Traffic

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

Traffic in Houston is so horrible. Today I got an early start on the road, and left at 4:00pm., and went up Louisiana Street onto Interstate 10. Right when I hit Washington Street it was slow all the way to Highway 6. Then, after Highway 6, there was heavy volume until Mason Road. I just got home at 6:00 pm. Does anyone else have these problems

Those people stuck on the Southwest Freeway, I really feel sorry for you today because as of now I am seeing the backup from the Beltway to the Grand Parkway. Horrible.

[jmancuso]

don't even get me going about the traffic here...

[dbigtex56]

The light rail was running every six minutes...

[MidtownCoog]

Mason Road?

Take the bus!

[editor]

Didn't Metro used to have some car-pool plan where if you left work early or late and couldn't make your pool, they'd guarantee a way for you to get home?

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

No, I don't think so. But I do take the bus sometimes.

[Montrose1100]

Does this particular day in the week, and time, have anything to do with it?

[westguy]

I'm glad that this was the one day of the week that I don't have to take the Southwest Freeway (althought the Westpark Tollway does provide a handy escape valve).

[ricco67]

http://www.ridemetro.org/services/ridehome.asp

Enjoy peace of mind with METRO's Guaranteed Ride Home

A benefit that makes sharing a ride even better is the Guaranteed Ride Home program. The free service provides commuters a way home in the event of a midday emergency, up to three times per calendar year. The program is available to all METROVan riders and bus patrons without midday service. Bus patrons must register using the form below.

Covered emergencies include:

* Personal illness

* Illness of a family member

* A death in the family

* Unscheduled overtime required by your employer (vanpooling only)

Examples of what the program does not cover include:

* Personal errands

* Scheduled medical appointments

* Scheduled overtime

* Natural disasters when the work force is dismissed

How it works

In the event of an emergency, call METRO RideShare Services, at 713-224-RIDE (7433) or toll free at 1-888-606-RIDE (7433) between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday (except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day).

Commuters enrolled in the METROVan program will be provided with a rental car, which will be delivered to their place of employment. The customer will be required to sign a rental agreement and present a valid driver's license upon delivery. METRO will pay the cost of a one-day rental; however, the car must be returned to the rental agency by the following morning. This rule is also in effect when requesting a Guaranteed Ride Home on a Friday - the vehicle must be returned Saturday by 9 a.m.

All costs for vehicles kept over the allotted time period will become the responsibility of the participant.

Registered METRO bus customers will be provided taxi service. The RideShare Customer Service Representative will give you the name of the taxi company and the taxi vehicle number that will pick you up.

You will be required to show a picture ID and verify your destination with the taxi driver before your trip will be executed. At the end of your trip, you are required to verify the fare, and sign and date the voucher indicating you used the service. Tips or gratuities are optional and must be paid by you.

Remember the Rules

All Guaranteed Ride Home trips must be authorized by METRO RideShare Services. The customer will not be reimbursed for a rental vehicle or taxi ride without prior authorization from a METRO RideShare representative.

Registration Form (for bus patrons without midday service)

Complete and submit the registration form below or print it and mail to: METRO RideShare, P.O. Box 61429, Houston, TX 77208-9987 or fax it to 713-652-8962. Contact METRO RideShare at 713-224-RIDE (7433) or toll free at 1-888-606-RIDE (7433) if you have any questions.

[ssullivan]

I can't imagine living in Katy and working downtown and not taking the bus or carpooling! As I've said before, there are other options. If commuting on the Katy Freeway is really that awful, get out of your car and use the park and ride service or join a vanpool. Constantly complaining about it is not going to change anything, and driving by yourself is only adding to the problem and making it worse. This is not a new problem. The Katy Freeway has been a disaster for at least twenty years now.

[dbigtex56]

Traffic in Houston is so horrible. Today I got an early start on the road, and left at 4:00pm., and went up Louisiana Street onto Interstate 10. Right when I hit Washington Street it was slow all the way to Highway 6. Then, after Highway 6, there was heavy volume until Mason Road. I just got home at 6:00 pm. Does anyone else have these problems

Those people stuck on the Southwest Freeway, I really feel sorry for you today because as of now I am seeing the backup from the Beltway to the Grand Parkway. Horrible.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Posted by CincoRanch-HoustonResident in The Woodlands thread:

"Damn who cares about sprawl. I don't. All I hear is sprawl this and that. Damn if you don't like it move away from houston. It's very simple."

