Today at lunch…
LIVABLE HOUSTON INITIATIVE Another View on Regional Commuter Rail
Christof Spieler, Citizens’ Transportation Coalition
Tory Gattis, Houston Strategies
Christof Spieler and Tory Gattis recently got together to suggest a plan for the first step in pursuing regional commuter rail for the Houston region. They are reacting to several public statements made by Harris County Judge Ed Emmett that he will aggressively pursue putting in Commuter rail as quickly as possible and to the H-GAC Regional Commuter Rail Connectivity Study (pdf) which Sam Lott presented at our June Livable Houston / Smart Growth Initiative Meeting (includes video). They believe their plan would be a cost-effective short-term solution that would provide short-term connectivity to job centers via the 2012 Light Rail System and could still be part of a more comprehensive long-term solution.
At the same time, Christof and Tory have been raising questions that apply to any commuter rail plan:
Will commuter rail provide better service than the existing park-and-ride system? How can commuter rail connect to Houston’s multiple employment centers? Can commuter rail strengthen Houston’s economy by connecting to regional centers like College Station and Galveston? How do commuter rail and urban rail relate? What level of service does commuter rail have to provide to be a compelling alternative for commuters? They will present their ideas at the upcoming Livable Houston / Smart Growth Initiative meeting on Wednesday, July 23, 2008.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 Noon - 1:30pm at the H-GAC building 3555 Timmons, second floor
Free. Bring your own lunch For more information call 713-523-5757
The Gulf Coast Institute and the Houston-Galveston Area Council host Livable Houston/Smart Growth bring-your-own-lunch meetings that are open to the public on the fourth Wednesday of every month.