Category Archives: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Modified Montrose construction to begin on Monday

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here it comes. Workers will break ground Monday on the first phase of a hotly debated plan to revamp Montrose Boulevard from Allen Parkway to West Clay Street. The final roadmap retains the original intent to include an expansive … Continue reading →

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The Polk Street connection

Posted on March 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Closing off streets is a tough thing to do. On Feb. 1, signs went up announcing the city’s plan to abandon Polk Street between St. Emanuel and Hamilton streets. The closure is part of Houston First Corporation’s $2 billion overhaul … Continue reading →

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Waymo robotaxis are now officially available in Austin

Posted on March 8, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

If that’s the sort of thing you’re into. Uber will shift into a new gear in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday when its ride-hailing service will begin dispatching self-driving cars to pick up passengers. The autonomous option is being provided through … Continue reading →

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Amtrak seeks additional partner for high speed rail line

Posted on March 3, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Amtrak is seeking an additional business partner as it moves ahead with a proposed high-speed rail route between Dallas and Houston. The passenger railroad company — which took over as the project’s lead agency in 2023 and secured a … Continue reading →

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MetroNow

Posted on February 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Temu version of MetroNext. The Metropolitan Transit Authority unveiled new details Monday on its MetroNow initiative, the seeming replacement for the voter-approved MetroNext plan. MetroNow first was announced as part of budget discussions for fiscal 2025 when the … Continue reading →

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Lyft gets into the robotaxi business

Posted on February 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Of course they are. Ride-hail giant Lyft plans to bring fully autonomous robotaxis, powered by Mobileye, to its app “as soon as 2026” in Dallas, with more markets to follow, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. The news comes a day before … Continue reading →

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Uber teams up with Waymo in Austin

Posted on February 10, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Okay. Uber customers in Austin may notice a new offer when they open the app and hail a ride: an invitation to signal their interest in a Waymo robotaxi. For now, this doesn’t translate into a Waymo picking them up. … Continue reading →

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2024 was a bad year for traffic deaths in Houston

Posted on February 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Not really a surprise, unfortunately. Asked amid a flurry of design changes and shifts in street policy whether he was abandoning Houston’s goal of eliminating vehicle deaths by 2030, Mayor John Whitmire in February 2024 said a goal for the future … Continue reading →

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City to use Metro funds to help pay for that additional drainage stuff

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Sure is convenient havigna transit agency you can raid. Houston officials plan to offset a $100 million hit to the city’s budget in a recent legal ruling by using cash from the Metropolitan Transit Authority to spend more money on … Continue reading →

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From the “We got ghosted by Elmo’s airport tunnels” department

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Never ever trust anything that guy says. It’s been three years since a Bexar County agency gave the nod for an underground tunnel between the airport and downtown San Antonio. It now appears those plans have been tanked, but not … Continue reading →

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A look at that new ramp up from the White Oak Bayou trail

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I managed to get a better view of the new ramp up from the White Oak Bayou trail to Studemont: Even without the MKT Bridge being out of commission again, the trail network is completely disrupted by the I-10 elevation … Continue reading →

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More on Tesla’s push for robotaxi service in Austin

Posted on February 4, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Always consider the source. Tesla Inc. fleshed out plans to launch a robotaxi business Elon Musk is counting on to help usher in next phase of growth, after the company posted quarterly earnings that missed estimates. The electric-car maker expects … Continue reading →

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MKT Bridge closed again for repairs

Posted on February 3, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Dammit. The 100-plus-year-old MKT Bridge in Houston, a popular pathway for pedestrians and cyclists, is closed for an indefinite amount of time as the Texas Department of Transportation evaluates significant damage to the bridge after equipment from a nearby construction … Continue reading →

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Another flying taxi overview

Posted on January 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

As I’ve said before, every time I read a story about flying taxis, I learn something new. Flying taxis have made enough regulatory inroads with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to result in the recent creation of a new aircraft … Continue reading →

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I-10 elevation project is now underway

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I had managed to forget that this was out there. And then I had to get on I-10 west on Monday morning and was rudely reminded. A major construction project off Interstate 10 has kicked off with the intent to … Continue reading →

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Tesla seeks permit for robotaxi service in Austin

Posted on January 12, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Who wants this? Tesla is in early talks with the authorities in the city of Austin, Texas, about its autonomous vehicle technology, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. A Tesla employee has been in touch with the city’s autonomous vehicle task … Continue reading →

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Arlington wants in on flying taxis

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Every time I come across a story about flying taxis, I learn something new. [Arlington] Mayor Jim Ross announced with dramatic flair during his State of the City address in October that the city will take commercial transit to the skies by 2026. … Continue reading →

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San Antonio gets more funds for its first BRT line

Posted on December 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. If only we had the same inclinations. San Antonio and Bexar County landed a $268 million federal grant to fund more than half the cost of the VIA Green Line, the Alamo City’s first-ever Advanced Rapid Transit … Continue reading →

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Expanding Metro’s micro-transit

Posted on December 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Okay fine, but show me the numbers. Metro will expand on-demand rides of its micro-transit to include services in Second Ward, Third Ward and downtown Houston through a partnership with the city of Houston and Evolve Houston. The expansion comes after … Continue reading →

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One more eVTOL in Houston

Posted on December 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I missed this story when it ran in September, but here it is now. It answered a few questions about how these things operate, which I liked. Lilium, a German aerospace company, debuted its electric vertical takeoff and landing jet … Continue reading →

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RIP, Cruise robotaxis

Posted on December 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Didn’t see that coming. General Motors said Tuesday it will retreat from the robotaxi business and stop funding its money-losing Cruise autonomous vehicle unit. Instead, the Detroit automaker will focus on development of partially automated driver-assist systems for personal vehicles … Continue reading →

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Look for driverless cars to get fast-tracked

Posted on December 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Something to keep an eye on. President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team plans to create a federal framework for fully self-driving vehicles, Bloomberg reported citing sources. Should new regulations permit vehicles without human controls, it could provide a significant benefit to … Continue reading →

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Where to go to hail a flying taxi

Posted on December 8, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

To the vertiport, of course. Wisk Aero, an Advanced Air Mobility company and Boeing subsidiary aiming to bring self-flying air taxis to Southeast Texas by the end of the decade, has designed its potential initial routes for its service. A … Continue reading →

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The I-45 project is officially underway

Posted on December 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Brace yourselves. Houston drivers are facing more than a dozen years of work on freeways in and around the central business district — at a cost that could come close to or exceed $6 billion. All that work, however, will … Continue reading →

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High speed rail II proposed in the Lege

Posted on November 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

For obvious reasons, I don’t expect this to go anywhere. As plans for a Dallas to Houston bullet train move forward, one state legislator is hoping to kick-start another high speed rail line from North Texas to San Antonio. State Rep. John … Continue reading →

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“Uber with guns”

Posted on November 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Not for me, but maybe for you. A TikTok-famous Black-owned ridesharing service featuring the option of armed drivers with a background in law enforcement or the military will be making its debut in Houston, Dallas, and Austin. BlackWolf, a small … Continue reading →

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Whitmire’s Montrose Boulevard plan passes on second try

Posted on November 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Dammit. A controversial Montrose Boulevard redesign plan is set to move forward with key revisions introduced by the Whitmire administration after board members of the area’s Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone voted to accept the changes Friday morning. The Nov. 1 meeting … Continue reading →

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Cruise partners with the Houston Food Bank

Posted on October 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. The Houston Food Bank and autonomous vehicle company Cruise launched a program to deliver produce and non-perishable items to expecting mothers in the city. The deliveries are a part of the Houston Food Bank’s Food Rx program, through … Continue reading →

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Not so fast on Whitmire’s Montrose Boulevard revisions

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. Probably fleeting, but still nice. After months of delays, the controversial redesign of Montrose Boulevard was still in limbo Monday night when a split vote at a contentious public meeting stalled the project yet again. The Whitmire administration favors a design that would … Continue reading →

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Sugar Land partners with Swyft Cities

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We may get some local gondola action in the near future. Look up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s a gondola? Or it will be if the city of Sugar Land can get a federal … Continue reading →

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Cool pavement

Posted on October 3, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. More than 20 people died in Dallas and Tarrant counties from heat-related illnesses in 2023 as Texas saw record heat waves and triple-digit temperatures, according to the counties’ medical examiners. Heat-related emergency visits to hospitals also spiked. Cities … Continue reading →

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Maybe the Inner Katy Line is only mostly dead

Posted on September 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

That’s one takeaway from this. Houston transit officials are approaching the next few months as a transitional period, as they assess basic improvements, the demands of travel and the expectations of riders eager for better service. “We are going to … Continue reading →

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Of course the I-45 project will cost more than expected

Posted on September 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Same as it ever was. The first major road work set for downtown Houston related to the $11.2 billion-plus rebuild of the freeway core and Interstate 45 remains on track for next year, but at a cost of $80 million … Continue reading →

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Amtrak gets federal grant for more high speed rail planning

Posted on September 8, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Amtrak has received a nearly $64 million grant to continue planning the Texas High-Speed Rail project after several years of stagnation due to the COVID pandemic. The project — which proposes a less than 90-minute high-speed rail route between … Continue reading →

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