Intermodality

The signs in just about every front yard make it clear: the neighborhood around the corner of Ashby and Bissonnet does not want a highrise built on the site of the Maryland Manor apartments. I don’t blame them: if I owned a nice house with a secluded backyard in a quiet neighborhood I’d be alarmed [...]

While light rail gets the attention, studies continue for commuter rail in Houston. HGAC is evaluating possible routes, and TxDOT’s selected alternative for the SH35 corridor includes commuter rail. As I’ve said before, commuter rail isn’t an alternative to light rail. But the only way we’ll have an effective commuter rail system in Houston is [...]

Here’s an updated version of CTC’s 2012 METRO map, updated with the latest information from METRO. In particular:

Station locations in Uptown have been change to match a more recent METRO map (alas, I have only a paper copy and can’t find it online).
The Middleton station on the East End Line is gone again. It had [...]

The Chronicle looks at the failed jail bonds:
County Judge Ed Emmett said Wednesday that he still was analyzing the loss — the first defeat of a county bond request in 20 years — and will consult with Commissioners Court on whether to hold another referendum for the jail project, possibly as soon as next year.

The [...]

Houston voters tend to approve bond issues. If there’s no organized opposition, they pass; if there is organized opposition, they often pass anyway. That was the pattern yesterday for Harris County, the Post of Houston, and HISD — with one exception.
That exception was Harris County Proposition 3, which would have issued bonds to build [...]

A year ago, I looked at station boardings to see who was riding the Main Street Line. Now, we have another set of data, and it give a more complete picture.
This May, the Houston-Galveston Area Council surveyed riders on trains and buses in the Houston region. They completed 12,000 surveys, including 1,136 on METRORail (resulting [...]