Cy-Fair ISD did away with bus routes for a large majority of the districts population to save money due to their massive shortfall last year. This is the pickup line for Anthony Middle School sped up by 225%. It’s not even the entire line. @WileyPostKHOU pic.twitter.com/irhiMUrNjS

— Zerin Dube (@SpeedSportLife) August 19, 2024

Lol at this

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Cy-Fair ISD did away with bus routes for a large majority of the districts population to save money due to their massive shortfall last year. This is the pickup line for Anthony Middle School sped up by 225%. It’s not even the entire line. @WileyPostKHOU pic.twitter.com/irhiMUrNjS

— Zerin Dube (@SpeedSportLife) August 19, 2024

Lol at this

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Abbott's game trying to undermine public schools and push vouchers paying dividends

CDUB98 said:

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IIRC, didn't they also think about running one straight down the middle of I-10 during that expansion, but it was scrapped as too costly...even for the government?

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It was too expensive for Metro, to be exact. The money was there for the rail down the middle of I10 - reinforced overpasses and all. But Metro would not pay for the stations - the build and parking lots for each train stop.

YellAg2004 said:

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WestHoustonAg79 said:

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Houston/TxDOT has always been reactionary and not proactive. We love to spend on projects that fix a 10 year ongoing problem with a 10 year project that once complete, is already behind the growth that has come in those 10 years.

Rinse and repeat.

Wish I had a solution honestly but whatever traffic #s they project prob need to be doubled or 3x when doing their feasibility studies etc. over build so we have more room to grow.

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Not trying to white knight for TxDOT, but there are some real limitations to what they're able to do. When builders can throw together 100s/1000s of homes in a single year, you'll never be able to build a freeway system at that same pace. Alternatively, if TxDOT were to have built I-10 out to Katy at the size they did back in 1990, people would be raising hell about what a waste of tax dollars it is when there's nothing out there.

As far as the 59 SB to 610 NB ramp, even if you built it to two lanes wide, it would move the bottleneck a grand total of about 1000' north to where the two lanes would need to merge before merging with 610. 610 in that area is space constrained and short of double-decking it, it will always be an issue.

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I hear ya. As mentioned I don't have the solution, frankly I think we're just too far down the line to make any meaningful solutions to Houston transportation. I would love a solid public transport especially with Uber etc now, public transit to the suburbs in theory could work but no fix for it now.

Adding to my rant, then you throw in the projects that didn't need to happen to begin with. I work at Post Oak/San Felipe and you know how many ppl ride the Metro after ripping up post oak and adding the dedicated bus lanes for 5 years? Absolutely no one. I could have told them that and don't deal with Heavy Highway projects at all.

They have already basically admitted that line is a failure and have curtailed the number of buses running. What a massive boondoggle.

The west loop is a problem because it is a north-south choke point. There are only so many bridges over Buffalo Bayou and the West Loop is the only place to cross for a mile stretch between Shepherd and Chimney Rock.

The way to relieve traffic on it would be to make major arterial connections that should exist by blasting Antione over the bayou, connecting Sage and Silber, a north-south arterial through Memorial Park, connecting Kirby with TC Jester, etc, not to mention further west of Chimney Rock in the Villages.

The West Loop is basically the superhighway that keeps River Oaks and Greater Uptown Memorial Dr areas isolated a fat and happy from the riff raff.

DDub74 said:

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Another great idea by Metro that cost $500MM and clogged traffic on 610 for 4 years. And not surprised its a failure. Most people that go to the Galleria for work and shopping are white collar so will drive regardless. I heard that they could have bought new Ferrari's for each rider on that line every year and still would come out cheaper.

To me a Metro subsidized Uber program would be better than buses and rail, but that doesn't fit the lower emissions green narrative.

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What if all the Ubers were EV?

DDub74 said:

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Another great idea by Metro that cost $500MM and clogged traffic on 610 for 4 years. And not surprised its a failure. Most people that go to the Galleria for work and shopping are white collar so will drive regardless. I heard that they could have bought new Ferrari's for each rider on that line every year and still would come out cheaper.

To me a Metro subsidized Uber program would be better than buses and rail, but that doesn't fit the lower emissions green narrative.

