Houston Transit and Transportation Thread

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https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...Pos=5#cxrecs_s

Southwest Airlines is working to finalize a $450 million expansion at William P. Hobby Airport.
RENDERING BY CORGAN; PROVIDED BY HOUSTON AIRPORT SYSTEM

Southwest Airlines, Houston Airports working to finalize $450M expansion of Hobby Airport

By Sofia Gonzalez – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Jul 7, 2023

The Houston Airports System is working to finalize its plans with Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) for a $450 million expansion at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU).

The expansion will affect the west concourse — which Southwest opened in 2015 — the baggage claim area and the behind-the-scenes baggage system. The project previously was believed to cost at least $250 million, according to a March 2022 memorandum of agreement with the city of Houston as well as Southwest's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission as recently as April 28, 2023. However, the project’s budget expanded because the scope of the project expanded, Jim Szczesniak, chief operating officer for Houston Airports, said in an email to the Houston Business Journal.

Funding for the project will come from Houston Airports' construction and improvement funds, Szczesniak said. In the March 2022 MOA, the city of Houston appropriated $20 million for the planning and design efforts. The enterprise funding does not come from taxpayers, he said.

The project includes expanding the west concourse by seven additional gates. Six gates will be operated by Southwest, while the seventh will be operated by other airlines, Szczesniak said. The purpose of the project is to strengthen Houston’s global reach.

The expansion will help accommodate the current and future growth of Southwest, along with other airlines, Szczesniak said. Currently, Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier and Southwest service 83 destinations from Hobby.

“The inspiration for continued expansion are our passengers who are demanding more flights out of Hobby Airport, which was recently voted ‘Most Enjoyable Airport in North America’ by passengers polled by ACI,” Szczesniak said.

Houston Airports and Southwest most recently briefed the Houston City Council economic development committee on the project in a March 29 meeting.

During the meeting, Jonathan Massey, principal aviation sector leader for Dallas-based Corgan, provided updates on the project. Corgan is the architectural firm providing services to Southwest.

Of the seven gates, two will be international-capable, and there is also an opportunity to add two more gates at the end of the building in the future, Massey said. However, the potential future gates would only come to fruition if there's enough demand.

The project also intends ​​to replace the baggage claim units to add more capacity and space for bags because Southwest expects more people to travel through Hobby with the additional gates. Upgrades to the baggage-handling system, restrooms and more will be made to support the increased capacity as well.

Construction is anticipated to begin at HOU in early 2024 and be complete in 2026 or 2027 if all goes to plan. Minimal impacts are expected because the bulk of concourse construction will take place outside of the active terminal area. Meanwhile, baggage area changes will be completed in phases.

Houston City Council is set to discuss the expansion by the end of August, according to Houston Airports.

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https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/houston-africa-direct-flight-18208430.php

Houston mayor visits West Africa in hopes of establishing flight agreement

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and other city leaders visited three African countries this week to discuss expansion opportunities, including a potential consulate office in the city.

By Kennedy Sessions
Updated July 19, 2023 11:55 a.m.

The Government of Nigeria and Houston officials are discussing creating a Bilateral Air Services Agreement for a potential direct flight from Houston to Nigeria in an effort to expand bilateral relations. Since Monday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has been on a trade mission visiting parts of West Africa, including Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and Ghana.

According to Albert Akota at People's Daily, the Permanent Secretary Dr. Emmanuel Meribole told Turner an agreement between the nations would launch after new Ministers were "appointed and deployed appropriately."

In addition to creating an agreement for a direct flight from Nigeria to Houston, Turner said he aims to create consulate offices in each of the three countries, noting specifically Houston has one of the largest Nigerian populations in the U.S.

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https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/a...ransit-system/

METRO signs $26 million contract for more digital signs across transit system

Up to 3,000 digital signs are planned for transit centers, rail platforms, and bus stops in Harris County.

PATRICIA ORTIZ | POSTED ONJULY 27, 2023, 9:24 AM (LAST UPDATED: JULY 27, 2023, 11:19 AM)

Houston METRO plans on spending $26 million to install real-time LED signs to help keep passengers up to date.

