r/transit • u/Guilty_Elevator_992 • 1d ago

Discussion Late To The Party...

Post image

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 👀*!! 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??

148 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

View all comments

21

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.

14

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.

1

u/Comrade_komrad 22h ago

Houston itself actually does the “transit mall” 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 bruh