Category Archives: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Will Lone Star Rail get resurrected?

Posted on September 9, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe! A coalition of San Antonio and Austin state representatives has asked the House Transportation Committee chair to study the possibility of passenger rail between the two cities ahead of the 2021 legislative session. Congestion between the two cities will … Continue reading →

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Ride sharing for kids

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Yet another transportation option. Los Angeles-based HopSkipDrive, a ride-hailing platform that hires vetted caregivers to drive children 6 and older, is now available in Houston. “Parents shouldn’t have to choose between their careers and their children’s education and activities, but … Continue reading →

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More driverless trucks

Posted on August 25, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Look out on I-45. When Don Burnette worked at Otto, a self-driving truck startup, his team hit some pretty big milestones. It recorded the first shipment of cargo delivered by a self-driving truck: 50,000 cans of Budweiser in 2016. It … Continue reading →

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City moves forward on Vision Zero

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Tuesday adopted a plan that aims to end traffic fatalities and serious traffic injuries in Houston by 2030. The “Vision Zero Houston” plan is considered a significant step in the city’s mobility strategy and will … Continue reading →

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A call to embrace scooters

Posted on August 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Chron business writer Chris Tomlinson is a fan of scooters. After years of riding bicycles in traffic, I’m comfortable riding a scooter on the street where they belong. I find them a convenient and environmentally-friendly alternative to automobile congestion. But … Continue reading →

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Metro referendum is set

Posted on August 15, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. Metropolitan Transit Authority board members voted Tuesday to ask voters in November for permission to borrow up to $3.5 billion, without raising taxes. The money would cover the first phase of what local leaders expect to be … Continue reading →

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HGAC makes its pledge to TxDOT for I-45

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of pushback, but not enough to change the outcome. Local transportation officials now have skin in the game when it comes to widening Interstate 45 north of downtown Houston, approving on Friday a $100 million commitment for the project … Continue reading →

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Still tweaking the Metro referendum

Posted on July 24, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Extending one rail line to Hobby Airport instead of two has generated some savings in the projected cost, which can then allow for other things to be done. The expected price of extending the Green Line and Purple Line light … Continue reading →

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Meet MetroRapid

Posted on July 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the new, official name for the Uptown BRT line. Station names along the Post Oak dedicated bus lanes will have a familiar ring for riders, transit and Uptown officials decided, as they inch toward opening the region’s first foray … Continue reading →

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HGAC gives initial approval to TxDOT’s funding demand

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Approval with concerns. There will be opportunities to revisit this. Plans to overhaul Interstate 45 north of downtown Houston inched forward this week, but not without some hesitation and a slew of caveats by some local officials who have been … Continue reading →

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Another manifesto against I-45 expansion

Posted on July 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

They’re fun to read, and my heart is with them, but we all know how this works. The I-45 project is likely to do irreversible damage to our city’s finances and ecology. It will reduce the city’s tax base by … Continue reading →

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Add HEB to the autonomous grocery delivery trend

Posted on July 15, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

In San Antonio, at least. Maybe in Houston later if it goes well for them. Customers near an H-E-B in suburban San Antoni0 can soon get their eggs, fruit and tortillas dropped off by a vehicle with no one at … Continue reading →

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Scooters and the negative effect on disabled folks

Posted on July 13, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

A deep dive on the San Antonio experience. From the moment they appeared in cities across the country, the business model for electric scooters has depended on riders’ abandoning the machines wherever the ride ends. Users unlock scooters with a … Continue reading →

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TxDOT wants H-GAC to commit money to the I-45 project

Posted on July 9, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t understand this. To demonstrate local support for the mega-project, the Texas Department of Transportation is asking the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Policy Council, the committee that doles out state and federal money controlled by local officials, to commit … Continue reading →

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San Antonio bans scooters from sidewalks

Posted on July 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Speaking of where scooters do and do not belong: Dockless electric scooters can’t be ridden on San Antonio sidewalks, per a new City ordinance that went into effect Monday, but many say they’re concerned about how well it will be … Continue reading →

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Biking and breweries

Posted on July 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Actually, this makes perfect sense. This started off in the gray area between a good idea and a bad one. Two years ago, Jason Buhlman and Brian Kondrach got about 30 of their friends together for an afternoon of two-wheel … Continue reading →

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Yeah, scooters are going to come to Houston

Posted on July 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The question is when, not if. [E]ven though there’s a growing interest in alternate forms of transportation, you still can’t rent a scooter in Houston. Maria Irshad, assistant director of the City of Houston’s Parking Division, said Houston’s infrastructure has … Continue reading →

