Tag Archives: Metro

More on the state of B-Cycle

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I think they will come out of this in better shape, but change is always hard. In a sense, Maya Ford is just trying to get Houston Bike Share back in gear in the hope that it has a long … Continue reading →

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Metro CEO Lambert to retire

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I wish him well. After 44 years, Tom Lambert is hopping off the Metro bus. Lambert, president and CEO of Metropolitan Transit Authority, is retiring at the end of the year after leading Texas’ largest transit system for 11 years. … Continue reading →

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Metro approves initial takeover of B-Cycle

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I’m optimistic about this. The Metro board approved a six-to-nine month transition period where operations now overseen by the nonprofit Houston Bike Share will move into the transit agency. Officials said rolling the bike borrowing system into the transit made … Continue reading →

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Will Metro take over B-Cycle?

Posted on January 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I like the idea and hope Metro can really run with it. The Houston area’s biggest bus operator is considering getting in the bike business, infusing up to $500,000 into the city’s network of docked two-wheelers. Under the proposal, scheduled for a vote … Continue reading →

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So what’s the deal with that I-45 deal?

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Still to be determined. Houston, Harris County and the Texas Department of Transportation have an agreed path forward for rebuilding Interstate 45, and a lot of steps to get there. Details big and small remain works in progress and a … Continue reading →

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HISD to get funding for electric school buses

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news. Houston Independent School District is hopping on the city’s net-zero carbon emissions bus, so to speak, thanks to more than $6.2 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency. The funds are part of the EPA’s Clean … Continue reading →

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Shepherd/Durham construction update

Posted on November 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good long story in the Chron. When the workers clear — still months away — Shepherd and Durham, along with some major side streets, will be remade, and in many ways reformed. The streets, dual thoroughfares that funnel traffic between Memorial Drive and … Continue reading →

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Metro looks beyond parking lots for its park and rides

Posted on October 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I like the idea. It will need some careful thought and planning, but the idea seems to be on the right track to me. The Metropolitan Transit Authority spent decades developing a network of parking lots where drivers could leave … Continue reading →

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The slow but steady march of Houston’s non-car transportation infrastructure

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good story. When he arrived in Houston two years ago, what David Fields saw belied what he had heard. The nation’s fourth-largest city has long been known as car-centric and geared toward commuting, with a web of wide freeways that … Continue reading →

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West 11th construction is about to start

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready, here it comes. City staffers are finalizing a plan to add protected bike lanes along 11th Street in the Heights and reduce the number of driving lanes, despite pushback from some residents in the area. Crews will begin … Continue reading →

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Woodland Heights Civic Association opposes I-10 elevation proposal

Posted on September 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

That’s my neighborhood, and this is the email they sent out on Thursday about it. In recent weeks the WHCA has challenged TxDOT on their plan to elevate I-10 near our neighborhood between Heights Blvd. and I-45. Due to the … Continue reading →

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Vote No and take the credit anyway

Posted on August 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a tale as old as time. Republicans in Texas are proud to stand and announce local grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The problem is they all voted against it. All of them. For the second time in two … Continue reading →

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Metro gets electric bus money

Posted on August 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Metro’s plan to gradually get rid of gasoline-powered buses took a step forward this week, when federal officials awarded the transit agency nearly $21.6 million to replace 20 diesel buses with electric ones, and the equipment needed to keep … Continue reading →

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Elevating I-10

Posted on August 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

My antennae are up about this. A state proposal to elevate Interstate 10 near White Oak Bayou is raising concerns among neighbors, who worry about the effects a higher freeway would have on noise and drainage. The $347 million project, … Continue reading →

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More on the planning for the University BRT line

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, Metro has to make some predictions about where transit will be needed. Building a line that goes through some of the densest parts of town probably helps with that. Metropolitan Transit Authority officials told voters in 2019 “we have … Continue reading →

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Time to meet the University Line BRT plans

Posted on July 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A big step forward, but there are many miles yet to go. The biggest of Metro’s big bus offerings is about to turn from lines on a map to a full-fledged discussion for Houston residents, as transit officials prepare for … Continue reading →

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The next street safety project my neighborhood will be fighting about

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

My wife came back from this month’s civic association meeting and handed me a flyer for this, along with more or less the exact words I’ve used in the title of this post. North Main Street runs north from I-10 … Continue reading →

