Off the Kuff Rotating Header Image

Sanjay Ramabhadran

B-Cycle hits the brakes

Apr 18th, 2023
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

Unfortunate.

Hopes for a much-needed infusion of cash from a new partnership with Metro have yet to be fulfilled, leading Houston Bike Share to warn users that prices will increase and the number of available stations will shrink, starting May 1.

The nonprofit that operates the BCycle system of bikes available for checkout at kiosks around the city, “has been unable to complete a partnership agreement,” with Metropolitan Transit Authority, bike share board chairwoman and interim CEO Maya Ford said in an update. Specifically, Ford said Metro has confirmed it would not provide any of the $500,000 transit officials approved to transition bike sharing into the transit agency’s operations.

Metro officials said the intent never was a commitment to provide funds directly to the nonprofit, and instead intended for its own transition to create a system.

“This was not meant to be a bailout,” Metro board chairman Sanjay Ramabhadran said, noting transit leaders still want to work through the process and keep some bike sharing active as it transitions into the agency.

Absent the funding to continue operations as they are, with the once-robust system already only allowing use at half its stations, the number of open kiosks will shrink further, Ford said. Also May 1, prices will increase to $5 per 30 minute for single trips, $7 per 30 minutes for e-bikes, and $25 per month for monthly membership fees.

That is $2 more per half-hour for both conventional and electric bikes, and a $12 jump in the monthly membership.

The only stations in operation after further consolidation will be those in downtown Houston, in local parks where use has been popular and stations that have financial support from the Midtown Management District.

“We could potentially reduce the network to as few as 40 stations,” said Remy Vogt, community outreach manager for Houston Bike Share. “We are in talks with the city and neighborhood management districts to reopen currently suspended stations and maintain service to other stations in the network. Only the stations that are supported through ridership revenue or service fee agreements will remain open.”

[…]

“Our intent has been to work with Houston Bike Share on a transitional window as Metro creates a bike sharing program, and not simply hand over $500,000,” Metro spokesman Jerome Gray said in an email.

The first step in Metro paying for anything or reimbursing the nonprofit is having an agreement and the proper paperwork in place, Ramabhadran said, noting that Metro’s taxpayer-generated money comes with a lot of conditions.

“We have to dot the I’s and cross the T’s,” he said. “We cannot just hand over taxpayer money. It is not a blank check.”

Metro officials say they still are assessing the system and developing a plan for the new bike share program. Officials have said the aim, once it is a part of Metro, is to provide convenient connections to transit or small trips between where someone can easily walk and the choice of driving or transit.

“By no means is this conversation closed,” Ramabhadran said of the partnership with Houston Bike Share, including Metro covering some costs or assuming responsibility for some operations. “But it has to work within the limitations of what a public agency can do.”

See here, here, and here for the background. I suppose I had over-interpreted what the pending Metro partnership would mean. I’m still hopeful for what it can mean, and I still believe B-Cycle will be able to rebound, though it may take some time. We’re doing so much better on ways to get around by bike, I hate the idea that it will be available to fewer people. We need more of this, not less. But this is where we are right now.

Metro approves University BRT route

Apr 9th, 2023
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

Still a lot of work to be done before any actual construction can begin.

Metro officials on Wednesday approved a path for the 25.3 mile University Corridor in a rare split vote that keeps the region’s largest bus rapid transit project on track for a 2028 opening, but also deepened concerns among some who said the public is not completely behind the planned route.

Wednesday’s vote, setting its preferred route for the line, allows Metropolitan Transit Authority planners and consultants for the agency to continue design of the busways along many local streets, and work with the Federal Transit Administration on necessary approvals. Under the current schedule, construction could begin as early as late next year, though riders will not hop aboard the large buses operating in their own lanes for another three or four years.

“This is an important step, but not the last step,” Metro board Chairman Sanjay Ramabhadran said.

Approval of the route came with division, uncharacteristic for the Metro board. Five members — Ramabhadran, Roberto Trevino, Diann Lewter, Bob Fry and Lex Frieden — approved the route, the minimum number needed to pass. Members Terri Morales, an East End resident; Troi Taylor and Don Elder voted against approval, citing the need for more public feedback.

“I feel we need more time for community involvement,” Morales said.

