Category Archives: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

HOV for Uptown BRT update

Posted on June 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Checking in on this long-time project. Uptown’s bet on buses is getting a lift from TxDOT in a first-of-its-kind venture that has state highway dollars going to a mass transit project along one of Houston’s most clogged freeways. Come next … Continue reading →

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Still working on the light rail options for MetroNEXT

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The most interesting part of this discussion of where a proposed extension of the Green and/or Purple lines to Hobby Airport may go is unfortunately not on the drawing board at this time. Speaking before the METRO board, District I … Continue reading →

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How secure is the future of ridesharing?

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Just a couple of recent stories that got me thinking. Item One: Uber’s business model isn’t all there: While there’s optimism about elements of the core business, the company lost more than $3 billion on operations in 2018, revenue growth slowed … Continue reading →

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Bullet train dodges more bullets

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

More good news for Texas Central. The Dallas-Houston high-speed rail project dodged a bullet this week when lawmakers hashing out the state budget released their decision to strike a provision that could have delayed the project. A committee of Texas … Continue reading →

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Flying motorcycles

Posted on May 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Look out above. A team of engineers at Texas A&M University is participating in the $2 million-plus GoFly Prize competition, an event sponsored by the aerospace company Boeing to challenge engineers to develop flying devices that are relatively quiet, fit in … Continue reading →

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Austin’s scooter study

Posted on May 9, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Be careful riding these things, and for crying out loud wear a helmet. A first-of-its-kind study on injuries related to dockless electric scooters found that most incidents were preventable, and now Austin city officials are hoping to use their findings … Continue reading →

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Metro’s challenge

Posted on May 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s all about BRT. Houston transit officials are betting on bus rapid transit as a big part of the region’s long-term plans, at times going as far as calling it the “wave of the future.” If seeing is believing, however, … Continue reading →

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Still waiting to see if an anti-Texas Central bill passes

Posted on May 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There’s still time, and anything can happen in the Lege, but so far it’s looking like Texas Central will make it through more or less unscathed. High-speed rail developers have been eyeing a 240-mile stretch of mostly rural land sandwiched … Continue reading →

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Senate passes scooter safety bill

Posted on May 4, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Cool. Texans could soon be banned from riding electric scooters along sidewalks in the cities where the divisive devices have recently popped up. The Texas Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would add that prohibition and require that scooter … Continue reading →

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A first attempt at regulating scooters

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

A bill by Sen. Royce West may impose some rules on e-scooters. Under existing law, a city or county may prohibit the operation of a motor-assisted scooter on a street, highway or sidewalk if its governing body finds the prohibition … Continue reading →

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Why is allowing ads on Metro buses so hard?

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron editorial board weighs in. The Metropolitan Transit Authority should proceed cautiously as it considers lifting its ban on commercial advertising on buses, rail cars, stations and shelters. That prohibition has served Houston well over the years, working together … Continue reading →

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We are still talking about Metro maybe allowing ads

Posted on April 22, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This is one of the longer ongoing story lines I’ve followed on this blog. The red and blue stripes on Metro’s buses and trains soon could be joined by advertisements for Red Lobster and Blue Bell, a nod to the … Continue reading →

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Here comes the Kroger driverless grocery delivery car

Posted on April 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Who wants to order some groceries, in certain selected ZIP codes? Kroger, the nation’s largest grocer, has launched a self-driving grocery delivery service in Houston, the latest salvo in a hyper-competitive grocery market that has supermarket chains investing heavily in … Continue reading →

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Time for another Texas Central legislative update

Posted on April 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I keep thinking that Texas Central has reached a point where there’s not much that can be done in the Lege to stop them, and events continue to prove otherwise. Dallas-Houston bullet train developer Texas Central Partners LLC said its … Continue reading →

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How many rail lines to Hobby do we need?

Posted on April 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe just one. Metropolitan Transit Authority board members on Thursday agreed to plan on one light rail line to Hobby Airport, as opposed to the two initially proposed as part of the agency’s long-term transportation plan. The first draft of … Continue reading →

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Here come the driverless trucks

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Coming soon to a freeway near you. Self-driving 18-wheelers will soon cruise next to you down Interstate 10 and other major Texas freeways. TuSimple, a California-based autonomous truck start-up, has been mapping routes and plans to haul commercial loads from Arizona … Continue reading →

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Driverless car pilot ends in Frisco

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I’d love to know what we learned from this. For about eight months, a fleet of bright orange self-driving vans have been rolling around Frisco. The autonomous vehicles — and the pilot run by Silicon Valley-based Drive.ai — will be permanently parked on … Continue reading →

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Driverless grocery deliveries

Posted on March 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Coming soon to Houston. Some local shoppers soon could see their produce pull up in a Prius in one of the first forays into autonomous vehicles in the Houston area, a move observers said is sure to spur more robot … Continue reading →

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What’s wrong with the I-45 expansion plan?

