Metro rail route houston3/1/2023 Metropolitan Transit Authority's planned University Line will be among the largest bus rapid transit routes in the nation, connecting numerous neighborhoods and transit centers. Segment 2 runs on Richmond Avenue between Montrose Boulevard and Edloe Street. William Stewart points at a presentation of proposed route for Segment 2 of METRORapid University Corridor Project at an open house to learn and ask about the project on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at Houston Community College Central Campus in Houston. Additional public comment periods will come as the design is unveiled, with construction on the $1.5 billion-plus line expected to start in late 2024 or 2025 at the earliest, with buses starting to carry passengers in 2028 or 2029. REVVED UP: Goal of reliable, accessible electric vehicle charging taking shape in state plan, new federal guidelinesĬritics and supporters have a final chance Monday to attend a virtual public hearing related to the University Line, before officials refine the project and submit an early application for funding to the Federal Transit Administration. “If we can get 5 to 10 percent of the region using transit, that is going to make life better for the 90-95 percent,” Ramabhadran said. Transit advocates have called the line critical to linking Houston neighborhoods clamoring for better, faster transit to the job centers and educational opportunities abounding in the region. It is about one-third of the dedicated lanes Metro wants to build, and along with a planned BRT line along Interstate 10 forms the two east-west transit backbones that join the light rail system downtown and the Silver Line BRT through Uptown. The buses use their own lanes along major streets, in some cases taking lanes now open to car and truck drivers, to avoid traffic and offer access to about 40 stops along the 25.3 mile route. It is among the longest bus rapid transit lines planned in the nation, connecting a dozen of the region’s major transit hubs and roughly 20 neighborhoods, using large buses that stop at stations and act more like light rail than conventional bus service. While things such as shelters at hundreds of Metro’s 8,900 bus stops and improved sidewalks along major routes already are in progress, the first big-ticket project on Metro’s list is the University Line. The long-range plan for transit in Houston, estimated to cost $7.5 billion, spans the entire region, including 75 miles of bus rapid transit, two-way HOV or HOT lanes for park and ride buses along all major freeways and plans for extending light rail to Hobby Airport. William Stewart and Marlene Matterson examine the proposed route for Segment 2 of METRORapid University Corridor Project at an open house to learn and ask about the project on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at Houston Community College Central Campus in Houston. “The experience of Metro projects is that they carry the same number of riders,” said Neal Meyer, 56, a critic of the agency who has written skeptically of transit plans for years. Meanwhile it is the past that makes many skeptics hard to convince Metro is on the right path with where it is putting its money and buses. ROAD WORK AHEAD: Texas poised for record $85 billion-plus in highway construction “It is not possible for us to be future-proof, but it is possible to be future-ready,” Metro board chair Sanjay Ramabhadran said. Officials admit much of their plan is an educated guess, but still a guess about how Houstonians will want to get around in the years to come. Picking the first steps in some ways influences whether the agency can avoid lingering concerns about transit leaders’ ability to deliver big projects. Even with $7.5 billion in local and federal funding plotted, Metro can only do one or two major projects at a time. The challenge for Metro is picking routes and lines for the future when travel patterns constantly change and economic factors can upend commutes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |