Dodging the fare on the light rail lines could become more difficult to do. Provided a key piece of state legislation comes through, Metro officials said the plan is to have new monitors in place when the new North, East and Southeast lines start ferrying passengers along the city’s rail system. “It is growing a [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Southeast line’
A streetcar for the East End?
It could happen. As the once solidly industrial East End transforms with a 4-month-old soccer stadium, a light rail line under construction and the imminent sale of a 136-acre plot that could signal coming lofts and boutiques, boosters are studying the possibility of reviving the streetcar in Houston after an absence of more than 70 [...]
What would you do with 136 acres near downtown?
Something urban, mixed-use, and transit-oriented, one hopes. A rare opportunity lies in 136 acres just east of downtown Houston. The Buffalo Bayou-front parcel, a longtime industrial and office complex, went on the market earlier this summer – a move bayou enthusiasts, East End residents and real estate developers had been anticipating for years. Some of [...]
FTA writes another check for light rail construction
Keep ‘em coming. The expansion of Houston Metro got another boost from the federal government with the allocation of $188 million in additional construction funding for the North and Southeast light rail lines. Congressman Gene Green, the Houston Democrat who is dean of the metropolitan area’s House delegation, said the money is part of Houston [...]
Metro and UH make nice
Good. Construction of a light-rail line that would cross University of Houston property can continue now that UH and Metro officials settled differences that threatened to delay the project. UH announced in a statement Tuesday that university officials have agreed to allow the Metropolitan Transit Authority to start the next phase of construction of the [...]
UH prof writes letter in support of resolution with Metro
After I published about UH holding up construction on the Southeast Line over concerns about the route, I was forwarded a letter sent by UH English professor Irving Rothman to UH President Renu Khator asking her to get this issue resolved. Here’s the letter. When I first arrived in Houston with my family in 1967, [...]
UH versus Metro over Southeast Line route
Not sure what’s up with this. Half a year after receiving a long-delayed $450 million federal funding grant for its Southeast line, Metro appears to have run into almost as big an obstacle to progress on that light-rail alignment much closer to home – the University of Houston. “I can confirm for you that UH [...]
Houston Central Station
This is pretty cool. [Last Tuesday], the Houston Downtown Management District hosted a competition featuring designs from five award-winning architectural firms. The challenge: to design an iconic new Central Station – Main on Main Street between Capitol and Rusk. The station would also be the transfer point for three light-rail lines. The five invited firms [...]
Council approves B-Cycle, and other bike news
One other item that Council approved on its last day of business for the year was to clear the way for the city to start up bike sharing with B-cycle. As you know, I’ve been following this along, and am delighted to see this milestone. I look forward to the official launch, hopefully some time [...]
Metro signs Full Funding Grant Agreement
Full speed ahead. The head of the Federal Transit Administration on Monday signed $900 million in grant agreements to help pay for two Houston light-rail lines under construction by the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The grants, the first federal funds ever provided for rail in Houston, were formally approved in a ceremony attended by the FTA [...]
Signing date for Full Funding Grant Agreement announced
From the Metro blog: On Monday, Nov. 28, METRO will be joined by federal officials, along with members of Houston’s congressional delegation, to sign the long-awaited Full Funding Grant Agreements (FFGA) for the North and Southwest light-rail lines. President & CEO George Greanias announced the signing date [Wednesday] at the Greater Houston Partnership’s luncheon. This [...]
Construction pains
I feel for the people and businesses that are being affected by Metro’s light rail construction. I wish that these large construction projects could be done without that kind of disruption, but it happens, and it sucks. What amazed me in reading this story was what some of those folks had to say about it: [...]
Laying track
This has been a long time coming. For the first time in 10 years, workers this morning poured concrete for a new section of Metro light-rail track. The 80-foot section of steel rail will be part of the 6.6-mile Southeast Line. The line, scheduled for completion in 2014, will extend from Smith Street downtown to [...]
Metro gets more light rail funds
From the US Department of Transit: U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced $1.58 billion for 27 transit projects nationwide that will improve public transportation access for millions of Americans while reducing our dependence on foreign oil and curbing air pollution. “Investing in a modern transportation network is a key part of President Obama’s strategy [...]
Metro in the President’s budget
They did all right. Houston Metro’s expansion is getting a $200 million boost in Obama’s budget request to Congress. The money for the North Corridor and the Southeast Corridor projects is $50 million more than the $150 million set aside by Obama in his last two budget proposals. The Metro project is part of a [...]
Metro restarts some light rail construction
As if to punctuate Gilbert Garcia’s op-ed, the news for Metro at the start of 2011 is good. Last month, the Federal Transit Administration sent the first $50 million of the grant money for use on the North and Southeast lines. Last week, the FTA issued pre-clearance letters Metro needed before it could proceed with [...]
