with the budget they were given.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At times I think we as complaining Houstonians tend to forget the above statement. I personally applaud metro for it's efforts to make the light rail line succesful with the resources it had.

Also regarding the extentions, I also agree that something different needs to be done. The issue is "something different" would more than likely cost more money and too many in this city would scream bloody murder and predict the demise of our city if that were to happen, although "something different" is CLEARLY what's best for the city as a whole.

[Parrothead]

Here's something different: commuter rail!

Oh, I don't blame Metro necessarily. I mean, there's only so much brain power there to work with.

Well I've gotten off track (lol). I really just wanted to see who uses the light rail and their comments on it, just to see if anyone else feels our angst. Thanks everyone!

[ssullivan]

I use it a lot, although recently not as much just because I've been out of town for work. But when I'm home I use it often on the weekends. I rarely drive downtown anymore, because Metro is more convenient and really no slower. However, I also live less than two miles from a rail station, and have a quick trip on the 4 Beechnut which is fairly reliable most of the time to get over to the rail line.

I can imagine your husband's frustration Polly. I would be frustrated too in that situation, and so far I've been lucky to have had only one rail incident out of probably 200+ trips on it since it opened. That one incident was about a month into service in late January 2004 when there was a power outage north of Wheeler. It was handled well and we got off the train at Wheeler and boarded a local bus that was headed into downtown, because that was faster than walking over to a rail shuttle bus.

For future reference, in many areas of the rail line, you can catch a regular, local bus within one to two blocks of the rail line. In the Med Center, the 8 bus runs down Main to downtown. Northbound 1 buses will also get you from the Med Center to downtown. In midtown, there are buses running north to downtown on Louisiana, Milam, and San Jacinto, and southbound away from downtown on Smith, Travis, and Fannin. While these buses are local service buses that make more stops than the emergency rail shuttles, it may be faster than getting on a rail shuttle bus, especially if an incident has just happened. It does take a little time for Metro to dispatch the emergency shuttle buses.

I do think if I didn't live as close as I do to the rail line I wouldn't use it nearly as often. The farther away you live, the less usable it becomes because of the time it takes to commute on a local bus. It's a real shame in your case that Metro was forced to close the West Belt Park and Ride, as I'm sure it would have provided a much more convenient commute to downtown to transfer to MetroRail than the 131 Memorial Express does.

[ssullivan]

At times I think we as complaining Houstonians tend to forget the above statement. I personally applaud metro for it's efforts to make the light rail line succesful with the resources it had.

Also regarding the extentions, I also agree that something different needs to be done. The issue is "something different" would more than likely cost more money and too many in this city would scream bloody murder and predict the demise of our city if that were to happen, although "something different" is CLEARLY what's best for the city as a whole.

This is so true. The cost of right of way acquisition, or elevating the rail line, or putting it underground would easily double, if not triple, the construction costs. It becomes an issue then of much less rail mileage at a much higher cost, or more mileage at lower cost, with reduced speed and safety. And the way people yell about how much money is being spent on many projects, it's probably better to go cheaper with more miles by putting the rail in existing street and rail rights of way.

And I will say from having ridden many of the rail systems in the US, Houston's is by far one of the best when it comes to safety design for street median running segments.

[LTAWACS]

I use it all the time. I love it.

[westguy]

I think we should send everyone in this town back to driving school. JMO.

And seriously do something about all the drunks driving around here. It is not safe on any road in Houston.

[The Voice of University Oaks]

It's a real shame in your case that Metro was forced to close the West Belt Park and Ride, as I'm sure it would have provided a much more convenient commute to downtown to transfer to MetroRail than the 131 Memorial Express does.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The 210 West Belt was by far METRO's worst-performing park and ride. Repeated attempts to increase ridership through marketing or bus operations changes didn't work.

[Parrothead]

I have to disagree, respectfully--the 210 was totally inconvenient as far as routes and times and only got worse over time. They could have increased ridership if they had offered the time frames the 131 Express does.

[skwatra]

I think we should send everyone in this town back to driving school. JMO.

And seriously do something about all the drunks driving around here. It is not safe on any road in Houston.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

everyone here seems to be really critical about the drivers in houston. have you spent a lot of time driving in any other big city? i'm personally really happy with the overall driving situation here (other then the fact that you HAVE to drive to get anywhere). the freeway drivers are generally fast, and people got out of your way in the left lane. i spent 4 years in a city where even if there is no traffic, everyone is going 55mph in every lane. i've spent a lot of time on the freeways in orlando, st. louis, denver, austin, and dallas, and after that houston is heaven. rush hour is a different story, but i think with the number of cars we have, we do alright.

sure we have some terrible drivers here, but you're going to find those everywhere.

i'm just happy i can go 75mph in medium traffic and have most people, including cops, going right beside me.

i will agree we probably do have a lot of drunks on the road, not sure how we compare to other cities.

[skwatra]

as for the light rail, i wish i could use it, but there's rarely a situation where there's any point to it since i live so far out.

i've taken it maybe twice during the superbowl and similar events.

my co-worker uses it all the time, but he has a home in midtown, and uses it anytime he goes to a bar or game in downtown.

[Dream]

No! To many Bums stinking up the train.

Dream

[dbigtex56]

I admire your courage to be one of a very few that are attempting to pioneer mass transit here in Houston. However, I know for myself that your written experience, along with other similar testimonials, are enough for me at this point to know that the light rail serves for nothing more than a novelity - only to be used on weekends. I wish it weren't the case though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I ride the train on a semi-regular basis - days, nights, weekdays and weekends. Very seldom do I find a train that's less than half full. Quite often I have to stand, because no seats are available.