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When the initial ridership was garbage I remember some Metro apparatchik saying "well, Galleria office space is still at 50% from pre-COVID." Ok. Say you double ridership. Does that look like success?

I moved out to Wilcrest I10 area a little over a year ago and have always joked with my wife about doing a week of no vehicle or Uber for the commute just to know how much a biatch it is and get perspective.

Would love to hear more opinions of future ideas though. Sometimes I feel if they had started the process during the high times of the 80s before the bust we'd be 45 years into a public transit system that might actually work and could get cleaned up now that there is technology that makes sense to be dropped off in Katy for example.

I am not saying I have any real solutions. But for a Katy example, some train like Chicago or something. Pre ride sharing apps, mom could have dropped off dad at the station on their way to drop kids off at school. 20 min to uptown that is an express stop. 30 min DT.

Idk prob doesn't work for ***** I think we're too far gone and need to focus on fixing the highway construction debacles time and time again.

i recall a double decker was an option for the galleria area back when they did the big project in the early 2000's. thats about all that can help now.

I think the double decker has always been an option. But nobody wants to pay the cost or deal with the massive road closures it would take to inplement

JJxvi said:

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The west loop is a problem because it is a north-south choke point. There are only so many bridges over Buffalo Bayou and the West Loop is the only place to cross for a mile stretch between Shepherd and Chimney Rock.

The way to relieve traffic on it would be to make major arterial connections that should exist by blasting Antione over the bayou, connecting Sage and Silber, a north-south arterial through Memorial Park, connecting Kirby with TC Jester, etc, not to mention further west of Chimney Rock in the Villages.

The West Loop is basically the superhighway that keeps River Oaks and Greater Uptown Memorial Dr areas isolated a fat and happy from the riff raff.

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Great points. I've always thought about when Chimney rock never crossed (I feel like you can tell by the lots left that seemed to be end of a culdasac back in the day but I could be wrong).

I think Wescott light flyover to Kirby makes a ton of sense. That micro area is about to get redeveloped right now. Timing would have worked great. You just have to buy out/Eminent Domain all the owners or Lazy Ln in River Oaks (lol good luck).

TC jester would have to be the Detering light. But regardless. Rice military is already totally F-ed and would never be able to create another major thoroughfare through the heart of it. Who am I kidding though. The RO litigation alone even if someone wanted to hardball if from the city would take decades.

Antoine doesn't make sense.

Silber/sage is the most realistically possible one (but never will happen). All of Friartuck and Buckingham damn near estates. Wealthiest part of the villages prob. Plus the exits to silber/antoine are different depending on which direction you're going and if you're not from around you can get boned.

FHKChE07 said:

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So you want to take Wescott over Bayou Bend. Ima Hogg's old house that is now a museum. That alone would be a lot, let alone the other rich people you are going to piss off.

Also, now you have Memorial, Allen Parkway, Kirby, Shepherd, and Westcott all coming together for a traffic cluster inside River Oaks.

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I mean none of it will ever happen/is feasible. Just a fun thought exercise I guess.

MORE LANEZ!!!!

Furlock Bones said:

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One thing that gets me is that Katy/West Houston was one of THE known growth areas over 30 years ago. The freight rail lines ran alongside I10 to the downtown area. They had the lines to set up a true commuter rail and did not. Painfully shortsighted.

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Not only did they have already built lines along 10, what is now the Westpark tollway was also a rail line. Now Fulshear/South Katy/North Richmond is too developed for a rail only solution there.

The biggest problem with any Houston area commuter rail is there are too many business centers spread out over town. A spoke and hub system coming from downtown doesn't even help 1/5 of the commuters. Perhaps the local bus and light rail network would have been built up more if we went the commuter rail option over toll lanes 20-30 years ago.

that's the thing. i truly believe if we had not ripped out that I10 line 30 years ago then we would have seen more business consolidation.

make work programs mean we absolutely cannot have automated trains.

Furlock Bones said:

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that's the thing. i truly believe if we had not ripped out that I10 line 30 years ago then we would have seen more business consolidation.

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Interesting thought. Can you elaborate?