5 ms·
I dream of a post-car America. But wouldn't that require places like Houston to build massive amounts of public transport?
by rollypolly 15y ago
I dream of a post-car America. But wouldn't that require places like Houston to build massive amounts of public transport?
- saryant 15y agoYes, of course. And I don't really expect that to happen. Right now Houston has one light rail line running from Reliant Stadium, through the med center and Rice University/Museum District into downtown. They are building several new lines right now but still aren't reaching into the suburbs. I don't expect Houston to become a post-car city in the reasonable future.
- _delirium 15y agoThere's occasional talk of running commuter rail on the I-45 corridor from Houston to Galveston, through Clear Lake and other SE suburbs, on the existing (little-used) freight line. If Los Angeles can do it with Metrolink (which similarly runs on existing track), Houston should be able to do it, but I'm not holding my breath. I believe there's substantial demand; the park-n-ride lots for the downtown express buses from Clear Lake have been completely overflowing for the past few years, as driving on I-45 has gotten less appealing with the ever-increasing traffic. I do see more construction nearer to the center, at least. There are condos and townhomes in the Medical Center area that were abandoned and/or slums 10 years ago.
- philwelch 15y agoIt would require a lot of capital investment, but building and maintaining highways and automobiles already requires a lot of capital investment. It's just a reallocation.