Housing and Transportation Costs Rise in Houston
A recent study by Citizens Budget Commission using data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that Houston is currently less affordable than New York City when transportation costs are factored into overall housing costs. The notion that Houston is becoming less affordable is not new. According to the Center for Neighborhood Technology , transportation costs in [...]
Celebrate Transit Equity Day
On February 4, we invite you to ride public transit somewhere you need to go, take a picture along your journey, and share it on social media using #TransitEquityDay. The Labor Network for Sustainability will once again lead Transit Equity Day to raise awareness of public transit as a civil right and a way to help [...]
The Nexus of Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing and “Good” Transit
LINK Houston is teaming up with the Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research to study where naturally occurring affordable housing and high-quality transit coincide in Houston. The project will highlight how housing and transportation access affordability are related and produce practical tools to help housing stakeholders and individuals make well-informed decisions about their [...]
Community Members Ask METRO Board to Prioritize Equity in METRONext Implementation
Houston-area residents joined LINK Houston for the November 21 METRO Board meeting to congratulate the transit agency on the successful bond referendum and urge METRO to prioritize improvements that adhere to METRO’s public commitments to equity. Community members representing Gulfton, Eastex-Jensen, Kashmere and Houston Trinity Gardens, and the Living Hope Wheelchair Association asked METRO [...]
METRONext Moving Forward is moving forward
Houston area residents signaled that we are ready for a “paradigm shift” in transportation. Houstonians want more options to move around the region, and more funding for public transit will provide more options. So what happened on November 5? Early reports from the November 5 election show close to seventy percent of voters approved [...]
LINK Houston on METRONext
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) has a new long-term plan – METRONext – to improve or add about 500 miles of transit in the Houston region without any new tax. In the November 5, 2019 referendum, METRO is seeking to borrow up to $3.5 billion, repayable by future METRO revenue. LINK Houston’s Equity in [...]
LINK Houston in the News
This Family Survived an African Refugee Camp. Their New Challenge: Surviving Houston Without a Car.
One of the Bayou City’s biggest immigrant gateways, southwest Houston, is a dangerous and daunting place for pedestrians. Until January, Merci Madilu and his older brother, Espoir, had spent most of their existence in a refugee camp in the landlocked Central African nation [...]
Adjustments to TxDot’s I-45 project to be unveiled by city planners
HOUSTON – Houston City Planners are set to unveil their recommendations to segment three of TxDot’s North Houston High Improvement Project during a community workshop Thursday night. This marks the second series of workshops where concerned residents will have the opportunity to voice [...]
How to Fix Public Transportation
ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN in Houston for more than a minute knows that one of the city’s biggest drawbacks is the lack of public transportation. Luckily, we already have a lot of the bones in place for what could become a transformative change: [...]
Metro unlikely to eliminate fares after analysis finds increased costs
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 [...]
Would Free Transit Incentivize More Riders? METRO Gathers Input On Whether To Stop Collecting Fares
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, [...]
Road deaths rise in Houston region, despite new efforts to end fatalities
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, [...]