The well-attended March CEC delegate luncheon was devoted to back-to-back presentations concerning the City of Houston’s Transportation 2000 Plan. John Jackson, Houston Department of Planning and Development, outlined the plan’s history and scope, and Dan Lundeen, Houston Area Bicyclist Alliance, opened the comment period with a detailed critique.

Lundeen praised the City’s 2000 Plan for incorporating elements not found in previous transportation plan – in particular smart growth elements (with designated no-development zones), high capacity transit (“rail”), intermodal improvements, a bicyclist/pedestrian strategy, an environmental strategy (to include creation of linear parks) – and for proposing the formation of a regional transportation coalition.

He and other critics, however, found the plan deficient in several areas. It does not provide for citizen involvement to balance developer/business interests. There is no goal to preserve neighborhoods or control sprawl. There is no strong land use planning element. The plan does not recognize the link between roadway capacity and induced driving.

Lundeen recommended that citizen and neighborhood interests be formally represented at every level of planning, that METRO spend money primarily on transit, that the plan treat transit users as preferred, and that it provide for mainstream bike/pedestrian accommodations on every road.