[…]

Recent concerns about the route, however, have centered on a roughly one-mile stretch of Lockwood through the East End, south of Buffalo Bayou, where residents have said the project caught them off-guard and initial plans for an overpass would have sliced a gash through the mostly residential, tree-lined neighborhood.

Following pushback, mostly from the Eastwood Civic Association, Metro scrapped plans for an overpass and promised residents in the East End that it would build a bus-only underpass with a bike and pedestrian path beneath the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Separating the buses from the tracks is crucial to avoid lengthy delays, transit officials said.

The underpass, which would include flood gates Metro can control, would not solve ongoing problems in the East End over stopped freight trains for other vehicles but would allow pedestrians to avoid having to cross the tracks.

It is not the first time Metro has promised an underpass, and the last such pledge led to hard feelings in the community as the agency finalized construction of the Green Line light rail along Harrisburg. That underpass proved too expensive and too complicated, so Metro reneged on the promise and opted for an overpass near Hughes Street, which remains a major divide in the East End.

“We had nothing but trouble the entire time and that is because of how the project was laid out,” Lewter said.

Asked earlier this week if Metro could keep its word this time, transit agency CEO Tom Lambert said it could because the conditions are different.

“There is no concern going forward,” Lambert said, admitting the Harrisburg promise was premature and environmental reviews that should have been completed were not prior to that commitment.

In this case, no environmental or utility issues are expected because the area is mostly homes and the rail line.

Avoiding an overpass was the top priority of Eastwood residents, but not the only concern, civic association president Danielle Laperriere said.  As a result, the association voted Tuesday night to neither support nor oppose the revised plan.

“Opinions are too strongly divided,” she said.

After opposition to the project built in the community, many also questioned Metro’s decision to run the line along Lockwood at all. Given development in the area, many suggested Jensen, which by Metro’s own scoring is slightly behind Lockwood in terms of viability, should warrant consideration.

“It is not anti-Metro,” said Stephen Quezada, who lives along Lockwood and is chairman of the East End Management District board of directors. “I truly believe there is an opportunity to get this right.”

See here for the background. The route itself was never really in question, it was more about addressing the concerns of the neighborhoods before committing to it. If Metro can fulfill its promise about building an underpass this time, that probably clears up most of them. While approving the route was a necessary step to get more federal funds, there could still be some modifications before construction begins. I am hopeful that the remaining issues can be worked out and that construction can begin more or less on schedule.

Preferred path decision for University BRT line delayed

Mar 26th, 2023
by Charles Kuffner.
1 comment

Still working out some issues with the community.

A decision on the preferred path for Houston’s longest bus rapid transit line will wait a couple weeks longer following community outcry regarding a planned railroad overpass.

Metropolitan Transit Authority’s board of directors delayed approval of a preferred route for the University Corridor BRT project, the longest bus rapid transit project planned in the region as part of the agency’s long-range plan.

An approval of the preferred line will come “in the next week or two weeks,” Metro Chairman Sanjay Ramabhadran said, as the agency tries to line up federal funding and approvals.

“There is a lot of ways to go before we start building things,” Ramabhadran said.

[…]

Approval of the preferred route is significant because it is the specific location Metro will plan to build, and any adjustments would deviate from that plan if issues arise.

Though the project stretches 25 miles, it is a dozen or so blocks in the East End that are dividing Metro and residents in the area of the proposed overpass.

“The neighborhood fabric is being sacrificed for this overpass,” Laura Vargas told a Metro committee on Tuesday.

Transit officials said approving the route will not keep them from working to make the project more appealing to riders and residents alike

“It is certainly not the end of the process,” said Yuhayna Mahmud, project manager for the University Corridor.

Design of the line is 30 percent complete, she said.

Eastwood residents, however, have seen enough to organize their concerns over a planned overpass on Lockwood from Rusk to Sherman, spanning Harrisburg Boulevard, the parallel Union Pacific Railroad tracks and the Green Line light rail. Dozens have shown up at various Metro public meetings over the past month to discuss the project, including a meeting specifically to discuss the overpass Tuesday night. The concern for many is that the overpass would undermine the community by separating the buses from traffic while physically dividing the neighborhood.

“It should be for the people and not over the people,” overpass critic Tina Brady told Metro officials Tuesday.

The delay was welcomed by elected officials, who said it allows for transit planners and neighborhood groups to talk more and, perhaps, settle on a plan palatable to all.

