Today’s chron mentioned metro is going to approve that 25 mile line from downtown to the galleria area as bus rapid and it will connect UH and downtown all the way west which will be cool once done then we will have a truly great rail/bus rapid system to go to the big centers. They will apply for federal funds then maybe start work in 2 or so yrs if oked. This is huge in connectivity. The UH / downtown rail to hobby airport is also going to be done.The 25 mile bus rapid is the university line.
The 2003 referendum approved rail from downtown to galleria, and our politicians fought against the voice of the people. Public referendum is democracy. Maddening how they did that.
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I agree with your take on this metro matter. Rail was voted on and approved. Apparently
the communities it would have impacted down Richmond will get their wishes and desires.
Wealthy sobbing gets the special treatment.
I would be curious what this system will look like. Two dedicated lanes for buses, traffic light
synchronized, diesel powered fleet of xx buses, etc…
The Richmond/Lockwood BRT line will look a lot like what recently got built along Post Oak: dedicated lanes for buses, stations that provide level boarding, traffic signal priority, off-board fare collection (so the bus isn’t slowed down by people stuffing change in the farebox as they get on), etc. The buses themselves would be larger than your typical 40’ local bus.
This line should have at least a couple of stations serving UH, including one on Elgin in front of the College of Architecture.
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Tom Delay/Culberson and other politticians fought against the will of the people (giving Dallas hundreds of millions of dollars for their mass transit system) and then a small neighborhood near the Galleria fought against the will (and 2003 pro vote) of the people and then the people voted again in 2019 overwhelmingly for these new mass transit systems. It’s about time - only about 40 years too late. Even the people voted for mass transit rail in the early 90s and Bob Lanier took the money (against the will of the people) and used it for other expenses.
There was another previous vote approved by Houston voters for a rail system in 1978 that was eventually thrwarted by politicians.
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