The agency is partnering with GMV, a technology business group, who will manage the display systems in the signs. The $26 million will be used to install and provide maintenance for up to 3,000 digital signs across transit centers, rail platforms, and bus stops in Harris County.

"Like Next Bus Texting, our Universal Accessibility initiative and free Wi-Fi on buses, digital signs are just one of the many tools METRO is using to enhance the overall customer experience," METRO said in a statement.

Alex Fay is with GMV and said they will improve the transportation experience for passengers by providing them with real-time METRO updates.

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Digital signs are good.

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...photo-24074222

Overpass at Griggs-Long-Mykawa offers relief from one rail line, a path for another

Dug Begley,
Staff writer
July 26, 2023

Getting Metro’s Purple Line light rail to Hobby Airport might clear its highest hurdle, via a possible partnership with a long-planned freight rail overpass near Loop 610.

Though no agreements have been drafted, Metropolitan Transit Authority officials are exploring a deal between the transit agency and others to add light rail tracks in each direction along a new overpass carrying Griggs Road and Long Drive over both the web of Union Pacific Railroad tracks and Mykawa Street.

The deal would likely require agreement among Metro, Texas Department of Transportation, City of Houston, Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, Harris County and Greater Southeast Management District, who are all collaborating on the overpass as part of a planned expansion of Texas 35 south of the University of Houston to Loop 610. Final cost for the bridge would be determined as the agencies refine the design.

If Metro can hop onto the overpass along with the traffic, it gives the agency a clear route along Long toward the airport, where eventually the line would join with the Green Line for the trip into the terminal.

“We have always known that getting from Palm Center is going to be like threading a needle,” Metro chairman Sanjay Ramabhadran said, referring to the current end of the Purple Line at Palm Center Transit Center along Griggs. “We have got to thread that needle and this gives us that opportunity… I will go so far as saying is it is essential we thread that needle now.”

Rail-road redo A proposed overpass where Griggs and Long cross both the Union Pacific and BNSF Railway tracks would carry not just cars and trucks, but likely also an extension of Metro’s Purple Line light rail.

Staff

Officials are considering and overpass along Griggs and Long that would leave the freight rail tracks where they are, but elevate the road and then carry a planned Texas 35 extension over that, in this rendering from Houston Southeast.

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...t-18175799.php

Metro's Gulfton BRT plan aims to fit big buses in tight street space

Dug Begley,
Staff writer
July 5, 2023

Bringing better bus service to one of Houston’s most transit-dependent and oft-ignored areas has Metro officials balancing, yet again, how best to upgrade service without upsetting advocates and drivers.

Approval of a preferred route for a proposed bus rapid transit line through Gulfton is scheduled for later in July by the Metropolitan Transit Authority board. The likely route, shown to the community in late June, runs for about four miles, starting at the Westpark / Lower Uptown Transit Center on Westpark. Buses would run along Westpark, Chimney Rock and Gulfton to wind through the area, then follow Hillcroft south to Bissonnet.

Officials have not released an estimated cost for the project, which would change depending on the route selected from about six different scenarios Metro examined. Any of the proposed routes would cost tens of millions of dollars, as they will require rebuilding streets, adding sidewalks in some spots and constructing platforms for the service.

Bus rapid transit operates similar to light rail, picking up and dropping off passengers at stations, with buses using dedicated lanes in the center of the street.

Fitting those lanes into the existing streets, however, remains a concern for nearby residents, even as they cheer the improved transit. Along Chimney Rock and Hillcroft, the choice is between eliminating a vehicle lane for drivers in each direction or removing or significantly narrowing the grassy, tree-lined median.

“Taking a lane off Chimney Rock would be a disaster — a total disaster,” said Ruth Lennon, 55, who works at a business along the road in the area where the buses will run. “I’d hate to lose the median though. Without the trees, it would be so gray.”

Already facing concerns that Gulfton gets hotter than many parts of Houston because of the lack of shade and abundance of concrete, every tree counts – as does every crosswalk and usable sidewalk.

“You have to have room for the bus, and room for the people,” said Joyce Almaguer-Reisdorf, 46, who lives nearby in Sharpstown. “We can work toward density without taking away the greenspace and the trees.”