Jeez. What part don't you get? By moving away from Houston, you're creating sprawl - further to drive, more traffic - then complain about the very problem you helped to create.

Someone once said (and this is not an exact quote) "You are not stuck in a traffic jam...you are the traffic jam."

[20sGirl]

I have to agree, Cinco Ranch, you opened yourself up on this one. Good God man, do yourself a favor and take the Park and Ride. Straight shot right to downtown- you can drink your coffee, read a book, take a nap or look at all those poor suckers stuck in traffic.

[editor]

http://www.ridemetro.org/services/ridehome.asp

Examples of what the program does not cover include:

    * Personal errands

    * Scheduled medical appointments

    * Scheduled overtime

    * Natural disasters when the work force is dismissed

That's not very comforting. In the event of another 9/11 or another Allison, you're SOL left behind in downtown to die. Thanks, Metro!

[ricco67]

I think in the event of a natural disaster and/or buildings collapsing all around, aside from lawyers falling from the tops of buildings, getting home early would be the LEAST of our problems.

Ricco

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

I have to agree, Cinco Ranch, you opened yourself up on this one.

[DaTrain]

If I was out in Katy, I would do the same thing: go to the Park and Ride Lot on Addicks, and take one of the METRO Commuter Routes on the Katy Freeway. Thank God for the HOV system -- without accidents in it, of course. At least while all those cars are stuck in those three lanes, you'll be glad to know that your bus goes 55 mph in the most efficient HOV system of them all.

[ssullivan]

That's not very comforting.  In the event of another 9/11 or another Allison, you're SOL left behind in downtown to die.  Thanks, Metro!

That's not really true. On 9/11, Metro did an outstanding job of quickly picking up park and ride passengers and getting them out of downtown. People who had ridden to downtown that morning on a Metro bus were cleared from downtown just as quickly as those who drove.

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

I just love sitting in my Metro bus, and watching all of the poor people stuck in traffic. Today I sat down with my Chronicle from my house and read it. Then took a look at all of the suckers in traffic. Just great.

[2112]

I just love sitting in my Metro bus, and watching all of the poor people stuck in traffic. Today I sat down with my Chronicle from my house and read it. Then took a look at all of the suckers in traffic. Just great.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do I smell sarcasm? Or are you serious?

Riding Metro is quite soothing for me. But then, I grew up traveling by Trailways every summer to visit cities with my mom. Houston, of course, was one of those frequent summer trips. I just LOVED sitting on busses for long periods of time, and it was a joyous occasion when we would approach a large city...I would be mesmerized by all the lights, skyscrapers, and the traffic too. The great bus terminals were fantastic too me, freaks and all. So today, I do what some people would consider a little strange....I actually go to the Greyhound terminal downtown, and recall the great times I used to have there as a child, realizing that I was now in a REAL big city. I love picking up friends at the bus station: its just an excuse to be there for me.

But thats just me.

[2112]

Do I smell sarcasm?  Or are you serious?

Riding Metro is quite soothing for me.  But then, I grew up traveling by Trailways every summer to visit cities with my mom.  Houston, of course, was one of those frequent summer trips.  I just LOVED sitting on busses for long periods of time, and it was a joyous occasion when we would approach a large city...I would be mesmerized by all the lights, skyscrapers, and the traffic too.  The great bus terminals were fantastic too me, freaks and all.  So today, I do what some people would consider a little strange....I actually go to the Greyhound terminal downtown, and recall the great times I used to have there as a child, realizing that I was now in a REAL big city.  I love picking up friends at the bus station: its just an excuse to be there for me.

But thats just me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I said:

"I love picking up friends at the bus station"

I should clarify what that means. It does NOT mean I go there to pick up strange people and make them my friends. I mean, when friends who allready are my freinds, come visit me to Houston on a Greyhound, I go pick them up at the bus station. That's what that means.

[dbigtex56]

I just love sitting in my Metro bus, and watching all of the poor people stuck in traffic. Today I sat down with my Chronicle from my house and read it. Then took a look at all of the suckers in traffic. Just great.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cinco, thanks for the update.

I applaud that you have the guts to try something new, and I'm glad it's working out for you. Do you think you'll continue to take the bus? Any suggestions about how it could be better?

[Talbot]

I said:

"I love picking up friends at the bus station"

I should clarify what that means.

[editor]

Do I smell sarcasm?  Or are you serious?