“I believe Metro does owe it to the residents of the East End to build consensus,” Precinct Two Commissioner Adrian Garcia said.

Citing the ongoing debate over the impacts of the Interstate 45 rebuild, Garcia said Metro also must consider what its design will do to communities.

“Overpasses tend to be divisive and tend to divide communities even further,” Garcia said.

[…]

Facing freight train delays, pocked streets and the potential for a dividing overpass, what the community wants are proposals that can address many of the issues in an agreeable way, even if that means leveraging funds from Metro and others, such as Houston to rebuild streets or federal funds aimed at removing at-grade train crossings.

“We have to think beyond just this project,” said Veronica Chapa Gorczynski, president of the East End Management District. “We are a community, and our infrastructure is as integrated as our community is, and we can do better.”

If that comes with some hard-to-swallow changes, some residents said they will feel more part of the process, even if that means an overpass.

“If we can come to the same conclusion that this is the best thing for the community, then we can live with that,” said resident Reese Campbell.

See here for the previous update. The story references the Harrisburg overpass controversy from almost a decade ago, in which Metro ultimately went against the prevailing preference of an underpass, which they originally said they’d build and then backed away from when they decided it would be far more expensive than they first thought. It sounds like people remember that but are still willing to engage, which is a good sign. I hope Metro is as transparent as possible here and that the residents feel as though their concerns have been heard and reasonably addressed.

Metro gets some BRT money

Mar 14th, 2023
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

Thank you, FTA, may we please have some more?

Houston’s biggest bus rapid transit line, the planned University Corridor, is still on the drawing board, but already is drawing in federal funds.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a Thursday announcement, said the Metropolitan Transit Authority project will receive $150 million in the upcoming budget of the Federal Transit Administration, as part of the New Starts grant program for major transit projects. The approval, subject to Congress passing the overall budget, marks the first federal funds dedicated to the line, out of a potential $939.3 million of the $1.57 billion cost that could come from Washington.

“It is going to help people get where they need to go,” Buttigieg said of the project, one of nine chosen nationally for new funding, totaling $1.3 billion.

The line, when built, will stretch more than 25 miles from the Tidwell Transit Center to the area around the University of Houston, then westward through Midtown, Greenway Plaza, south of Uptown and eventually to Westchase. Buses will have their own dedicated lanes, either by taking existing lanes from local streets such as Lockwood and Richmond, or along its own route parallel to Westpark Drive.

Officials are wrapping up their second round of public meetings on plans for the route, with construction scheduled to start in late 2024. The buses could begin carrying riders in 2028. Current timelines, and all the federal funding, are contingent on the project being completely designed and Metro and federal officials agreeing on the project’s specifics next year.

Transit agency CEO Tom Lambert called the award “great news,” and credited staff for keeping the project on pace after voters approved the long-range plan in 2019, even as Metro maneuvered through a massive drop in ridership related to the COVID pandemic.

Metro’s board is set to consider, possibly later this month, the preferred route for the dedicated lanes.

See here, here, and here for some background. I’m eager to see the official preferred route – we have a route for the Inner Katy BRT line, which if all goes as planned will open a year earlier, in 2027 – and start thinking about how to actually get around town with these things. I will reiterate what I said in that Inner Katy post, which is that to truly realize the potential of these routes, some investment will need to be made along them both in increasing and improving the sidewalks that will connect the stops to the surrounding neighborhoods. For example, if there’s a stop along the Universities BRT at Westpark and Newcastle, building in about a half-mile of sidewalk along Newcastle to the south will connect to Bellaire (where there’s already a really nice and wide walking path) and the HCC West Loop campus. There’s no reason not to make this investment in maximizing the utility of these transit lines.

Also, too, and I’ll never not be bitter about this, but this would open 25 years after the Main Street light rail line, and what, 15 years after the various extensions were built. Had it not been for John Culberson, we could have already had a Universities light rail line in place and maybe be adding on to it instead of building this from scratch so many years later. I know there’s nothing to be gained from crying over this, and all we can do is work to make what we have now better, but this is a grudge I will hold till I die.

Metro CEO Lambert to retire

Feb 5th, 2023
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

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.

“We have a lot of things we are working on that we are going to get done by the end of the year,” he said.

