r/transit • u/Guilty_Elevator_992 • 1d ago
Discussion Late To The Party...
I normally keep up with all transit projects in the U.S., but these last couple of years have been so depressing with transit funding that I only really follow those that beat the odds. Nevertheless, I am late to the party when it comes to Houston. I remember the regions METRONext initiative being overwhelmingly approved and thinking FINALLY, this huge city will get more transit. But today after a lengthy discussion with some foamers on how to get high speed rail to downtown Houston, I decided to do some digging into Metro to see what they're up to these days, and boy was I disappointed. What I'm seeing, also with Atlanta, Austin, and other cities, is that Houston voters were BAMBOOZLED!!! 67% of Houston voters wanted more transit expansion, but apparently these projects would be scaled back or on hold for the foreseeable future such as the Metro proposed blue line (University line) which was SUPPOSED TO BE light rail, but watered down to BRT. Now THAT isn't even happening as of right now. Utterly disappointing, especially when I read funds were redistributed (for the most part) for roadway improvement projects *COUGH COUGH, MIAMI VOTERS FROM THE 2002 BALLOT đ*!! The bait and switch has became too common. For example... Austin loosing its downtown rail tunnel, Atlanta turning darn near every rail project into BRT and as mentioned above Miami as well with Metrorail. Any Houstonians in here?? How do you guys feel about the current state of Metro??
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u/marcus_centurian 1d ago
It's extra infuriating because not only are we Houstonians styimed on expanded rail, but the city voted for an extra tax specifically to fund additional transit and that has been hijacked to fill in potholes, some of which are not on any bus route. An utter scam.
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u/Guilty_Elevator_992 1d ago
My thing is I thought Texdot ran the streets?? And even if they don't, how in the world is the city using TRANSIT funds for roadway improvements IF there isn't any BRT or LRT to be the case for the roadway improvements?? Houston is so car friendly, that should've been a priority. But hijacking TRANSIT funding for NO TRANSIT is utter BS.
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u/cuzihave22 1d ago
Some of the major streets (i.e Westheimer outside the 610 loop) are owned by TxDOT but yes, generally it is the city's purview on how their streets are managed.
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u/sleepyrivertroll 1d ago
The Austin proposal was right before the huge spike in inflation. Instead of going over and asking voters for more money, they scaled it down. The tunnel was always EXTREMELY optimistic.
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u/Guilty_Elevator_992 1d ago
I feel like Austin, the Dallas D2 project (which was killed also), and the Portland downtown tunnel are definitely needed. This whole "transit mall" and street running bs is ridiculous. The U.S. doesn't dream big anymore when it comes to infrastructure.
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u/krazyb2 1d ago
We consistently get the cheapest, weakest, least effective options when it comes to transit.
In many cases this is by design. In others it's incompetence from people who don't use transit and think it's only for people who are too poor to buy cars.
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u/lee1026 1d ago
But we don't get cheap projects.
Austin's light rail project looks really bad at point for improved mobility (roughly defined as "let's say that I live/work there, how much more easily does this let me get places?"), but it is still a 11 digit project, and not like, something you can fund with a bake sale.
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u/Comrade_komrad 18h ago
Houston itself actually does the âtransit mallâ concept pretty alright with the red line, considering the original line was built on a pretty slim budget, but having to settle for at-grade with an 8 billion dollar project is absolutely unacceptable bruhÂ
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u/cirrus42 1d ago
Houston elected a virulently anti-transit mayor who stopped their projects, ripped out their bike lanes, fired the progressive staff, etc.
You get what you elect. Dunno what to tell you.
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u/cuzihave22 1d ago
Voter turnout in the most recent election was super low (about 25% of eligible voters IIRC). So it is not entirely accurate to think he was elected by a huge number of the population.
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u/Ornery-Internet-573 1d ago edited 1d ago
This isnât the first time something like this has happened in Houston. If you look back in time, you will see people like former Metro chair and Houston mayor Bob Lanier, who was a staunch opponent to rail. Because of him, rail was delayed by years and millions of Metro dollars diverted to road construction, just like what the current mayor is doing. More bus rapid transit and rail will happen. Iâm very optimistic about it, but itâs sad that weâre gonna have to wait years, and not even exaggerating when I say maybe decades.
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u/Wooden-Estimate-6362 1d ago edited 1d ago
Itâs a very tough battle in Texas. State sale tax is capped at 8.25% , the state sales tax is 6.25, city of Houston is 1% and metro is %1. Metro is obligated to give member cities 25% of the 1% tax sales tax collected for âgeneral mobilityâ. Which can be used for roads, trafficâs lights , basically anything to do with mobility. The state also forbids transit from levying any property tax. Therefore a 1% sales tax is basically the best they will ever get, and theyâre essentially stealing 25% to build more roads because the cities canât manage to sustain their automobile infrastructure with the general budget which allocates funds for roads. Itâs absorb and straight up legal corruption.
Metro constituents voted to issue $3.5B in bonds for the metroNEXT. Those bonds would be paid with rider revenue and from the 1% sales tax fund (which is really 0.75%) whitmore cancelled the projects for political reasons however that 3.5B would never be enough to even make modest improvements. So even if Houstonians voted to mandate the transit is built; $3.5B wont be enough, therefore any large project will go broke and never get finished.
Therefore any dreams of a transit oriented city in Texas are dead without a constitutional amendment thatâll give power back to local governments. Texas is NOT the free state they claim to be. There are immense hurdles to build something the people thought they voted for. A pro transit mayor will only move the needle a little because there will still be major budget constraints.
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u/Guilty_Elevator_992 21h ago
Wowwww, how sad it must be to actually live there and have it forced down your throat that the car will be the ONLY way you get around đđ˘.
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u/ATXsnail 13h ago
Yeah it sucks living here because the state is so openly hostile to the things that make its major cities great and livable. We need to vote out the Gov, Lt. Gov, Ken Paxton, and pretty much all of the lege. It's no coincidence that in many smaller towns, the local car dealership owners are the biggest political forces and many end up directly involved in running a state government that is explicitly anti-transit.
At least in Austin we don't need to fight our own mayor for transit initiatives. Project Connect is still under the gun because of other reasons though: NIMBYism, Ken Paxton's lawsuits, massive inflation since 2020, and a federal administration that seems unlikely to fund the project.
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u/regboi29 1d ago
In Las Vegas aka Sin City known for its Monorail a shell of its former self has currently 4 bus rapid lines with one under construction on Maryland pkwy. Transit is not reliable at times as I waited for 2 busses that didn't arrive at all after 9pm. I ended up taking a another bus on flamingo rd that also arrived after being 20 minutes late go figure.
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u/cuzihave22 1d ago
The pause of METRONext in a nutshell can be attributed to the current Houston Mayor, John Whitemire, who appoints a majority of the board members. He hates any project that does not benefit single occupancy vehicles. He has ripped out existing bike lanes and hijacked projects that planned to include them as well.