Tag Archives: Metro

Metro electric bus update

Posted on March 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some new details here. Within the next year or so, you’ll see electric-powered buses buzzing around Bayou City. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) recently awarded a $22 million contract to Saint-Eustache, Canada-based Nova Bus for the production … Continue reading →

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Ambassador Patman

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This was a pleasant surprise. President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Houston lawyer and Metro chairwoman Carrin Patman as the nation’s next ambassador to Iceland, according to a White House statement. “I am presuming nothing. It is up to the … Continue reading →

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Get ready for more construction in 2022

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Happy New Year! Here are the places you’ll want to avoid driving in 2022. Flush with green, Houston area transportation officials have a whiteboard full of highway and transit projects poised to start in 2022, but rolling out all that … Continue reading →

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Still no Metro redistricting

Posted on January 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Check again in 2031. Growth in western Harris County outside Houston’s boundaries was not enough to tip Metro’s board to 11 members during the 2020 Census, transit officials said “It didn’t occur, so we have the same board composition,” said … Continue reading →

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The Shepherd and Durham Major Investment Project

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready for some major construction, but the end result will be well worth it. Beginning next month, those who travel along North Shepherd Drive and Durham Drive in the Heights are going to have to cope with road construction … Continue reading →

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Here comes that Universities BRT map

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Show me the route! The largest and most-sought segment of Metro’s planned bus rapid transit expansion in Houston is poised next week to officially move from being just lines on a map to the starting line — even if construction … Continue reading →

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Metro approves electric bus purchase

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

We should have them in a few months. Metro is charging ahead with its plan to add electric buses to the local transit fleet. Board members Thursday approved a $22 million contract for 20 new buses and chargers that will … Continue reading →

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Here come those electric buses

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Here comes the commitment to buy them, anyway. Local transit officials no longer are blowing hot air about the emissions coming out of Metro buses. Board members Thursday approved a plan for all new Metropolitan Transit Authority buses to produce … Continue reading →

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Metro moving forward on new BRT line

Posted on August 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

As they should. Even with fewer riders hopping aboard and a more dour financial outlook, Metro officials say the agency is full steam ahead on a host of projects aimed at adding buses to scores of routes and neighborhoods. That … Continue reading →

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Metro seeks electric buses

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Proof of concept for now and contingent on a competitive federal grant, but hopefully the start of something bigger. Transit officials in the self-proclaimed energy capital of the world are recharging their attempts to wean Metro off fossil fuels. Metropolitan … Continue reading →

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Can you tell me how to get (safely) to Memorial Park?

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Safety is nice. A $200 million-plus plan to improve [Memorial Park] is aimed at making it a signature destination for all Houstonians. With that success, though, will come the same challenges anything popular in Houston faces: How will people get … Continue reading →

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Get ready for your first Universities Line BRT map

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Feel the excitement! No, seriously, we’ve waited a long time for this. The largest and most-sought segment of Metro’s planned bus rapid transit expansion in Houston is poised next week to officially move from being just lines on a map … Continue reading →

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Let’s try and get those federal transit funds now

Posted on May 30, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Works for me. Transit officials, sensing the timing may be right to tap federal funds for major projects, are moving quickly on portions of a planned bus rapid transit line viewed by some as the backbone of Houston’s future movement. … Continue reading →

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The I-45 effect on Metro

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

There will be a lot of disruption to mass transit as a result of the I-45 project. Metro’s board on Thursday approved hiring design and engineering firm STV Incorporated for services related to the controversial Interstate 45 project. Though the … Continue reading →

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Not everyone opposes the I-45 project

Posted on April 14, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Life is a rich tapestry. Jill Rafferty proudly acknowledges she bothers a lot of people. Better to rub them the wrong way, she reasons, than let a lack of attention wash her Independence Heights neighborhood away. Flood control efforts, mostly … Continue reading →

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The infrastructure bill and the Hobby Airport light rail extension

Posted on April 8, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

More good thing we could get from the eventual Infrastructure Bill. Houston was made and marketed by the slogan “where 17 railroads meet the sea.” Local elected officials now think its short-term future, and the local success of a proposed … Continue reading →

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The lack of regional consensus on I-45

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This is really frustrating. Regional transportation officials on Friday reaffirmed their support for a planned $7 billion widening of Interstate 45 in Houston, over strong objections from city and Harris County officials that the resolution passed was a toothless enabling … Continue reading →

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“Normal” bus service is on the horizon

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Isn’t it great to imagine the return of “normal”? It’s coming for Metro riders. Having sharply reduced service and staffing during the pandemic, Metro officials now are readying for higher demand when school populations return to normal and downtown businesses … Continue reading →

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Are you ready for some I-10 construction?