Lambert, who turns 70 in May, said his decision to step back was “the right time personally and professionally.”

His departure comes as the agency accelerates work on its long-range transit plan, approved by voters in 2019. The plan includes adding bus rapid transit along Interstate 10 west of downtown within Loop 610 and a lengthy rapid line that will go from northeast Houston to near the University of Houston and then along Westpark to western Harris County.

[…]

Lambert, who began at Metro as a security investigator in 1979, became the agency’s first police chief in 1982, serving in that role until 2010. After less than three years as executive vice president, he became interim CEO in January 2013, when previous transit agency head George Greanias resigned. He was made the permanent replacement about a year later, following a national search, after initially saying he was interested only in the top job temporarily.

During Lambert’s tenure as CEO, Metro added roughly 15 miles of new light rail, redesigned its bus system and opened the region’s first bus rapid transit line along Post Oak in Uptown.

Despite the additional services, however, transit use has not fully rebounded after cratering during the COVID pandemic, and the Silver Line rapid transit continues to perform below initial expectations.

Lambert said it was daily performance over projects that he wanted as his legacy.

‘I think the users and the broader community will say this agency has been responsive,” he said, noting Metro’s role in major events such as Super Bowl LI and two Astros victory parades as well as responding to disasters such as the COVID pandemic and Hurricane Harvey flooding.

“These employees fully supported this community and quite frankly brought the system up faster than anybody thought possible,” Lambert said.

I tend to think that the Metro Board is about planning and vision, while the CEO is more about execution of those plans and visions, though there will be some overlap. As such, I don’t put too much of COVID’s effect on ridership on the CEO, but whoever succeeds Lambert will certainly need to have input in how to reposition the agency now that this is where we are. Given how much Metro was able to accomplish over the past decade, the new person will have a solid foundation on which to build. I’ve met Tom Lambert a couple of times, and from where I sit I think he’s done a very good job. His successor, whose timeline for hiring is not yet set, will have a tough act to follow.

Metro approves initial takeover of B-Cycle

Jan 28th, 2023
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

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 sense both to address linking people with available transit and shift bike sharing to more areas of the city.

“It is just impossible for the bus service and light rail on its own to operate and provide total coverage,” said Kristina Ronneberg, policy and advocacy director for BikeHouston, which encourages improved cycling access in the city.

Ronneberg called merging transit and cycling planning a “natural fit” to leverage not only increased bike lane building in Houston, but also add bike sharing in neighborhoods where people are interested in avoiding car trips.

“These two services need to be coordinated and seamless,” she said.

In a letter of support, Harris County Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis agreed, noting the investment bike sharing made in areas around Texas Southern University, Houston Community College and University of Houston.

“Houston BCycle offers a unique opportunity for Metro to expand access to public transit service in both urban and suburban areas with access to safe bicycle infrastructure,” Ellis wrote.

Though the board only approved a temporary transition, and $500,000 to allow bike sharing to continue to operate about half of the BCycle system, the intent is for Metro to keep operations going past 2023, CEO Tom Lambert said.

See here for the background. I don’t know what specific plans Metro has in mind, but as noted before integrating B-Cycle more into the transit system, with the goal of making various stops and stations easily accessible to more people, is and should be the priority. I look forward to seeing a report in nine months or so to see how it’s going and hope that it is viable for the long term. Here’s a letter from the B-Cycle board chair explaining their actions, and Houston Public Media has more.

Will Metro take over B-Cycle?

Jan 22nd, 2023
by Charles Kuffner.
1 comment

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 by the Metropolitan Transit Authority board next week, Metro would take over bike sharing in the area and integrate it into its own plans for encouraging bus and train riders to access stops.

“Anything that is engaged in moving people, we need to be part of that,” Metro CEO Tom Lambert said Wednesday.

The proposed partnership is welcomed by Houston Bike Share, the nonprofit created in 2012 to develop the bike sharing system in Houston, using BCycle’s kiosk-based bikes.

“Metro recognizes the value of bike share as a safe, affordable and logical element in the city’s mobility plan,” said Maya Ford, chairwoman of the nonprofit, in a statement. “They’re exploring ways to help us sustain an operating network by providing us with more transit-oriented and business resources.”