Riding Metro is quite soothing for me.  But then, I grew up traveling by Trailways every summer to visit cities with my mom.  Houston, of course, was one of those frequent summer trips.  I just LOVED sitting on busses for long periods of time, and it was a joyous occasion when we would approach a large city...I would be mesmerized by all the lights, skyscrapers, and the traffic too.  The great bus terminals were fantastic too me, freaks and all.  So today, I do what some people would consider a little strange....I actually go to the Greyhound terminal downtown, and recall the great times I used to have there as a child, realizing that I was now in a REAL big city.  I love picking up friends at the bus station: its just an excuse to be there for me.

But thats just me.

You are in distinguished company. I forget which person it is, but either McNeil or Lehrer of the former PBS news program McNeil Lehrer News Hour was a big big bus fan. Even though he was a big-time business anchor and PBS stuffy guy, he would ride Greyhound and Trailways buses all the time just for fun. He even wrote a book about it. Apparently, there are lots of bus fans.

Back in the days when 150 baud was the standard, I ran a BBS in New Jersey ("The Nowhere BBS" becasue I was conviinced I lived nowhere) and one of the frequent visitors was a guy whose name completely escapes me. He was a cartoonist who had a strip called "Rapid T. Rabbit" about a rabbit that got around via mass transit. The guy had memorized the bus timetables for the entire eastern seaboard. I would give him a starting city and a destination city, and he could say what bus to take where at what time and name all the connections and times needed to get to the destination city. Freaky.

I only ever saw his strip in one newspaper, but there were probably more. He had this crazy idea about syndicating his strip on BBSes instead of the newspaper. He thought that computers in people's homes might some day all be connected to each other in some sort of a thing he called a "net-work" and maybe be able to display cartoons on their CRTs, or maybe even *gasp* photographs!

I, being the short-sighted person I sometimes am, thought he was on drugs.

[dbigtex56]

He thought that computers in people's homes might some day all be connected to each other in some sort of a thing he called a "net-work" and maybe be able to display cartoons on their CRTs, or maybe even *gasp* photographs!

I, being the short-sighted person I sometimes am, thought he was on drugs.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It wasn't Al Gore, was it?

[2112]

I just love sitting in my Metro bus, and watching all of the poor people stuck in traffic. Today I sat down with my Chronicle from my house and read it. Then took a look at all of the suckers in traffic. Just great.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I enjoy this too, as I mentioned above. However, I dont limit my observations to poor people, I look at all of them.

[GovernorAggie]

Seems to me that the bus is the best option, too.

I was just in Austin, and I must say that they have the WORST traffic in Texas--at least in my opinion. With no roadwork being done and no accidents in the way, I-35 was bumper-to-bumper, moving at about 10 mph at 3 pm! MoPac was almost as bad.

On a different note, while in Austin, I saw a presentation by NCTCOG (DFW's COG) and they are planning hundreds of miles of new rail lines. However, I don't think it was just out of progressive thinking, they kept talking about being faced with the decision to widen freeways but buying and demolishing office buildings. I know that TxDOT has done this some on the Katy Frwy, but they can't afford that for long. I think about the planned widening of 290 to 10 lanes, well that area arounf Hollister and Pinemont has several office buildings, many of which are hugging the curring ROW of 290. I think we will see more rail here b/c of the same reasons in Dallas, they know that one rail line is the same as 3 freeway lanes--that's about 200' of right of way that they won't have to buy.

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

I don't have suggestions for the METRO bus.

[20sGirl]

I was just in Austin, and I must say that they have the WORST traffic in Texas--at least in my opinion.  With no roadwork being done and no accidents in the way, I-35 was bumper-to-bumper, moving at about 10 mph at 3 pm!  MoPac was almost as bad. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One reason the traffic is so bad is that Austin grew so fast and the freeway system just couldn't handle it all. I don't know if Austin is still growing since the tech boom is over.

Houston does have one of the best- if not the best- freeway systems in the US. You've got the wheel and spoke system that can take you anywhere.

The big problem is lack of public transportation, too many cars and unfriendly bike lanes (if any). I don't forsee Houstonians giving up their cars anytime soon, so I fear we'll have to live with the traffic since widening freeways is not going to help anything- at least not in the long run.

[20sGirl]

Cinco, Glad you liked the bus. I currently work in a place where bus service is nonexistent, so I'm forced to drive with all the other suckers. Boy, do I miss those days of a relaxing commute. All I gotta say is drivers in NW Houston are very rude and aggressive. Thank God this is a temporary assignment.

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

I enjoy this too, as I mentioned above.