Houston Transit and Transportation Thread

[Wattleigh]

Roundup of federal grant money provided to further develop planning for several rail corridor proposals involving the Houston area.

https://texasrailadvocates.org/post/...orridor-grants

They include...

HSR

-Dallas to Houston HSR (Amtrak)
-Fort Worth to Dallas to Houston HSR Connector (NCTCOG)

Passenger Rail

-Dallas to Houston Service (TXDOT)
(Including stops in Corsicana, Hearne, College Station, and Navasota)

-Houston to San Antonio Service (TXDOT)
(Including stops in Rosenberg, Flatonia, and Seguin)

[Wattleigh]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...e-18550253.php

Autonomous Metro bus will hit Houston streets soon in shift away from diesel-powered transit

By Dug Begley,
Staff writer

Dec 13, 2023

Metro is restarting its delayed study of autonomous transit, with the full-throated support of outgoing Mayor Sylvester Turner as a vital step toward a region not further choking on cars and trucks.

“Those objectives do not end at the end of anybody’s term,” Turner said at a Metropolitan Transit Authority event touting the agency’s new shuttle and electric bus. “Those are things you have to continue if you want to get where you are going.”

Both the shuttle and bus will go into service in the coming weeks, officials said, once they complete all the needed testing. Each are part of efforts, largely supported by federal funds, to transition Metro away from diesel-powered buses toward cleaner fuel types such as electric, fuel cell and hydrogen.

Metro Chairman Sanjay Ramabhadran said the agency remains committed to change, but not to any one technology. The agency is also balancing where it is deploying new technologies to add services where there is demand, Ramabhadran said, and where Metro can improve air quality by lowering its emissions in neighborhoods affected by poor air quality.

“There is a growing desire for robust, equitable transit,” he said.

There is also interest in transit that can be scaled to neighborhoods that need better access but do not need a full-sized bus, driving some of the interest nationally and in Houston with autonomous vehicles. The autonomous shuttle is operated by a system called ToNY, an acronym for To Navigate You, developed by Perrone Robotics. Metro, the Houston-Galveston Area Council and others are involved in the upcoming testing.

As Houston addresses climate change, which Turner noted has led to seven federally declared disasters in Houston since 2015, it will need options to solo driving and cleaner transportation options.

“The future is here and it looks very bright for the city of Houston,” Turner said.

[Wattleigh]

https://communityimpact.com/houston/...rail-district/

Counties vote on adding METRO to Gulf Coast Rail District

By Melissa Enaje, Jessica Shorten | 2:40 PM Dec 20, 2023 CST
Updated 2:46 PM Dec 20, 2023 CST

Montgomery County and Harris County commissioners each voted on requests Dec. 19 from the Gulf Coast Rail District regarding the addition of a full voting board seat for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, as Fort Bend County and the city of Houston officials await their next meetings to take votes on the same issue that could potentially move forward high-speed rail projects in the region.

The GCRD is part of a larger cooperative formed in 2022 called the Houston Area Rail Transformation project with a goal of “producing a collaborative and programmatic approach to leverage public and private funding opportunities for railroad projects in the region,” according to their website.

The GCRD is a member of the HART alongside:
-Union Pacific Railroad
-Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway
-Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Company
-Port Terminal Railroad Association
-METRO
-Houston-Galveston Area Council
-Texas Department of Transportation
-Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway

What they’re saying

METRO, Galveston County and Waller County officials voted to approve the resolutions to add METRO as a member in early December. Montgomery County commissioners voted unanimously against the resolution Dec. 19, the same day Harris County commissioners voted unanimously for the resolution.

[Wattleigh]

https://realtynewsreport.com/a-new-o...ustons-waters/

A New Oar in Houston’s Waters

by Realty News Report
March 18, 2024

HOUSTON – (By Ralph Bivins, Realty News Report) – The concept has been floating around downtown for months now.

The logic: Houstonians can travel on planes and trains, on light rail and bicycle lanes, on sidewalks, pathways and paved trails. Commuters travel in cars and trucks, electric vehicles and buses But what if Houston dives into the unthinkable – transportation by watercraft.

The initial vision is limited to a three- or four-mile stretch of Buffalo Bayou through downtown and the districts immediately to the east and west of downtown.

A fleet of water taxis will carry the load, transporting a steady flow of passengers to a series floating docks at key landing points that will give riders access to restaurants, residences and workplaces.

The water taxis will provide recreational trips for Sunday sightseeing or a fun Friday cruises to a new place for lunch, in addition to entertainment for conventioneers. At this embryonic stage it’s hard to fathom, but soon an optimist will be asking: “Could Houston’s water taxis become as popular as the boats at the San Antonio River Walk?“

Commuters wouldn’t be left out. Downtown workers who want to avoid expensive parking lots, or students at University of Houston Downtown could take the water taxi. A boat that stops at Allen’s Landing gives passengers access to downtown Houston, the METRO light rail and a five-minute walk to skyscrapers, high-rise residential and hotels.

The acclaimed development of the Buffalo Bayou linear park on west side of downtown made Houstonians see that maybe Houston isn’t the ugly duckling of old stereotypes.

The Buffalo Bayou park made people realize that the bayou could be a beautiful place and that it had been ignored and disrespected long enough, says Brad Freels, chairman of Midway, which is developing the 150-acre East River development that features a long stretch of bayou frontage. The bayou is municipal jewel, he says.

“We’ve never embraced one of our largest assets,” Freels said. “We need to show it off.”

Freels is ready to build a water taxi dock at East River and another at the East River 9 golf course at the other end of the property.

The water taxi concept could become another building block in downtown growth and the advancement of the convention business and tourism.

[Wattleigh]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...n-19395431.php

Metro finding shift to electric or hydrogen buses an uphill effort, buys more diesel

By Dug Begley,
Staff writer
April 12, 2024

Less than three years after pledging to buy only zero-emission vehicles by 2030, Houston transit officials are finding the road to electric- or hydrogen-powered buses a little bumpier than expected.

“2030 is going to be very difficult to adhere to,” said Tom Jasien, interim CEO of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, or Metro.

Meanwhile, 100 new diesel buses will hit Houston streets in the coming months, transit officials said, as reliability trumps sustainability — for now.

Calling the commitment Metro’s board made in August 2021 “aspirational,” Jasien noted the delays in the agency receiving its first 20 electric buses, slower-than-expected development of other technologies such as hydrogen and recycled natural gas and Metro’s own ability to fuel and power new buses as long-established and lingering issues.

“It has been a challenge from day one,” Jasien acknowledged. “And it really has not gone away.”