What remains unclear, as officials sort out how to absorb bike sharing into the transit agency, is what the system will look like under Metro. Half of the local BCycle stations closed in November as part of a “temporary cost-saving measure,” and Lambert said the next few months will be used to transition the system into Metro and evaluate what provides the best options for travelers.

“There might be some locations we do not bring back,” Lambert said.

[…]

Starting in 2012 with only three stations and fewer than 20 bikes, the BCycle system ballooned in the past decade to 153 stations spread around neighborhoods within Loop 610 and nearly 1,000 bikes, some with electric motors. Houston, Harris County and others poured money into the system to add stations and support operations. 

That growth has meant explosive use of the bikes, but also has posed a challenge for the nonprofit to maintain the costly and growing system. George Fotinos, Metro’s chief financial officer, said the current system, when fully operational, costs about $80,000 a month, with only a fraction of that coming from the rental costs or annual memberships.

To trim costs, 75 of the 153 kiosks were turned off in November, largely reducing the system to its core around downtown, Midtown and Montrose.

[…]

Transit taking more oversight of bike sharing in cities is not uncommon. Austin’s Capitol Metro operates bike sharing around transit stops, while systems in Los Angeles and New York also fall under the authority of transit or municipal transportation departments. In each of those cities, however, multiple bike sharing or scooter sharing systems exist, unlike Houston, which only has BCycle.

Whatever form the system takes will include some shift in its focus. The existing system is used mostly recreationally, bike sharing officials have said, with locations such as Herman Park and Buffalo Bayou Park along Sabine Street as the most heavily-used stations. Those in areas outside downtown and away from popular local biking trails are some of the least-used.

Metro officials, meanwhile, said their aim is for a bike sharing system that helps people make local trips or connect them to buses and trains.

“Metro’s role is a lot broader,” Metro Chairman Sanjay Ramabhadran said. “Our job is to provide mobility and this is a form of getting us that.”

Known as “first-mile/last-mile,” the distance someone has to travel to a bus stop or train station can be some of the most vexing challenges for transit agencies, leading some to partner or absorb bike sharing systems so people can easily find bikes, drop them off nearby transit stops and then hop a train or bus.

I hadn’t heard about the cutback in B-Cycle kiosks; I assume this is another bit of fallout from the pandemic, though the story doesn’t say. I made my heaviest use of B-Cycle when I worked downtown, where it was great for trips that are a bit too long to walk and too much hassle to get the car out of the garage. Now that I work from home and an office park off I-10, I just had no need for it.

I have been an advocate for better integration of our bicycle infrastructure in general and B-Cycle in particular with Metro for a long time. I hadn’t considered this possibility before, but it makes all kinds of sense. I agree that the focus of B-Cycle would need to shift a bit from being primarily for recreational use to more transit-oriented use. That doesn’t mean that recreational use should go away, just that kiosk access to bus and rail stops would be more of a priority. The good news is that there’s a lot more bike-friendly passage around town now, so that should help. Assuming the Metro board votes for this, which I think it will, they will have six to nine months to figure out how to best make this work. I’m confident they can, and I’m sure they will be able to get plenty of input from the local bike community. I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

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

Jan 16th, 2023
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

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 federal pause looms as the last big hurdle, for now, as officials move ahead after last month’s agreements.

“We are doing everything we can to move this project forward,” James Koch, director of transportation planning and development for TxDOT in Houston, told a North Houston Association luncheon on Wednesday.

The group, focused on economic development north of the city, is a vocal supporter of the widening project because of its potential to improve access to downtown and revitalize sagging areas along the I-45 freeway corridor.

To get some of those benefits, officials first have to iron out technical issue that not only affect the $10 billion rebuild of I-45 and the downtown freeway system, but numerous other mobility projects that cross it. Among them:

  • How TxDOT will rebuild Interstate 69 beneath Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Red Line light rail in Midtown while keeping the trains moving as much as possible.
  • Addressing changes sought by the Harris County Flood Control District that improve drainage for neighborhoods north and south of the Loop 610 interchange with I-45.
  • Design specifics of the future I-45 interchange with Interstate 10 that accommodate Metro’s planned Inner Katy bus rapid transit line along I-10 and proposed managed lanes access to downtown streets.
  • Adding sidewalks and bike amenities to areas where TxDOT has committed to trying to reduce the number of properties it will take.
  • Determining how a proposed downtown connection for the Hardy Toll Road will enter the area near Buffalo Bayou and cross a remade I-10.
  • Reconsidering how the project will incorporate Metro’s plans for bus rapid transit into its overall design.

