Bayou Transport

[Guest Plastic]

I've had the idea of a decade ago to use Buffalo Bayou as a form of transport. We'd put boats down the Bayou and people couldus them to commute to work. Not only could you use The Katy,Westparkor proposed commuter rail but take a ride down the bayou to and from work.

Buffalo Bayou conveniently does West almost direstly. Thus making it a great route from the West side to Downtown Houston. You could take a boat from Bush park just part HWY 6 all the way into Downtown all along the bayou and do the same thing inreverse coming home. Sounds corny but if it works it would be attractive. THe only serious issue is could the boats go fast enough to get Downtown in 30 minutes. That and the unappealing color of the water.

[Talbot]

I think a long time ago when the Woodlands Waterway was starting to get big, the Chronicle did an article about little taxi's that would be used for commuting in Buffalo Bayou as well.

Something about when the Bayou was done with its renovation you could grab something to eat, get a newspaper, and then hop on your water taxi. IMO it would be a great idea.

[TheNiche]

I've had that idea myself. However, a mile along a river or stream is not the same as a mile on a freeway or major arterial. You have to account for the many bends in Buffalo Bayou, especially upstream of Memorial Park, where it hasn't been straightened. Taking that into account, you can easily double the effective distance from place to place. Also, boats don't typically travel very fast on inland waterways, especially those as shallow as the Buffalo Bayou in its upstream segments. And if one were to travel quickly, you'd have two problems: 1) Water would be kicked up and splashed, possibly all over the very same commuters that just showered for work, and 2) the large wakes generated by motorboats would erode the banks, especially upstream of Memorial Park. Environmentalists would have a fit.

In the distant future, if enough residential population density can be built up along the bayou from about Riverway near the West Loop (but in particular around the Shepherd bridge) all the way down into the east end, possibly near Wayside, water taxis start to look promising. However, they're still unlikely to be an attractive option to someone who isn't in it for the aesthetic appeal.

All that said, the water taxi at The Woodlands Waterway received federal subsidy from the FTA on the grounds that it could relieve congestion. If that's possible, then it may very well be that an operator of a small craft could pull this kind of business off.

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

I've had that idea myself. However, a mile along a river or stream is not the same as a mile on a freeway or major arterial. You have to account for the many bends in Buffalo Bayou, especially upstream of Memorial Park, where it hasn't been straightened. Taking that into account, you can easily double the effective distance from place to place. Also, boats don't typically travel very fast on inland waterways, especially those as shallow as the Buffalo Bayou in its upstream segments. And if one were to travel quickly, you'd have two problems: 1) Water would be kicked up and splashed, possibly all over the very same commuters that just showered for work, and 2) the large wakes generated by motorboats would erode the banks, especially upstream of Memorial Park. Environmentalists would have a fit.

In the distant future, if enough residential population density can be built up along the bayou from about Riverway near the West Loop (but in particular around the Shepherd bridge) all the way down into the east end, possibly near Wayside, water taxis start to look promising. However, they're still unlikely to be an attractive option to someone who isn't in it for the aesthetic appeal.

All that said, the water taxi at The Woodlands Waterway received federal subsidy from the FTA on the grounds that it could relieve congestion. If that's possible, then it may very well be that an operator of a small craft could pull this kind of business off.

the first heavy rainfall will shut it down completely.

[DJ V Lawrence]

I've had the idea of a decade ago to use Buffalo Bayou as a form of transport. We'd put boats down the Bayou and people couldus them to commute to work. Not only could you use The Katy,Westparkor proposed commuter rail but take a ride down the bayou to and from work.

Buffalo Bayou conveniently does West almost direstly. Thus making it a great route from the West side to Downtown Houston. You could take a boat from Bush park just part HWY 6 all the way into Downtown all along the bayou and do the same thing inreverse coming home. Sounds corny but if it works it would be attractive. THe only serious issue is could the boats go fast enough to get Downtown in 30 minutes. That and the unappealing color of the water.

Part of the Buffalo Bayou Redevelopment plan did include cleaning the water, thus making the water color more appealing.

I know a project like that would take mad planning, and perhaps some mad funding, but I don't know why it would be impossible. There are other cities worldwide that use their waterways for transportation (check out Europe's cities).

The biggest issue would be flood control. I got an idea. Hydro-electricity. We could use state-of-the-art infrastructure to create stored hydro-electric along the bayous that have waterboats going along them. http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/pumped.htm Let's say the pumps were only used when terential rainfall came in. It'd control the water, and there'd be a second source of power in case of blackouts. Wishful Thinking

[westguy]

The excess water could be moved into retention ponds. The bayous flood often but they are designed to move the water from the city quickly.

[DaTrain]

I've had that idea myself. However, a mile along a river or stream is not the same as a mile on a freeway or major arterial. You have to account for the many bends in Buffalo Bayou, especially upstream of Memorial Park, where it hasn't been straightened. Taking that into account, you can easily double the effective distance from place to place. Also, boats don't typically travel very fast on inland waterways, especially those as shallow as the Buffalo Bayou in its upstream segments. And if one were to travel quickly, you'd have two problems: 1) Water would be kicked up and splashed, possibly all over the very same commuters that just showered for work, and 2) the large wakes generated by motorboats would erode the banks, especially upstream of Memorial Park. Environmentalists would have a fit.

Here's a third and fourth problem: 3) A number of bridge crossing clearances may be too low for the boat The ferry boat would have to be built to where it is the same height as the Bayou crest and the bridge because since TxDot doesn't care about transportation options they'll be too lazy to rebuid the bridges for higher clearance just like they did 610 East Loop bridge over the ship channel. 4) Bridge pillars may be present in the Bayou water (foundations thereof). Example: The I-45 Allen Parkway Maze crosses over the Buffalo Bayou three times in five seconds with a whole bunch of 55-year-old bridge columns that may block the boat depending on the width thereof as shown in the pics below:

Pics courtesy of ??:

http://static.flickr.com/68/156084835_ebd7fa7dea.jpg?v=0

http://static.flickr.com/47/156085985_33e0b6f40d.jpg?v=0

Even if the boat continues it will have to go at a certain angle to stay between the columns anyway. Anyways I would like for Houston to have a ferry system for commuting but it is just a dream thanks to the setbacks.

Edited August 5, 2006 by DaTrain

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

The mosquitos would ABSOLUTELY love it. They would feast on the people riding in those boats.