If it "serves for nothing", why are so many people riding it?

Light rail has been in operation for less than 18 months. As is the case with virtually everything humans build, there will be unforseen factors which have to be worked out, and it takes time. IMO, Metro could be a bit more energetic about resolving issues more quickly; however, that doesn't mean we can ignore the fact that light rail is a success.

[kjb434]

I think the ridership of the current line shows that people will use this mass transit facility once it extends. The nice thing about Metro's plan is that they incrementally add small portions to the system.

This way riders get used to a little more at a time.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

I use it mainly for recreational jaunts downtown. I live inside the loop, but there's convenient parking (for free) at Main and Alabama. From there, it's about a 6-minute ride downtown.

I've used the rail on several occasions to save on parking downtown. A $2.00 all-day pass is much better than paying $15.00 for 2 hours at 1100 Smith, or pumping quarters into a parking meter downtown while drinking beer on a Saturday afternoon

I'm sure the free parking at Main and Alabama won't last forever, and I'm not sure I'll pay to park in addition to paying to ride MetroRail. If I'm gonna pay to park, I might as well just drive to where I'm going.

I will say this about MetroRail...every time I've taken it (usually Friday and Saturday afternoons), it's been standing room only. It looks like they've already hit the capacity. That's good and bad...I love the fact that rail is being used (up yours Messrs. DeLay and Culberson), but what's gonna happen when they start tying more segments into the Main Street line? It looks to me like capacity will be a HUGE problem.

[jmancuso]

only like 4 or 5 times. i don't live or work anywhere near the route so i have no need to use it.

[ssullivan]

I will say this about MetroRail...every time I've taken it (usually Friday and Saturday afternoons), it's been standing room only.  It looks like they've already hit the capacity.  That's good and bad...I love the fact that rail is being used (up yours Messrs. DeLay and Culberson), but what's gonna happen when they start tying more segments into the Main Street line?  It looks to me like capacity will be a HUGE problem.

Capacity will be helped when METRO aquires more light rail vehicles (they are proposing the purchase of 15 more). Also, capcity on weekends can be increased by reducing headways between trains from 12 minutes to 6 minutes, running the same schedule that weekday service is on now. So there is room to expand capacity, but you're right. Many trains now can be packed, and unfortunately, right now METRO doesn't have the equipment to increase capacity on weekdays beyond what it is now.

[Mase]

The most significant problem with the "Red Line" is Houston drivers. Although I agree that Houstonians are good for speed on the highway compared with Midwestern cities, they are horrible on the streets (and often due to cellphone use). Many drivers neglect to use turn indicators, blatently run red lights (esp. downtown), and do not understand/care about pedestrian right of way. Plus, drivers do not seem to learn. They still continue to make illegal left turns and to run red lights (and suffer the horrible consequences). The shared lefts enhance the problem, in part because too few cars get through any left signal due to inattentiveness.

Now, this is not to diminish the switch snafu (which time will tell if it is METRO or the contractors fault), but the ability of the trains to change the lights is quite frustrating. Some drivers are much more adept at timing intersections and using the onboard device to change lights (as, from my anecdotal evidence, there is such a device on board). Going from the Ensemble Station to Main Street Square (my beginning and ending stops) can take roughly 5 to 10 minutes, based on the driver.

I take METRO quite often, and my girlfriend takes it every day to/from work. Although the light problem has been frustrating, overall we are pleased with the ride. The ridership has gone from a handful of riders in the car when we first started taking it when it opened, to rarely getting a seat now. The latest METRO statistics show an appx. 75% increase in ridership year-to-date over last year. That is a good sign (the decline in bus ridership and significant cuts in such service has been unfortunate [to use an euphamism] but as I am strictly a Rail rider, I am not intimitely familiar with it).

Having lived in New York for 10 years and having an hour commute much of that time (subway and bus), Houston has a long way to go. But as another poster said, given what budget METRO had, the Red Line is a decent beginning. Now that Rep. DeLay cannot legitimately prevent federal money now (unlike the initial funding), hopefully the expansion can learn from the Red Line's mistakes (which at-grade may be one of). For Houston to survive as a city, it needs a functioning transit system. Park-and-Ride lots, as good as they are, are only part of the solution. Light-rail, and hopefully commuter rail, are necessary as well.

[dbigtex56]

Excellent post, Mase (and welcome to HAIF).

I too mostly ride from HCC/Ensemble, and have noticed that some operators are much less competant than others. Last July 4th, the operator stopped at HCC but neglected to open the doors! At the Wheeler station, I asked her why the doors didn't open, and she said "Well, no one pushed the button to open them." (I couldn't have even reached the button, as the train was absolutely crammed full).

I've seen an operator who allowed a couple of fairly elderly women to run up to the train, only to slam the doors, wait several more seconds, then take off without them. And you're absolutely correct about the skills (or lack of same) that some operators have regarding traffic lights. I hope Metro supervisors occasionally evaluate the operators.

Dream's post ("No! To many Bums stinking up the train."[sic]) unfortunately has an element of truth. Perhaps some of the people who used to hang out under the Pierce Elevated have discovered that Metro doesn't check riders' tickets very often. I've seen malodorous people sleeping on the train, blocking aisles, harrassing other passengers, etc. This needs to stop, now.

For the most part, I enjoy the train hugely. Metro just needs to keep on the ball and address some easily preventable problems.

[VicMan]

I sometimes use it when going Downtown, to the Med Center, to the Museum District, or to Midtown.