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Mask mandate lifted for planes and trains

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

And other forms of mass transportation. The Biden administration will no longer enforce a U.S. mask mandate on public transportation, after a federal judge in Florida on Monday ruled that the 14-month-old directive was unlawful, overturning a key White House … Continue reading →

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Metro approves I-10 Inner Katy BRT route

Posted on March 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Big step forward. Metro officials Thursday settled on the route for a busway along Interstate 10 that they predict will improve transit for urban and suburban travelers, whether they hop on board or not. The elevated busway planned along the … Continue reading →

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Turns out it’s not great debuting a transit service in a pandemic

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

What are you gonna do? The future of Houston transportation is not moving many people, even as traffic rebounds to pre-pandemic levels and ridership returns to many Metropolitan Transit Authority lines. The Silver Line, billed as a viable alternative to … Continue reading →

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Metro electric bus update

Posted on March 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some new details here. Within the next year or so, you’ll see electric-powered buses buzzing around Bayou City. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) recently awarded a $22 million contract to Saint-Eustache, Canada-based Nova Bus for the production … Continue reading →

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Ambassador Patman

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This was a pleasant surprise. President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Houston lawyer and Metro chairwoman Carrin Patman as the nation’s next ambassador to Iceland, according to a White House statement. “I am presuming nothing. It is up to the … Continue reading →

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Get ready for more construction in 2022

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Happy New Year! Here are the places you’ll want to avoid driving in 2022. Flush with green, Houston area transportation officials have a whiteboard full of highway and transit projects poised to start in 2022, but rolling out all that … Continue reading →

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Still no Metro redistricting

Posted on January 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Check again in 2031. Growth in western Harris County outside Houston’s boundaries was not enough to tip Metro’s board to 11 members during the 2020 Census, transit officials said “It didn’t occur, so we have the same board composition,” said … Continue reading →

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The Shepherd and Durham Major Investment Project

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready for some major construction, but the end result will be well worth it. Beginning next month, those who travel along North Shepherd Drive and Durham Drive in the Heights are going to have to cope with road construction … Continue reading →

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Here comes that Universities BRT map

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Show me the route! The largest and most-sought segment of Metro’s planned bus rapid transit expansion in Houston is poised next week to officially move from being just lines on a map to the starting line — even if construction … Continue reading →

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Metro approves electric bus purchase

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

We should have them in a few months. Metro is charging ahead with its plan to add electric buses to the local transit fleet. Board members Thursday approved a $22 million contract for 20 new buses and chargers that will … Continue reading →

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Here come those electric buses

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Here comes the commitment to buy them, anyway. Local transit officials no longer are blowing hot air about the emissions coming out of Metro buses. Board members Thursday approved a plan for all new Metropolitan Transit Authority buses to produce … Continue reading →

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Metro moving forward on new BRT line

Posted on August 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

As they should. Even with fewer riders hopping aboard and a more dour financial outlook, Metro officials say the agency is full steam ahead on a host of projects aimed at adding buses to scores of routes and neighborhoods. That … Continue reading →

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Metro seeks electric buses

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Proof of concept for now and contingent on a competitive federal grant, but hopefully the start of something bigger. Transit officials in the self-proclaimed energy capital of the world are recharging their attempts to wean Metro off fossil fuels. Metropolitan … Continue reading →

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Can you tell me how to get (safely) to Memorial Park?

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Safety is nice. A $200 million-plus plan to improve [Memorial Park] is aimed at making it a signature destination for all Houstonians. With that success, though, will come the same challenges anything popular in Houston faces: How will people get … Continue reading →

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Get ready for your first Universities Line BRT map

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Feel the excitement! No, seriously, we’ve waited a long time for this. The largest and most-sought segment of Metro’s planned bus rapid transit expansion in Houston is poised next week to officially move from being just lines on a map … Continue reading →

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Let’s try and get those federal transit funds now

Posted on May 30, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Works for me. Transit officials, sensing the timing may be right to tap federal funds for major projects, are moving quickly on portions of a planned bus rapid transit line viewed by some as the backbone of Houston’s future movement. … Continue reading →

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The I-45 effect on Metro

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

There will be a lot of disruption to mass transit as a result of the I-45 project. Metro’s board on Thursday approved hiring design and engineering firm STV Incorporated for services related to the controversial Interstate 45 project. Though the … Continue reading →

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