Transportation

The Costs of Driving
The average household in the Houston region spends 20 percent of its income on transportation, more than in any other metropolitan area in the United States. According to Driven to Spend, a report produced by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, Houstonians pay more money to get around than they pay for housing, food, health care, or education.

Highly expansive development forces most families to rely on the automobile, an expensive mode of transportation. Automobile-based transportation comes with a host of other problems. On-road vehicles are responsible for 24 percent of the region's volatile organic compound and nitrogen oxide emissions, both precursors to ground level-ozone formation (see Air Quality section). Expansive roadways increase runoff and flooding, and destroy open space and wildlife habitat. Some even blame reliance on cars for dividing communities.

Highway Expansion
The growing body of science showing that adding freeway lanes increases congestion 50 did not stop Governor Rick Perry from announcing a major effort to fund highway expansion in 2001. In the Houston area, business and political leaders plan to expand every major freeway and add several new highways. Currently, the plan will increase tollway and lane miles in Houston by 50 percent. Other studies show that motorists can lose more time during road construction delays than they will ever save driving on the improved road. The emerging national consensus about the negative impacts of highway expansion is not widely discussed in Houston regional planning.

Katy Freeway (I-10)
For the past three years, the Katy Corridor Coalition has fought the Texas Department of Transportation over the design of its project to expand the Katy Freeway. An alternative was proposed, and the depressed freeway model endorsed by the Coalition received awards in 2003 from the American Institute of Architects. At the close of the public comment period last year, the state moved forward with its original design, striking a deal with the Harris County Toll Road Authority to fund a portion of the project. To date, construction is millions of dollars over budget and several months behind schedule. Hundreds of displaced homes and businesses have cost the city of Spring Valley millions in revenue. The city will need to raise property taxes to compensate for losses incurred because of the construction. Lawsuits previously filed against TXDOT were amended recently to include an injunction to stop I-10 construction at loop 610.

Grand Parkway
The Grand Parkway is a proposed 177-mile loop circling Houston approximately 40 miles from its center. It's original purpose, and some say continuing purpose, was to spur development in environmentally sensitive areas far from the city, and construction of two segments is already completed. Opponents of the Grand Parkway are concerned it will promote even greater suburban sprawl and destroy prime open space. The proposed route slices through wildlife habitat near Lake Houston State Park and Brazos Bend State Park. It also destroys sections of the Katy Prairie and some of the remaining wetlands and bottomland hardwood forests in the region. In the southern portion, the road will essentially form a 10-foot-high dam across the lower watershed. The project made Taxpayers for Common Sense and Friends of the Earth's top fifty most wasteful roads in America in 1999, and that report set the cost for the complete Grand Parkway at almost $2 billion. Other recent estimates have that cost approaching $4 billion.

Spur 527
Citizen action against the Texas Department of Transportation also occurred over the construction on Spur 527, a major artery of US 59 that leads into downtown. The state plans to divert 40,000 cars per day onto Richmond and West Alabama. Angry residents formed the West Alabama Quality of Life Coalition. The group unsuccessfully asked the state agency and the Federal Highway Authority to hold off on construction, until other road projects were completed. The three-year closure began in February 2004.

Transportation Choices
In most regions, the effort to relieve traffic congestion and all the problems attendant on highway expansion is focused on providing citizens with more mobility choices . This effort has two related parts: develop neighborhoods and business areas to decrease the need for vehicle trips, and provide a variety of transit systems other than personal vehicles.

Rail: Main Street
January 2004 marked the opening of Houston's first light rail line. The Main Street line is a 7.5-mile, $350 million route that runs from downtown to the Astrodome. By itself, the rail line will do little to solve Houston's traffic or air quality problems, but it is intended as the starter line for a more extensive rail and public transportation system.

Metro Solutions
In November 2003, voters approved a referendum to fund to fund the city's most aggressive plan yet for light rail. Metro Solutions includes 73 miles of light rail, an additional 44 new bus routes, and double the existing number of HOV lanes. The $640 million bond issue approved in November will fund the first 22 miles of the project, which will branch from the recently completed Main Street light rail line.

Recent Progress
Traveling by bicycle reduces air pollution, relieves traffic congestion, improves physical fitness, and offers independence to those who cannot or do not want to drive. The region's warm climate and flat terrain make it ideal for year-round cycling and walking. However, the lack of bicycle and pedestrian routes, the distance between destinations caused by urban sprawl, and a car-only attitude can make biking and hiking difficult. The Comprehensive Bikeway Plan, developed in 1993, provides for the design and construction of 367 miles of bikeways in a city-wide network of on-street bike lanes, railtrails, and bayou trails. Once the plan is completed, Houston will be ahead of most cities in miles of bikeways.

The Houston-Galveston Area Council has also drafted a Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan for the eight-county area, which proposes 2,800 miles of bicycle and pedestrian trails. Early on, actual construction of planned bicycle routes was slow, bogged down by funding and interagency disputes.

Problems with poor design and maintenance of several on-street routes continue to anger motorists and endanger cyclists. However, the situation is expected to improve as more bikeways are completed and more cyclists use them.

To date, 215 of the 367 miles of Houston bikeways have been let for construction. In 2000, two major projects were completed, the White Oak Bayou Trail and the Harrisburg-Sunset Rail-Trail.

What You Can Do
Become informed
The Houston-Galveston Area Council hosts frequent public meetings to discuss regional transportation planning. For a calendar of public meetings visit their website.

Take public transportation
Contact METRO at (713) 635-4000 for bus routes, schedules, and fares. METRO also coordinates carpool and vanpool options.

Ride your bike or walk
Take advantage of the city’s growing network of hike and bike trails.

Report bikeway problems
To report maintenance problems on the off-street network, contact the Parks & Recreation Department at (713) 645-HELP. To report problems associated with the on-street network, call the Department of Public Works & Engineering, Office of the Bicycle-Pedestrian Coordinator, at (713) 837-0003.