Metro to try mediation with CAF
Whatever works. The Metropolitan Transit Authority plans to negotiate the cancellation of a $331 million contract with a Spanish rail car manufacturer through mediation, local transit bosses said Wednesday. That is why, despite the agency’s announced intention to cancel the contract, no action [was] proposed on [Thursday's] agenda, explained Metro President George Greanias and board [...]
Add another year to the construction schedule
Metro may have dodged a bullet with the FTA, but they’re still going to feel the effect of the federal agency’s decision in the Buy America case. The Metropolitan Transit Authority today retracted its acting president’s statement that the agency could complete construction of three rail lines by October 2013, saying a delay of up [...]
FTA gives Metro a second chance
That sound you hear is a bullet whizzing past Metro’s ear Metro violated federal laws in making a deal with a Spanish company to purchase 103 rail cars, and must re-bid the purchase in order to qualify for a $900 million grant, the nation’s top transit official said today. Peter Rogoff, the administrator of the [...]
Metro’s cash crunch
From last week, a story about how times are tough at Metro. Facing a $49 million budget shortfall this fiscal year, the Metropolitan Transit Authority has begun to slow construction on two light rail lines and may embrace more drastic measures in the coming months as uncertainty grows over a $800 million grant from the [...]
Another setback for DART
More bad news from Dallas. Dallas Area Rapid Transit can’t afford to build light-rail service to D/FW International Airport by 2013 as it has long said it would, the agency’s chief financial officer said Tuesday. The news comes as a sharp reversal, but CFO David Leininger said the only way the project can be built [...]
Metro responds to FTA letter about “Buy America”
As we know, Metro had received a letter from the FTA that challenged its compliance with the FTA’s “Buy America” requirement due to Metro’s agreement to buy two prototype light rail cars that would be built in Spain. Metro has now responded to that letter and produced some rather compelling evidence that their actions did [...]
Wilson resigns
He’s out. Frank J. Wilson relinquished the leadership of the Metropolitan Transit Authority on Friday, leaving Metro’s reconstituted board and an acting chief executive with the task of completing the light rail system Wilson was hired to build six years ago. Wilson, 61, signed a deal to terminate his employment as president and chief executive [...]
Was it worth it for two prototypes?
I’m really at a loss to understand how the previous Metro board could have put $900 million at risk to make it easier for their manufacturer to build two prototype light rail cars. Eight days after federal officials rejected the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s request for a waiver from federal requirements that it assemble its light [...]
More on Wilson’s departure
More evidence that Metro CEO Frank Wilson is about to be history: The Metro board has a replacement in mind. The board is expected to name George Greanias, a former city councilman and controller who co-chaired Mayor Annise Parker’s Metro transition committee, as interim chief executive, the sources said. A national search would be undertaken [...]
“Committed” to rail
Well, it’s better than not being commited. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today that his agency is continuing a review of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s light rail funding application, but he declined to say when the $900 million grant might be finalized. “We are committed to this project,” LaHood said after delivering [...]
Metro still has unresolved issues
With the FTA and its Buy American requirements. A central issue in a federal investigation of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s compliance with “Buy America” regulations remained unresolved after meetings in Washington, Metro board Chairman Gilbert Garcia said on Thursday. Plans by Metro and its Spanish rail car vendor to assemble two prototype vehicles in Spain [...]
Metro and the FTA
I didn’t see this KHOU story, in which a regular Metro critic claims that the agency deliberately gave outdated sales tax revenue information to the Federal Transit Administration in order to get $900 million in federal money for the North and Southeast lines, until I saw this Houston Politics post in which the Mayor and [...]
Dynamo Stadium deal finally struck
Took ‘em long enough. The city of Houston and Harris County have struck a potential deal on a new stadium for the Houston Dynamo and Texas Southern University’s football team, agreeing to jointly pay for $20 million in infrastructure upgrades if the soccer team follows through with a commitment to foot the bill for the [...]
More on Metro’s finances
The Chron takes a closer look at Metro’s finances and the recently expressed doubts about their ability to pay for the University and Uptown lines. Mayor Annise Parker said last week that she wasn’t convinced the Metropolitan Transit Authority would have the money to build its planned Uptown and University rail lines. Parker said she [...]
More FTA funds for North and Southeast lines
From Houston Tomorrow: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) released its recommendations for the President’s FY2011 Budget, which include $75 million each for Houston’s North (pdf) andSoutheast Light Rail Lines (pdf), continuing the funding that began in the previous year. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) plans to pay for the Uptown and East Light Rail [...]