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METRO Breaks Ground on Two Light-rail Lines
Friday, July 17, 2009 12:23 PM  

Unveiling of a model of the new trainA life-sized model of METRO's new train took center stage at Minute Maid Park's Union Station on Monday as officials celebrated the groundbreaking of the Southeast and North Corridors.

METRO Chairman David S. Wolff emceed the grand celebration, speaking to a crowd of about 350, including state and local officials who played a role in bringing light rail to this city.

"These light rail lines will connect our communities in ways they have never been connected before. They will provide improved access to jobs, to health care and to the educational institutions which are so important to our city," said Wolff.

The new light-rail lines will connect the North, East End and Southeast corridors. Officials pointed out that the two light-rail lines were given $150 million in President Obama's 2010 budget - making them two of the five transit projects mentioned in the administration's budget. Crowd at Union Station listening to speeches

The light-rail system will be one of the biggest infrastructure project in Houston's history and is expected to bring 60,000 jobs to the city.

Earlier Monday, separate but simultaneous celebrations occurred at the North and Southeast corridors with a ceremonial hammering of railroad spikes.

We'll bring you highlights in a documentary on Monday. Stay tuned.

 

 

Posted by Mary Sit
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    • Comments

    C said:

    HIP! HIP!

    # July 17, 2009 2:03 PM

    Don G said:

    Mary, please tell us from you list of guests, exactly how many were Metro employees, Engineering company employees etc.

    The one I went to for Main St was basically a who's who of special interest groups and people like Jackson Lee who like photo ops.

    I had asked in another post of your's, several other questions of importance to those who might want to understand facts and am still waiting for a reply there also.

    In addition,  Wolfe said:

    "These light rail lines will connect our communities in ways they have never been connected before. They will provide improved access to jobs, to health care and to the educational institutions which are so important to our city,"

    Our "communities" have always been connected by in-the-street transit that allowed better access to jobs, med care and education.

    The simpliest way to argue this is the fact that one could have made the buses preempt the trafrfic signals as was "supposed" to occur years ago, remove all those stops every block currently stopped at (that make it FAR easier for those handicapped, old, or those who hate walking in the sweltering heat and humidity) and make far less stps and a bus would travel just as fast as these trolley cars.

    They are trolley cars because they are travelling basically in-the-streets and conflict with all other means of movement.

    Classic case of why America will quickly drop to second place and become simply another 'socialistic euro-country.  Just in todays paper, and many other reports prior, China announced that they WILL be building a maglev system in a city far larger than Houston.

    "Beijing to introduce maglev trains to ease traffic jams in urban area"

    http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/17/content_11723580.htm

    I also post all articles on grade separated transit development in the world at my YahooGroup (click on my name and you get there).

    And, that 'urban area" in China?  Beijing population? 17.4 Million!

    No word yet on where these lines will be built (elevated or subway), but they will be fully grade separated and not in-the-streets.  NYC, Chicago and Boston are basically fully grade separated as well.

    Another question Mary,  How long will those 60,000 jobs last?  Is Metro saying that none of those 60,000 jobs are already existing and local to start with in the city?

    # July 17, 2009 6:11 PM

    DominicMazoch said:

    At least North Moonscape, er Main, will at least get a minor detail:  pavement.  NASA will need to find another place to train astronauts to walk on lunar surfaces!

    # July 17, 2009 9:39 PM

    Lunk said:

    "Another question Mary,  How long will those 60,000 jobs last?  Is Metro saying that none of those 60,000 jobs are already existing and local to start with in the city?"

    Great question Don.  No one, even the Obama himself can answer that questioon. But, but, we will "save" a lot of jobs.

    # July 17, 2009 10:06 PM

    wi11ie said:

    Well if no-one has figured it out...

    There will be 40,000 friends and family jobs created for the powers that be at METRO(all administration paying over $100,000 a year plus bonuses,) and 20,000 actual workers pulled from Home Depots and Lowes all over the country to actually do the work.

    Just a thought but that's what seems to be happening NOW at METRO with the "consultants" from the Jersey area.

    # July 17, 2009 10:36 PM

    C said:

    60,000 jobs and METRO has only posted 3 new jobs on its "career" site in the past week.

    # July 18, 2009 8:53 AM

    DominicMazoch said:

    Question:

    I did legally visit the K BOF after it was built.  I thought they could actually build a bus, oe at least rebuild  from the ground up.

    Saw that the NYMTA still has RTS' in the fleet.  They have to have A HEAVY SHOP to keep them running.  

    I can't see a rebuild of the 44/4500's due to lack of parts.  But they should be able to do heavy rebuilds of the NewPods so they are less than a POD.

    A way to employ more people.  Or at least have something from the B. Jordan School to work on.

    # July 18, 2009 9:03 PM

    DominicMazoch said:

    We still a QL route on......

    .....between Richmond and Briar Forest.....

    # July 18, 2009 9:06 PM

    J. Liggins said:

    The 82 - Westheimer managed to be both early AND overcrowded today! Amazing and only at Metro.  But who cars about poorly timed and crammed buses, we have rail to build!

    # July 18, 2009 9:44 PM

    Don G said:

    J. Liggins said:

    "The 82 - Westheimer managed to be both early AND overcrowded today! Amazing and only at Metro.  But who cars about poorly timed and crammed buses, we have rail to build!"

    Amend!

    All this rail thing truly is is a means to spend federal money, along with ours, to build a dynasty.

    The human ego slants towards being able to say "I did that".

    Sometime, read the works of Jonathan E. D. Richmond,  former Fulbright Scholar at the MIT Center for Transportation Studies, from which he received masters and doctoral degrees.

    He is well known for his methodical and serious approach to mass transit and why the plans being done are failures.

    He is not simply a quack or one who simply spouts negatives.  One of most stirring comments he made was that people talk about light rail or trains like they do about sex and women (forgive my factual statement ladies).  

    It occurs here as well where politicians and Metro folks will comment on how "cute", "sexy", "sleek" the rail cars look.

    He is worth reading. Some of his works;

    Transitory Dreams: How New Rail Lines Often Hurt Transit Systems

    The Mythical Conception of Rail Transit in Los Angeles

    He is an advocate for the Vegas Monorail.  Why? Because it was a 'private' enterprise and had a solid working model.

    For those of you unaware, it is having trouble making the note payments.  What is not being told however is that they are one of the only lines that id paying all of the operating costs.

    Compare that to the public light rail lines where they are subsidised by tax revenue and do no pay back even the operating costs.

    # July 19, 2009 8:22 AM

    Mary Sit said:

    Don G,

    Here's an answer from Karen Marshall, director of community outreach on who attended:

    "I do not know.  Many of the community people came via the bus downtown, but since it was open to the public, I can’t tell exactly who was in the audience, other than the elected officials."

    We are posting a 30-minute documentary by 5 p.m. today on this Web site, where you will get to see highlights of every official who spoke, plus shots of the audience. (Go to our home page and click the icon on the right that says, "We're Ready for Our Close-up.")

    # July 20, 2009 12:56 PM

    J. Liggins said:

    Mary, I have a question and I was hoping you could grease the proverbial wheels and get some action on this issue;

    Why is the first stop on the 53/81/82 listed as Capitol and Chenevert on print and online Metro media but bus drivers have an option of not picking you up there?  I've called in four or five times about this but the Customer Service department is as inept, incompetent, and poorly managed as ever so of course almost two months later the issue remains unresolved.  Thanks.

    # July 20, 2009 1:30 PM

    Mary Sit said:

    J. Liggins,

    I'll try to find out.

    # July 20, 2009 2:34 PM

    Royko said:

    Don G,

    It is better to ask, in a TPIA request, for the list of people METREAUX invited.

    Just hope they didn't delegate the invitations to an over-paid contractor, as then they have plausible deniability.

    # July 21, 2009 8:35 PM

    dewone1986 said:

    Does anyone have a break down of where all of the New Flyer Viking buses are located by bus number and BOF?  I can't seem to completely figure it out, since Fallbrook has some of the low 4700s and also some of the last 4700s and 4800-4803.  I noticed that Hiram Clarke has some 4720s-4770s.  Where does that leave Polk garage?  I also find it crazy that only three BOFs have the 4700 series buses and Northwest, West, & Kashmere don't.  By the way, I am so so glad that Polk garage finally has another type of P&R ride bus other than those old 4700s!  Why in the world did Polk get left out when it came to P&R buses.  Out of all the P&R buses (1400-1599 Neoplans, 2700s Ikarus buses, 3700s Neoplans, 4400s Neoplans, & 4800-4999 MCIs) that there were about 1-2 years ago, they only managed to have the 4700s!  Why?  

    # July 23, 2009 7:26 PM

    J. Liggins said:

    In the late 90s Polk had 1300 series Eagle 10 coaches (1310-1329) and 3700 series Neoplan AN445 Metroliners (aka Neopods) that were transferred to West en masse in 2004.  Their lack of park and ride buses has to do with lack of park and ride and express service. The 244/46/47 is split with Hiram Clarke, which started towards the end of the Eagle era (a number of polk and West Eagle 10s were transferred to Hiram Clarke [where old buses go to die, ask the 2100 series RTS buses, 2300 series Flxibles, and the 25/2600 Ikarus buses] and while West had it's Eagles replaced by Vikings for a short time, Polk got nothing save for perhaps four or fives Vikings that were bounced back and forth between Fallbrook) and gradually provided most of the trips for these routes.  Polk needed less and less park and ride buses so nothing replaced their Eagles.  Recently however, Polk has taken over more trips of the 244/46/47 and also runs the Saturday/Sunday service on the 102 since Fallbrook became a weekday only garage and has needed more buses, hence the addition of a number of Vikings.

    Mary, any answer to my inquiry?

    # July 24, 2009 2:55 PM

    Mary Sit said:

    dwone1896,

    Here's an answer from Bill Peterson in operations:

    The delivery and introduction into service of the new MCI hybrid buses will result in the assignment of the 45-foot New Flyer (Viking) buses as follows:

    ·Fallbrook:     4700-4719 and 4776-4803, a total of forty-seven (47) buses (bus 4787 has been retired)

    ·Hiram Clarke:  4720-4775, a total of fifty-four (54) buses (buses 4760 and 4769 have been retired)

    Polk Street will have only new MCIs.

    Polk Street has always had low requirements for peak Park & Ride buses. When the New Flyer 45-foot buses were delivered in 1999, Polk Street was assigned these brand new buses at that time to replace the 40-foot Eagles that were in service then.

    Efficient maintenance practices, especially mechanic training and parts inventory issues, dictate that each bus fleet operating from an individual facility should have a minimum number of vehicles assigned.  For example, it would not be efficient to have seven MCIs and seven Vikings assigned to Polk Street, when fourteen of one type of bus could be assigned.  In addition, operator training on fewer bus types at an individual facility is preferable.

    Between the 1999 Vikings and the 2001-2002 MCIs, both the vehicle age and seating capacity are very close.  METRO tries to keep the fleet age similar at each facility and to assign buses that most closely match the demand on routes operating from a facility.

    From an operational point of view, the Vikings and MCIs are basically equivalent in both age and capacity.  Since METRO, in most cases, keeps buses in service for at least twelve (12) years, buses may spend most of their lives at a single facility.

    So, moving different bus types between facilities can involve additional operator training, added mechanic training and changing and transferring inventory.  METRO tries to limit these actions unless it is necessary to meet other goals.  

    # July 24, 2009 4:57 PM

    Mary Sit said:

    J. Liggins,

    Here's an answer from operations:

    The buses have to move over four lanes at that location.  Both Transportation and Safety are looking at ways to better serve a stop in that area.

    # July 24, 2009 5:32 PM

    dewone1986 said:

    I have noticed that Hiram Clarke operates the 244 Monroe, 246 Bay Area, 249 Gulf Freeway, and 297 South Point/Monroe.  I have only seen Polk buses on the 247 Fuqua.  I could only imagine that Polk has some schedules on the 244 Monroe, considering its close proximity to Polk and Fuqua, however, I have not seen a Polk bus on that route.  I totally understand why Hiram Clarke operates the 246 Bay Area, 249 Gulf Freeway, and the 297 Southpoint/Monroe.  Does Polk help Hiram clarke operate any of these routes?  Does anyone know if Polk operates the 261 West Loop P&R or does Hiram Clarke operate this as well?  From what I am seeing, Polk BOF only operates on the Gulf Freeway on about two routes in addition to the weekend schedules of the 102 Bush IAH Limited and the 137 Northshore Limited, however, they do not use the New Flyer Viking buses on the 137 Northshore Limited as they do faithfully on the 102 Bush IAH Limited!  On the other hand, I think that Polk should throw a couple, only a couple, P&R buses on the 88 Hobby Airport during rush hour on select trips!  

    # July 25, 2009 1:04 PM

    dewone1986 said:

    Maybe Polk BOF will get more schedules on the Gulf Freeway P&R routes whenever Pearland/Brazoria County agrees to allow METRO to operate a P&R within its city/county limits.  At that point, Hiram Clarke will most definitely operate that entire corridor, like Fallbrook and the North Freeway corridor.  Then, I can see Polk BOF fully operating the 244 Monroe, 247 Fuqua (which it already fully operates), and the 297 Southpoint/Monroe.  Technically, it should already operate that route.  That P&R is directly across the freeway from Fuqua P&R and it stops at Monroe P&R just like some select schedules of the 247 Fuqua.  Just wait.  By the way, the 244 Monroe route should be discontinued and merged 100% with Fuqua!  Every one of its 8 schedules, 5 of which serve the Pasadena P&R lot, is usually half full.  If Polk would increase service on the 247 Fuqua, it could discontinue the 244 Monroe/Pasadena and have the newly created 247 Fuqua/Monroe serve both lots.  The 5 trips that serve Pasadena would also be included on the 247 Fuqua/Monroe/Pasadena.  What do you all think.

    # July 25, 2009 1:19 PM
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