“I think the next steps are sitting down in a room and working out all the details,” Metro board Chairman Sanjay Ramabhadran said of the work ahead.

Those details are not the only obstacles to construction, which officials will consider moving from 2024 to 2027 later this month in the region’s four-year transportation plan. TxDOT still must acquire some property, Koch said, and the pending Federal Highway Administration review that the local agreements do not affect must be resolved.

[…]

Hailed by elected officials as a breakthrough that salvaged a desperately-needed freeway rebuild, the deals surprised critics of the initial design. They noted many of the details give TxDOT room to renege while others fall short of the changes some neighborhood advocates had sought.

In a statement, Air Alliance Houston said the agreements “will do very little to protect Houston communities from the harms posed by this project,” specifically related to air pollution caused by the larger freeway in many neighborhoods around the central business district.

“It would be difficult to overstate our disappointment in the contents of these two (agreements), the closed-door manner in which they were created and signed, the lack of sufficient time for the public to read and respond to them, and the tone with which they were presented,” the group said.

Officials have defended the deals as the best way to change the project but still maintain the benefits that will come with it, including faster and safer commutes and the creation of two-way managed lanes that can improve transit in the I-45 corridor.

See here for the background. I believe that’s the first I’ve heard of the construction timeline being pushed back to 2027, which is a modest benefit no matter what else happens. We still need to know what all these details are, and I definitely agree that there is room for TxDOT to weasel out on a lot of promises. But I have always believed that one way or another this was going to happen, so any improvements or modifications to the original plan have to be considered with that in mind. Metro is probably as eager as anyone to get this going, as their MetroNext plans depend on various items in the I-45 rebuild. I hope that as long as things are still being worked out there’s still room to get assurances and confirmations about the things that Metro has agreed to.

Metro looks beyond parking lots for its park and rides

Oct 1st, 2022
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

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 their cars and trucks and take transit to work. Now, its leaders are wondering whether those parking lots would be a attractive places for developers who may view those commuters as potential customers.

Metro officials are soliciting proposals for transit-oriented design, in which developers can submit proposals to synch transit center and bus depots with new apartments and shops.

“This is about bringing quality of life to areas adjacent to transit centers, to park and rides,” Metro Chairman Sanjay Ramabhadran said.

Metro’s interest extends to both properties it owns and those it leases from private developers. A number of park and ride lots are conventional bus shelters, with parking available in a commercial lot normally used by a grocery or department store that does not have high volumes during the work day.

The agency is starting slowly, after making some headway with a 2015 study to assess potential uses around park and ride locations. The board in August created a subcommittee tasked with joint development and land use, which met for the first time Sept. 14. Staff, meanwhile, issued a request for information to developers, the first step in seeing if any have ideas for using Metro spaces.

“I like the approach that we are asking the market to come to us,” said Diann Lewter, the Metro board member appointed to chair the new committee.

Though possibilities are just now beginning to take shape – a first round of proposals are due at the end of the month, followed by months of analysis and public meetings – some board members said they were eager to move ahead.

“I am really anxious to see it work as fast as possible,” Lewter said.

[…]

Metro already is sitting on very desirable land in the medical center. Located across Fannin from MD Anderson Cancer Center and across Pressler from UT Health’s health science center, the transit center has drawn interest for major projects, all willing to maintain its bus access.

When approached in 2018 with an unsolicited offer that later drew a competing proposal, however, Metro opted to keep things as they were because neither project, officials concluded, would improve transit access for existing riders. Instead, both projects had the potential to encourage hundreds of daily vehicle trips into the crowded medical center.

“Although both proposals provided estimated revenue streams and various amenities, the potential issues related to the customer experience was the overriding factor in … the decision to not move forward with this solicitation” Metro staff wrote in a summary to cancel the discussions.

As land becomes more scarce in key locations, though, Metro at the very least may have to rethink its current use of wide-open, flat parking lots.

“If you build structured parking, you free up a lot of land that can be used for workforce housing, said Barry Goodman, a former Metro president who now consults with Houston-area governments on transportation matters through his company, The Goodman Corporation.

