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HOUSTON: LINK Houston, an advocacy organization focused on mobility and transportation equity, announced the hire of its first executive director, Oni Blair, as well as its commitment to prioritizing mobility options as part of the Harvey recovery effort.
While the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has not yet announced the total number of car claims it has received from the Houston region as a result of Hurricane Harvey, the appraisal firm Black Book estimates 500,000 cars will need to be replaced. Blair has prioritized identifying appropriate and cost-sensitive transportation solutions for those who have lost their cars.
“It is now more important than ever,” said Blair, “for Houston and the region to re-think its support for public transportation, such as bus and rail service, as well as other modes of transportation like walking and biking. This disaster underscores the need for LINK, in partnership with stakeholders throughout Houston, to ensure that car ownership does not determine access to jobs, healthcare, school and community assets.”
LINK Houston is a new non-profit organization that grew from a series of community conversations convened by Houston Endowment and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation-Houston (LISC) in 2016. This process examined how to promote equitable transportation by aligning policies, systems, and funding streams to better serve under-resourced communities, and ensure resident involvement in decision-making about transportation. The planning process resulted in start-up funding from Houston Endowment to launch LINK Houston this year.
“Ms. Blair’s leadership as a federal advisor on loan to the Mayor’s office, her experience working as a U.S. diplomat focused on human rights and humanitarian assistance, her track record in engaging stakeholders and building coalitions, and her sound strategic and critical thinking abilities will allow LINK to quickly prioritize its work in the weeks and months to come,” said Richard Petty of the National Center for Aging and Disability at TIRR Memorial Hermann, Chair of LINK Houston’s Board of Directors. “This organization was formed in part to implement structural changes in how our region approaches mobility in the built environment. The timing of her start with LINK in the recovery phase after Harvey is important, as it provides critical capacity to educate those with limited transportation options about alternatives.”
In addition to Petty, the organization’s founding board members include Bill Fulton of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University; Denae King of the Mickey Leland Center for Environment, Justice and Sustainability at Texas Southern University; Elizabeth Love of Houston Endowment; Janis Scott, known as Houston’s “Bus Lady;” Michael Skelly of Clean Line Energy; Carter Stern of Houston B-Cycle; Amanda Timm of LISC; and Berenice Yu of Avenue.
Household savings related to Houston’s low cost of housing are often outweighed by travel time and car-related costs. Often, car-related costs account for nearly 20 percent of household income, and approximately eight percent of Houston’s population (over 175,000 individuals) live in a household without access to a car – a figure that averages 20 percent in low-to-moderate income households.
“As we work to rebuild this great city,” said Blair, “my hope is that we’ll reform our approach to how we move around in our community as well.”
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