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.

[impala454]

I wouldn't call it retarded, just a jackass thing to do. I think you'd be surprised how many people will pay it.

As far as public transportation, dude, you gotta get over it man and realize Houston != New York. Expanding one road by a few lanes would cost nowhere near what it would cost to build a public transportation system. I don't even really see it as possible. Where would you build it? Where would it run? People here work in the city and live in the suburbs. The rest live in the suburbs and work in the suburbs.

[Testm0nkey]

i dont think there will ever be people not willing to use a tollroad. hell sometimes the tolls are trafficy.

public transportation from the suburbs to houston is pretty good from my experience. then the metro from downtown to other districts is pretty damn good.

its just like gay spots like sugarland that dont USE the metro system. (the lack of park and rides/bus pick ups for an extended area of land around the "nicer" SW) and the sheer number of spots the buses stop at making the trip really long

houston cant maintain a subway so the best methods of mass transport are trains/buses. the light rail is just a money pit but theyre working on it (no one wants to ride it though...) so in my mind you just have bus system left. and a bus system in other big towns arent flawless. ever ride a bus around LA?

hartmann where do you live in houston? i havent ever been able to figure that out.

[impala454]

Well that's just it though, the metro system doesn't take you where you need to go. It's a friggin 50 mile radius area where people work. One of the guys I work with lives in Kingwood, said he could take the park & ride, would have to take the bus all the way downtown, then take a second bus from there out 290 to get to work. would take like 2 hrs

[Testm0nkey]

why does he live in kingwood then? there are a lot of suburbs/neighborhoods around 290. and i mean if you live 90 miles from where you work you cant really complain about the public transportation. thats a horrible commute and always will be one! (in reference to the system only working in a 50 mile radius)

and KW to greenspoint and then to 290 area is probably way faster

edit: thats just one of my pet peeves. someone chooses a place to live buys a home and THEN thinks about how they are going to get to work. and tada if you dont plan around that traffic/transportation is going to blow balls. but yes i understand people changing buildings and careers but then maybe its time to check out other real estate or just suck it up

[Seeker]

toll roads are unamerican, i believe everyone should have the freedom of movement

[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.

[Psykopath]

toll roads are unamerican, i believe everyone should have the freedom of movement

Agree 100%

I lol'd when they tried to make the Marsha Sharp Freeway a toll road.
...yeah, a toll road in fucking LUBBOCK! That went over like a ton of bricks.

[Mommy]

i honestly couldnt care if a NEW major highway is made into a toll road or not. Its when the old ones become toll roads that i get pissed

[Testm0nkey]

ah my mistake. i thought the original topic was more of a traffic complaint

but i agree. there wouldnt be a problem in a lot of ways if people used the space they created instead of stretching further and furhter out. but thats un'merican

[Hartmann]

i honestly couldnt care if a NEW major highway is made into a toll road or not. Its when the old ones become toll roads that i get pissed

I have a problem with the fact that most toll roads are managed by foreign companies. Just like I don't want foreign money controlling harbors and rail yards in the states, I don't want them in control of the road system.

[Seeker]

I have a problem with the fact that most toll roads are managed by foreign companies. Just like I don't want foreign money controlling harbors and rail yards in the states, I don't want them in control of the road system.

agree 100%

[schwab]

I dont see why large cities do not just have lets say 5 or so train lines running from downtown to suburbs of these cities...and have large parking lots around them. If it was a reliable service, i would ride it......

but i live in abilene, so i drive to work.

[impala454]

why does he live in kingwood then? there are a lot of suburbs/neighborhoods around 290.

There are ghetto ass neighborhoods where you wouldn't want to live, or there's $500,000 houses. Not exactly a huge assortment. And if you're talking about the stuff out at barker cypress, that's pretty much laughable. I get to work faster from the complete opposite side of town than people who live out at barker cypress off 290.

and i mean if you live 90 miles from where you work

While 90 miles obviously is a huge exaggeration, it's not about the distance in Houston, it's about where and when you're travelling. I live 35 miles from work, but because I go opposite of the worst traffic it usually only takes 35-40 mins. While others who live 15-20 miles from work take as long if not longer because they're coming inbound on 290 in the morning and outbound in the evening (takes about 1 hr to get from the beltway to the loop).

you cant really complain about the public transportation. thats a horrible commute and always will be one! (in reference to the system only working in a 50 mile radius)

I didn't complain about public transportation. I was responding to hartmann about why one wouldn't work here.

and KW to greenspoint and then to 290 area is probably way faster

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

edit: thats just one of my pet peeves. someone chooses a place to live buys a home and THEN thinks about how they are going to get to
work. and tada if you dont plan around that traffic/transportation is going to blow balls.

Sorry, I guess not everyone gets married, makes sure their spouse works right next door to their work, then has a perfect neighborhood with great schools right across the street from those two workplaces . This perfect couple also surely never gets tired of their job and looks for another one.

but yes i understand people changing buildings and careers but then maybe its time to check out other real estate or just suck it up

"suck it up" is exactly what we do. I still think you mistake me for someone who's complaining. All I was doing was explaining that with the layout of the city and how insanely spread out it is, a public transportation system wouldn't really work all that well.

[Oasis]

toll roads are unamerican, i believe everyone should have the freedom of movement

I thought outsourcing and double taxation was American