It’s a long story, so read the rest. Not everyone on the Metro board thinks this is a great idea, there are some comparisons to other transit agencies that go both ways, and there’s the unfortunate return of a longtime anti-transit troll who’s back to spew some baloney. As I said, I like the general idea and think it’s worth a long look, but it’s fine if we take things slowly and conservatively.

More on the planning for the University BRT line

Aug 1st, 2022
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

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 a plan for traffic,” and more than two-thirds of those who cast ballots bought in.

Now that the plan is coming into focus, agency officials will need more than just good ideas to make the lines they have drawn on a map a reality.

The challenge for Metro is picking routes and lines for the future when travel patterns constantly change and economic factors can upend commutes. Even with $7.5 billion in local and federal funding plotted, Metro can only do one or two major projects at a time. Picking the first steps in some ways influences whether the agency can avoid lingering concerns about transit leaders’ ability to deliver big projects.

Officials admit much of their plan is an educated guess, but still a guess about how Houstonians will want to get around in the years to come.

“It is not possible for us to be future-proof, but it is possible to be future-ready,” Metro board chair Sanjay Ramabhadran said.

[…]

The long-range plan for transit in Houston, estimated to cost $7.5 billion, spans the entire region, including 75 miles of bus rapid transit, two-way HOV or HOT lanes for park and ride buses along all major freeways and plans for extending light rail to Hobby Airport.

While things such as shelters at hundreds of Metro’s 8,900 bus stops and improved sidewalks along major routes already are in progress, the first big-ticket project on Metro’s list is the University Line. It is among the longest bus rapid transit lines planned in the nation, connecting a dozen of the region’s major transit hubs and roughly 20 neighborhoods, using large buses that stop at stations and act more like light rail than conventional bus service.

The buses use their own lanes along major streets, in some cases taking lanes now open to car and truck drivers, to avoid traffic and offer access to about 40 stops along the 25.3 mile route. It is about one-third of the dedicated lanes Metro wants to build, and along with a planned BRT line along Interstate 10 forms the two east-west transit backbones that join the light rail system downtown and the Silver Line BRT through Uptown.

Transit advocates have called the line critical to linking Houston neighborhoods clamoring for better, faster transit to the job centers and educational opportunities abounding in the region.

“If we can get 5 to 10 percent of the region using transit, that is going to make life better for the 90-95 percent,” Ramabhadran said.

See here for some background, and look for a detailed description of the route embedded in the story. This BRT route will connect with all of the existing light rail lines as well as the Uptown BRT line, and will later connect with the Energy Corridor BRT line that’s also on the drawing board (see page 2). I will never get over the fact that we could right now already have an operational Universities light rail line, but there’s nothing to be done about that. I do see the same old critics making their same old tired arguments in this story, and all I can say is that I hope they have a lot less influence this time around. We’re still a long way out from a ribbon-cutting, and I know I’ll be worried about things that can go wrong until we get to that. In the meantime, learn what you can about this and show your support. We’re going to need all the good transit options we can get.

Time to meet the University Line BRT plans

Jul 13th, 2022
by Charles Kuffner.
1 comment

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 the first round of public meetings over the planned University Line.

Just don’t expect fast action on what could be the spine of Metro’s east-west mass transit system. A host of hurdles remain for the bus rapid transit planned between northeast Houston and Westchase, including segments similar to those proposed 15 years ago that ran into a buzzsaw of opposition in some Houston neighborhoods. Elected officials at the time took that opposition and clamped off funding for the project.

Public meetings start Tuesday, with two evening events planned. Nine more meetings follow, where residents can look at display boards of where the Metropolitan Transit Authority proposes widening local streets to allow for bus-only lanes and dedicated stations similar to rail where passengers will enter and exit the 60-foot buses that operate the line.

The meetings are not detailed designs, but a chance for the community to evaluate the plans and offer suggestions of where and what Metro should build to best serve riders, who might not hop onto the buses for a decade or more in some spots. Construction is not likely to happen before 2025, if then, with opening day in 2029 at a cost of $2 billion or more.

“This is a complicated engineering project. It’s going to take some time,” Metro chairman Sanjay Ramabhadran said.

