Driving at rush hour may cost more in Houston Options

[Hartmann]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5682404.html

So, instead of putting in some form of public transportation and having it pay for itself, we build a bigger road (with tax dollars) and increase the price during rush hour.

I'm fairly certain the tolls will be operated by a foreign company with Houston receiving a portion of the collected tolls.

Anyway, is it just me or does anyone else think this is retarded? I think it will turn out to be a complete failure with no one using the toll lanes during rush hour, making the construction unnecessary as the traffic will be the same.

[Hartmann]

My main issue is that if people don't want to sit in traffic then they shouldn't live so far from work.

Instead of expanding roads, which just encourage people to live further and further out, revamp parts of town that have gone down hill. There are people that drive from the west side of Katy to downtown, everyday. That's nuts! It's over 40 miles away. However, if they want to sit in traffic, so be it. I just don't think the state/city should be an "enabler".

It's a Houston and somewhat Texas thing. We love our space. We love our big backyards with no front porch.

If we condensed the city a little more and built vertical in some areas, problems would dissipate and a rail system could work.

We'll never have a subway, the ground doesn't allow for it, but we can have above ground and even an elevated system. Hell, Chicago put the Blue Line right down the middle of the Kennedy Expressway.

The original plan for I-10 called for a mass transit line using the existing railroad that is going unused. That plan was scrapped in favor of more lanes.

As far as places like Sugar Land (which is where I grew up and still live till July), they could abandon the plan to go to there and just make a massive park and ride like they have now for the buses.

In other news, METRO is actually doing something good by introducing an airport connection at the Downtown Transit Center. It's pricey at $30 but it runs every thirty minutes and makes no stops between downtown and IAH.

290 is a complete mess and will not be fixed as TxDOT does not have the cash to do anything. The best advice I have for people moving to Houston is to avoid the 290 corridor and parts of I-45 south.