According to Bill King writing in today's ChronBlog editorial page.
I love the "prominent local blogger" riff as well as many of his ideas. It's a good look at how Metro could provide real transportation solutions while living well within the bounds of the 2003 voter referendum.
Which, of course, means that none of it has much of a chance of getting completed*.
*Most telling is the first comment. Someone angry because King is focusing on people outside Loop 610. What the resident of A Place Called Perfect is forgetting is that MOST people in the region reside beyond the confines of the Loop. That may not be Perfect, but it's reality
2 comments:
Two things I think he should add: more buses/routes and extend the trolley idea to other high density areas like the East End and Galleria.
Ditch any expansion of LRT, even the extension to Ft. Bend he discusses - he's trying to make it better but I'd consider it a sunk cost and move on.
Bloggers and other advocates of a Place Called Perfect love to portray King and others who are critical of METRO (which I guess includes you and me) as anti-transit/anti-mobility/anti-EVERYTHING troglodytes, which just isn't true.
It's always nice to see King try and dispel those beliefs with his sensible approach to regional mobility/transit, but I doubt it will have much impact on how the Perfect people characterize him or others who have the audacity to disagree with their Perfect vision.
Here's a clip from the comment I'm seeing at the top of Chron.com comments at the moment:
** One has but to see the light rail systems in New York or Chicago to understand the great efficiency in moving people compared to using the highways. **
I'm part of the allegedly ignorant anti-transit troglodyte crowd (or a "dick" or a "troll" depending on which Perfect blogger one consults), yet I've traveled to both places, used transit in both places, and understand the difference between at-grade light rail and the rail systems used in those dense cities -- so I guess I'm disqualified from being part of the Perfect discussion! *laugh* I'm open to a mix of mobility solutions THAT MAKE SENSE FOR HOUSTON AND THE REGION (because METRO has regional transit authority). I'm not open to at-grade inner loop rail that reduces auto mobility, is costly, and still doesn't project squat in terms of utilization. And having traveled to a number of places in the world, I'm not as easily persuaded by the phrase "world-class" as the sole justification for at-grade light-rail boondoggles as some folks apparently are.
King missed an opportunity to discuss revamping METRO's predominately hub-spoke approach to transit in favor of more of a multi-point/Southwest Air-like approach to connecting our city's major job/interest centers to each other and to commuters, but he only had so much space.
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