The line, likely built in five phases, would be among the largest BRT lines in the nation, stretching more than 25 miles from the Tidwell Transit Center near Loop 610 and Interstate 69 to Westchase. Metro’s preferred route uses Lockwood to travel through Denver Harbor and Fifth Ward to the Eastwood Transit Center, then jogs through Third Ward with stops at the University of Houston and Texas Southern University. Following Alabama and Wheeler, the line crosses Midtown at the Wheeler Transit Center using Richmond before turning south at Edloe. From there, the buses would use their own lanes along Westpark Drive to Westchase.

The length, combined with the complexity of building practically anything in the densest parts of the Houston region, makes the project monumental to plan but also critical to tying together a growing but gap-riddled reliable bus network across an area built for the automobile.

“There are multiple pieces to the puzzle,” Ramabhadran said. “We are going to be crossing every highway in the region with the exception of (U.S.) 290.”

Information about the public meetings can be found here. The goal is to submit a proposal for funding to the Federal Transit Administration by August to get in line for funding. After that, we’ll see. Just remember as you look at all this, if we lived in a world where John Culberson never existed, we might already have a light rail line in this corridor right now. We can’t turn back the clock, but we can at least get this project on track, as it were. Attend a meeting if you can, and show your support for making it a little easier to get around town.

Ambassador Patman

Feb 18th, 2022
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

This was a pleasant surprise.

Carrin Patman

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 Senate,” Patman said, referring questions to the State Department.

In the meantime, Patman, 65, said she has picked up some basic Icelandic.

“Just a little,” she said.

In the statement, Patman said she hoped to “strengthen our cooperation and understanding between the governments of the United States and Iceland.”

[…]

All ambassadorial nominations require Senate confirmation, which for Patman would begin in the Foreign Relations Committee. No timetable has been announced for her confirmation.

Some Biden administration nominees from mid-2021 still are awaiting any movement on their appointments, including Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, who was renominated last month to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement after his nomination last year lapsed.

Patman has done a fine job as Metro chair, and Iceland’s gain will be our loss if she is confirmed. I was thinking I should do an exit interview with her, to follow up with the one I did in 2019, to see where we are now that some of those big Metro projects are finally moving, and where we might go from here, but according to an email I got from TAG Houston on Thursday, Mayor Turner has appointed current Board member Sanjay Ramabhadran to be the new Chair. Guess I should be asking him those questions then. Anyway, congrats to Carrin Patman, and best of luck with the confirmation process.

More Metro appointments for Mayor Turner

Mar 20th, 2016
by Charles Kuffner.
1 comment

The Chron editorial board gets its wish.

Mayor Sylvester Turner

Mayor Sylvester Turner

Mayor Sylvester Turner on Friday named two new Metro board members and reappointed two others – taking a more moderate course than his predecessor, who replaced all five of the city’s appointees.

Disability rights advocate Lex Frieden and construction oversight manager Troi Taylor will join the board, presumably in April once the City Council and the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s board approve them. They will join current members Christof Spieler and Sanjay Ramabhadran, whom the mayor opted to retain. On March 4, Turner tapped former board member Carrin Patman, an attorney, as board chair.

“I think it is a stellar team,” Turner said, saying the appointees’ diverse backgrounds give him confidence they’ll tackle Houston’s transit challenges.

Counting Patman, three of Houston’s five appointees to the nine-member board served before Turner took office in January.

[…]

Frieden is the second person with a physical disability appointed to Metro’s board, after Kathleen DeSilva, appointed by then-Mayor Bob Lanier in 1992. DeSilva, who died in August, was appointed after Frieden and others challenged Lanier to add members of the disabled community to more city boards and commissions.

He is a nationally recognized leader in the independent living movement and in research into access to services by the disabled.

Taylor is a construction development specialist, notably in planning and building health care facilities. Turner said Taylor, a Houston native, has delivered 10 consecutive multi-million-dollar projects “ahead of schedule and under budget.”

Taylor’s father, Joseph, was a Metro bus driver for 18 years.

“I would ride on the bus just behind him and we’d talk,” Taylor said.

“I think part of our job is going to be making alternative transportation attractive again,” Taylor said, citing a “culture shift” necessary to draw more riders to light rail and buses.

The Mayor’s press release is here. the Chron had made a point of asking Mayor Turner to retain Christof Spieler on the Metro board, though by law he can be there for only two more years. Which means the Mayor will have at least one more opportunity to pick Board members in his first term. Congratulations and good luck to the new appointees.