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Uber’s vision for the future

Posted on July 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I feel like this is more wishcasting than real planning. Still, some of it may happen, and if nothing else we should be aware of what it’s all about. When Uber envisions the future, it not only wants to put … Continue reading →

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Another look at scooter mayhem

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From the Associated Press: As stand-up electric scooters have rolled into more than 100 cities worldwide, many of the people riding them are ending up in the emergency room with serious injuries. Others have been killed. There are no comprehensive … Continue reading →

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Metro and the Mayor’s race

Posted on June 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This went pretty much as one would expect. Delivering his fourth State of Mobility speech to Transportation Advocacy Group-Houston Chapter, Mayor Sylvester Turner echoed previous years, noting the region needs more options than solo driving if it is to handle … Continue reading →

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In defense of the I-45 expansion

Posted on June 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Jeff Balke rises in opposition to the anti-I-45-expansion clamor. We have seen comments on social media and rantings about how our city should be more bike friendly and pedestrian safe. How we need commuter rail, better bus service and rapid … Continue reading →

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What if we didn’t expand I-45?

Posted on June 24, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s an awful lot of money that comes with a ton of negative effects and which, if the I-10 expansion is any guide, will have short-lived positive effects. So maybe we should just, like, not do it? A massive remake … Continue reading →

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Happy (bike) trails to you

Posted on June 22, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Trails connecting to trails. It’s a beautiful thing. With roughly four miles of new trail in the neighborhood along Sims Bayou and a electric transmission route, officials in southern Houston’s Five Corners District as well as park advocates said they … Continue reading →

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Here comes the driverless pizza delivery vehicle

Posted on June 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Gotta admit, this has me scratching my head. There goes another high schooler’s job: Domino’s Pizza Inc. plans to test unmanned pizza delivery in Houston later this year. The chain, known as a technology leader in the restaurant industry, is … Continue reading →

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Metro’s driverless shuttle finally debuts

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Nice to have good weather. TSU’s Tiger Walk isn’t just for pedestrians anymore. The region’s first autonomous shuttle to carry passengers debuted Wednesday along the tree-lined walk, the center of the Texas Southern University campus. Operated by Metropolitan Transit Authority, … Continue reading →

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Still filled with dread about I-45

Posted on June 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone got a paper bag I can breathe into? Strip away the enormity of rebuilding Interstate 45 and the promise of speedier trips along downtown Houston freeways, and two questions about the once-in-a-generation project remain: How many negative effects are … Continue reading →

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Independence Heights and I-45

Posted on June 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Sometimes, with everything else that’s going on in the world, I forget that the I-45 expansion is still out there, looming like a battleship in the harbor. But there it is, and we can’t not worry about it. For Tanya … Continue reading →

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Metro still talking how to get to Hobby

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

At some point, we gotta make a final call. Transit and city officials took turns Tuesday trading barbs over the best way to route light rail from Houston’s East End to Hobby Airport. In a sometimes-testy back and forth, District … Continue reading →

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DART to study driverless buses

Posted on June 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see what this means in practice. Dallas Area Rapid Transit has joined a national association of transit and transportation agencies to explore how autonomous buses could shuttle people around cities in the future. The Automated Bus Consortium plans to research driverless buses and run pilot … Continue reading →

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Where hyperloops are headed

Posted on June 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Henry Grabar looks at trends in hyperloop development and notes an interesting trend. Last year, I checked in with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, a company that hopes to pioneer terrestrial transit at the speed of sound using a cadre of far-flung … Continue reading →

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In case you thought scooters were not enough of a menace

Posted on June 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

How do pogo sticks grab you? San Franciscans may soon be able to bounce their way around town, if a Swedish-based mobility company has its way. Earlier this month, start-up company Cangoroo announced plans to deploy hundreds of pogo sticks … Continue reading →

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Look, up in the Skai

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The flying cars we’ve long been promised may not look like cars. A transportation company is betting its sleek new hydrogen-powered electric flying vehicles will someday serve as taxis, cargo carriers and ambulances of the sky, but experts say they … Continue reading →

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The driverless shuttle at TSU is ready to roll

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I spotted this on Twitter earlier this week. You may have heard the term autonomous vehicles. These are vehicles that can guide themselves down the road on their own. This technology is being adapted for public transportation. A 2017 statute … Continue reading →

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The timeline for driverless cars

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We know they’re coming, but how long it takes them to get here really matters. For Elon Musk, the driverless car is always right around the corner. At an investor day event last month focused on Tesla’s autonomous driving technology, the … Continue reading →

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