Posted on March 10, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Urban planner Jeff Speck, in a recent lecture in Houston, lays out the following problems with the planned I-45 expansion: The brief list of negatives include: I-45 will wreck your bayou parks. I-45 will destroy wildlife habitat. I-45 will make … Continue reading →

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Scooter study bill

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: State Representative Eddie Rodriguez filed a bill directing the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, in consultation with the Texas Department of Transportation, to conduct a study on the use of motor-assisted scooters. Under HB 2715, the study must … Continue reading →

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Metro working on sidewalks

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I heartily approve of this. Metropolitan Transit Authority is taking the lead on leveling sidewalks and bus stops to give riders an easier path to transit — or, in some cases, actual access to it. “This is a model of … Continue reading →

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Another scooter casualty study

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

To be done in Austin. As many as 14,000 dockless electric scooters are on the streets of Austin, whose 326 square miles are home to almost 1 million people. That likely makes Austin one of the cities with the highest … Continue reading →

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There is no longer a ban on federal funds for rail on Richmond

Posted on February 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This is about as bittersweet as it gets. There are no plans to build light rail on Richmond, but for the first time in a long time there is nothing stopping Metro from asking for federal funds to help pay … Continue reading →

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Texas Central gets an adverse court ruling

Posted on February 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Hard to say how much effect this will have. The planned high-speed rail project from Houston to Dallas hit a big obstacle last week in rural Leon County when a judge there declared the project’s backers did not have authority … Continue reading →

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From the “Elections have consequences”, Metro referendum edition

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Sometimes, consequences are good things. METRO will get more federal support for public transportation projects if Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher has anything to say about it. The freshman lawmaker wants to use her new seat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure … Continue reading →

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New Braunfels hits pause on scooters

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Swimming against the tide here. New Braunfels police on Wednesday issued a 90-day ban on commercial electric scooters in the city and will cite anyone caught using one with a Class C misdemeanor, city officials announced. The temporary order was … Continue reading →

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The down side of scooters

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Watch out for that tree. And that pedestrian, and that street light, and that strange bump in the sidewalk, and that abandoned scooter someone just left lying there… In September 2017, Tarak Trivedi, an emergency room doctor, and Catherine Lerer, … Continue reading →

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Take a Tesla to Austin

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Because sure, why not? Want to ride in a Tesla? For $250, you can be chauffeured on a one-way trip between Houston and Austin. Dallas is just $400 away. Austin-based ElecTrip is billed as an energy-efficient alternative to private flights … Continue reading →

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Scooters come to Galveston

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Still not in Houston, but getting closer. By the end of January, Galveston Island will be crawling with Crab…Scooters. Ryan O’Neal of Galveston said he expects to officially launch his new business Crab Scooters come late January or early February. … Continue reading →

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More road safety, please

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like a good idea. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez [last] Tuesday called on local law enforcement agencies to devote more resources to improving road safety and to create a new region-wide task force dedicated to reducing the Houston area’s … Continue reading →

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We’re already on the next generation of scooters

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

And of course, they’re coming to Austin. Already home to thousands of electric scooters, many of them crowding downtown sidewalks, the Central Texas city will be the first to experience a new generation of shareable electric scooters from an Oxnard, … Continue reading →

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Hitch-ing a ride

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I’m kind of fascinated by this story about another ridesharing app/service. High-tech hitchhiking has arrived in Texas. Austin startup Hitch offers a ride-sharing service connecting people driving between Houston and Austin with people needing rides. “Over 10,000 cars make trips … Continue reading →

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More details on the Metro referendum

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Still a work in progress. A planned 110 miles of two-way HOV along major freeways with eight new park and ride stations is expected to cost $1.37 billion, with another $383 million in improvements to operate 25 percent more bus … Continue reading →

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Have you started avoiding the 59/610 interchange yet?

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Better get started. I-69 at the 610 West Loop is a traffic hot spot in Houston. The two freeway segments that meet at the interchange top the list of the most congested in Texas, according to the Department of Transportation … Continue reading →

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