Free fares appear to be a hard sell for Houston area transit officials, who said while they are open to exploring discounts, people boarding buses and trains will need to fork over $1.25 for the foreseeable future. After a comprehensive analysis by Metropolitan Transit Authority staff, transit board members said removing fares from the [...]
Transit agencies around the country, including in Houston, are considering whether to cut or reduce their transit fares. If you ride a local METRO bus in Harris County it will most likely cost you $1.25, though there are also half-priced fares for students, seniors and people with disabilities. But what if you didn’t have [...]
Despite stepped-up efforts to reduce fatalities on Houston-area roads, 2019 remained a deadly year for drivers, passengers and other road users. The number of lives lost on roads and highways appears likely to exceed the number of deaths from 2018 in Greater Houston, made up of Harris and the seven adjacent counties, even as [...]
In early 2016, I crossed the intersection of Fannin, Main and Sunset with my mother, Marj Corcoran, who taught physics at Rice for over 35 years and used that crosswalk hundreds of times. She told me that day how scared crossing there as part of her regular bike commute made her, and how how [...]
In an election where most major races headed to run-offs, the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s bond referendum was a clear winner. Voters overwhelmingly approving a proposal that will allow Metro to borrow up to $3.5 billion to help fund bus and rail projects over the next 20 years . The ambitious MetroNext expansion plan, which [...]
Voters in Houston can upgrade their transit system without a tax increase in a new $3.5 billion ballot measure this fall. Houston has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to modernize its transit system this fall — and the city hopes to learn from Nashville’s mistakes. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County signed off last week on [...]
The future of the Houston area’s transit system now lies in the hands of voters. 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 the start [...]
On Monday’s Houston Matters: We discuss how Greater Houston has responded to weekend shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. We learn how extreme weather affects our bodies long after it’s over. We examine concerns over the 1-45 redevelopment project. And Jeff Balke updates us Houston sports. [Read more.] Houston Matters Abner Fletcher | [...]
A “Texas-sized” expansion of highways finds the sprawling city laying out a blueprint for more cars Like many American cities, Houston is encircled by rings of highways—nine major radial freeways, three ring freeways, and a 180-mile fourth outer ring on the way. But Houston isn’t just encircled by roads, it’s symbolically, and literally, being choked [...]
As TxDOT’s plan to revamp I-45 moves forward, some concerned citizens are pushing back. JUST OUTSIDE THE GATES of Bruce Elementary school in the Fifth Ward, over 30 community organizers, activists, and concerned citizens gathered Tuesday morning to call for delaying the approval of the proposed expansion and overhaul of I-45. Advocates for the I-45 expansion [...]