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Well, ready or not… State highways officials set out in 2004 to develop a plan to remake Interstate 45 and add managed lanes, only to face increasingly stiff opposition in the past three years from elected officials and community activists … Continue reading →

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What can we expect from the maskless mandate?

Posted on March 7, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

More COVID, obviously. The Centers for Disease Control is increasing pressure on Republican leaders in states like Texas that have eased COVID restrictions, publishing a study on Friday showing evidence that the measures — such as the mask requirement that … Continue reading →

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Reactions to the maskless mandate

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s start with the doctors, since clearly they weren’t consulted. Houston-area doctors and medical professionals reacted with dismay to Gov. Greg Abbott’s Tuesday decision to roll back the state’s mask mandate and other precautions against COVID-19. “I had a pretty … Continue reading →

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There’s a real lack of consensus about the I-45 project

Posted on February 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It seems unlikely that TxDOT could just throw up its hands and walk away from this, but it’s at least a possible scenario. A proposed agreement devised to bring planners and critics of a massive redesign of Interstate 45 together … Continue reading →

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More on the Metro security robot

Posted on January 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like this is finally getting rolled out. Typically, when a security guard weighs 400 pounds, it means they are not well suited for foot patrols. K5, however, was built for it. Soon the spaceship-shaped sentries will roll into action … Continue reading →

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Bike lanes for the Red Line

Posted on December 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I approve. The belief that Northside Houston residents will bike to buses and trains if it is safer to do so is bringing more curb work to Cavalcade, paid for out the same pot of federal money that brought the … Continue reading →

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The next phase of the I-45 fight is about to begin

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Where it goes from here is still up in the air. The opening of this story was at a rally on Sunday that opposed the current I-45 plan. The rally, part of a flurry of events from concerts to block-walking … Continue reading →

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Metro moving forward with its construction plans

Posted on November 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

As well they should. Carrin Patman greeted the supporter by grabbing both of his hands in a packed downtown Houston event space above a bustling sports bar. The buffet laid out for Metro’s 2019 election night watch party was thoroughly … Continue reading →

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Uptown BRT officially opens

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Meet the Silver Line. T.J. Buttons is used to a bus ride in Houston giving him plenty of time to check his phone. On that front, Houston’s first bus rapid transit route failed miserably. “It’s so fast,” Buttons said as … Continue reading →

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Merging transit fare systems

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a frustratingly small amount of information in this story, but the basic idea, as best I understand it, is great. Federal transit officials will spend $14.8 million making sure Houston area transit riders can have more options for how … Continue reading →

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Time for your regularly scheduled announcement that the Uptown BRT line opening has been pushed back

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe for the last time, though. We hope. Rapid bus service is coming to Uptown next month, a couple weeks later than Metro first said this summer and two years later than expected when construction began in 2016. Service will … Continue reading →

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Bike lanes coming to Shepherd/Durham corridor

Posted on July 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. Houston officials with some regional help have nearly solved funding a $100 million rebuild of Shepherd and Durham that adds bike lanes, wider sidewalks, improved drainage and new concrete to one of the most car-centric corridors within Loop 610. … Continue reading →

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Checking on Metro’s mask mandate

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I admit, I was a bit confused when I saw the earlier version of this story. Metro wanted to make sure its mask requirement for all passengers passed legal muster, asking a Houston lawmaker to seek an opinion from Texas … Continue reading →

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Masks for Metro confirmed

Posted on June 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s official. Metro riders need to cover up to hop on, following a decision by the transit agency’s board Thursday to require masks on its buses and trains. Metropolitan Transit Authority board members approved the requirement at their monthly meeting … Continue reading →

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Masks for Metro

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, please. Metro riders soon may need more than their Q card or $1.25 to board buses and trains as transit officials weigh making face coverings mandatory for all bus and rail users in a new set of safety procedures. … Continue reading →

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Metro’s long road

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It will be awhile before bus and rail ridership returns to pre-COVID levels. Metro officials predict it will be months, and possibly years, before bus and rail service ridership return to pre-COVID-19 levels in Houston as economic uncertainty, a lack … Continue reading →

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