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...photo-23967688

Metro pursuing redevelopment of Addicks lot as first step in public-private strategy

Dug Begley,
Staff writer
June 27, 2023
Updated: June 27, 2023 6:39 p.m.

As Metropolitan Transit Authority officials weigh how to best use some agency-owned land in a more useful way, it is turning to developers, hoping pitches for homes and stores in and around transit stops can guide where Metro goes, when it comes to what gets built.

“We don’t know if we are going to be comparing apples and oranges and grapefruits,” said Metro board member Diann Lewter, chairwoman of Metro’s joint development and land use committee.

Officials will ask companies to submit broad development proposals for how to use 28 acres at the Addicks Park and Ride, a few hundred feet east of where Texas 6 crosses Interstate 10. Though the Energy Corridor area south of I-10 has been densely developed, and seen unprecedented growth in the past decade, the portion north of the freeway, sandwiched between the interstate and Addicks Resevoir, has been built less, but with increasing redevelopment.

Officials keep broad parameters for development

The site could include both commercial and residential uses, Metro chairman Sanjay Ramabhadran said. The aim, he stressed, focused on linking transit and people’s lifestyles.

“We want a destination where those who want to choose to, can live next to transit,” Ramabhadran said.

The only parameters from Metro will be maintaining either the existing level of service, or what they think they will need later, Metro CEO Tom Lambert said. How that is arranged, from bus bays and parking to where someone stands or sit to wait for a bus, will be part of the designs, but open to interpretation, he said.

The aim aligns with transit-oriented development, the terminology used across many city, county and state departments, as well as the development community. In major metro areas such as Houston, though it has been slow to develop here, transit-oriented development focuses on building more dense shops and homes while assuming transit use — as well as walking and bicycling — will reduce but not eliminate the need for automobiles.

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/metro-fan-bus-shelter-solar-power-18298783.php

Houston Metro working on solar-powered fans at bus stops, with plans to install 50 prototypes

Dug Begley,
Staff writer
Aug. 18, 2023
Updated: Aug. 18, 2023 2:13 p.m.

Breathing new life into the ordinary bus stop isn’t as simple as it might sound, but Metro officials are giving it a spin in the hopes of slightly cooling riders down.

A prototype shelter aimed at addressing some of Houston’s unique needs, including solar-paneled fans, could evolve into new structures at many Metropolitan Transit Authority bus stops. Right now, the steel shelter is version one of what is likely to be many iterations of trying to crank air at passengers while they wait on a bus. Changes are already planned, such as better placement of up to three fans, said Chuck Berkshire, Metro’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

“We have to start with the basics,” Berkshire said. “Then we can modify it. We want to make sure we are getting it as best we can before we put it out there.”

The idea originated from U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas, who reached out to Metro early in her time in Congress in 2019 about installing upgraded shelters with solar panels that could power fans so shelters were not so hot.

“It’s something I have thought about for a long time,” Fletcher said. “It’s hot in this town… why can’t there be a fan?”

What Metro found, taking the idea to vendors who make shelters, was that nothing like what Fletcher proposed existed. So working with one vendor, they are trying to build their own, with the shelter topped entirely by solar panels, delivering power to batteries hidden in the shelter that can maintain a host of technological amenities such as lights that illuminate once it is dark, a warning light that will alert bus drivers if someone is standing in the shelter at night, potentially screens that display updated bus arrival times and the fans.

If they pull off the fans, Metro might be the first transit agency to offer a little relief to riders using solar power. Officials are careful, however, to not over-promise the power of a fan.

“The idea is to create airflow,” said Miguel Zavala, director of public facilities for Metro. “We are not cooling the air.”

Riders will take whatever they can get, many said.

Metropolitan Transit Authority Chief Operating Officer Chuck Berkshire discusses some of the features of a solar powered prototype bus shelter outside the Metro Field Service Center Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023.

Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

Metropolitan Transit Authority Director of Public Facilities Miguel Zavala discusses some of the features of a solar powered prototype bus shelter including a cooling fan, outside the Metro Field Service Center Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023.

Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

Solar panels mounted on the roof supply power to LED safety lights and a cooling fan mounted on a prototype bus shelter outside the Metropolitan Transit Authority Field Service Center Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023.

Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

Signage indicates the presence of a solar powered prototype bus shelter outside the Metropolitan Transit Authority Field Service Center Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, complete with LED safety lights and a cooling fan powered by solar panels mounted on the roof.

Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

The ventilation ports of a cooling fan are visible on the wall of a prototype bus shelter outside the Metropolitan Transit Authority Field Service Center Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, powered by solar panels mounted on the roof.

Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

A prototype solar powered bus shelter complete with safety LED lights and cooling fan are on display outside the Metro Field Service Center Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023 in Houston.

Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

A prototype solar powered bus shelter complete with safety LED lights and cooling fan are on display outside the Metro Field Service Center Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023 in Houston.

Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...p-18334207.php

Harris County EZ Tag holders will see a discount starting Monday. What to know


Dug Begley,
Staff writer
Aug. 30, 2023
Updated: Aug. 30, 2023 2:28 p.m.

The days might be getting shorter, but as of Sept. 4, money loaded on EZ Tags will stretch a little farther, as a long-planned discount to Harris County tolls is set to kick in.

Drivers using a transponder issued by the Harris County Toll Road Authority will, as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, pay 10 percent less than the posted tolling cost, as part of a broad restructuring of toll agency policies and procedures. If the software used to compile and bill customers work as intended, drivers will not notice a thing – except for a lower monthly bill.

“You will automatically see a discount,” said Anil Mirmira, deputy director for tolling operations at HCTRA.

Harris County Commissioners approved the discount and new billing policies in February.

In addition to the discounts for EZ Tag users, rules related to obtaining an EZ Tag and resolving disputes also change Sept. 4, including new monthly billing for customers. Invoices are simplified in the new design, officials said, with the aim of making billing easier to understand and less complicated for people to address problems. HCTRA’s EZ Tag stores will also start allowing people to use cash to establish accounts – a change in policy from requiring a credit or debit card – followed eventually by allowing people use cash to open or reload accounts with cash at hundreds of retail locations.

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...n-18328694.php

Metro approves route for planned $220 million bus rapid transit extension to Gulfton

Dug Begley,
Staff writer
Aug. 24, 2023
Updated: Aug. 25, 2023 6:30 p.m.

Long-sought improvements to transit service in Gulfton — arguably among the Houston region’s most transit-starved areas — have an official line on the map, though rapid service remains years away.

Metropolitan Transit Authority officials on Thursday approved the preferred route for a planned bus rapid transit extension into Gulfton. The line would run from the Westpark/Lower Uptown Transit Center along Westpark near Loop 610, heading west on Westpark before turning south at Chimney Rock. Dedicated lanes for the buses would then run from Chimney Rock to Gulfton to Hillcroft, where the line would end at Bissonnet.

Service would not start until 2027, under preliminary plans submitted to the Federal Transit Administration. Extending the Silver Line into Gulfton is estimated to cost $220 million, based on the plans Metro submitted to federal officials seeking grant funding for the project.

Regardless of how much local and federal money pays for the project, officials and Gulfton residents said the line is an investment in a place that’s often been passed over.

“This is something that is, unfortunately, long overdue,” said State Rep. Gene Wu, the Houston Democrat who represents Gulfton in Austin.

The line, Wu said, “is going to change lives,” noting the importance of connecting workers and students to schools and jobs.

Adequate transit is especially needed in Gulfton, proponents of the line said, because of the high use of buses to get around the region. According to the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, 12 percent of residents in the Gulfton area do not have access to a car or truck, compared to 2 percent in nearby Bellaire.

Despite huge demand, bus routes now serving the area can be cumbersome even for workers headed to the Uptown area, less than two miles away, but across Interstate 69.

“They have to take three buses to get to their jobs,” resident Noelia Fadic told Metro’s board. “It is not a direct route and it takes them a long time.”

Eventually, the Silver Line extension would likely ease that, transit officials said, bringing frequent buses to seven stations along the route.

Previous graphic shows approved route - from Chronicle article

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Originally Posted by Wattleigh

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...photo-24074222

METRORail Purple / Green Lines

https://ridemetro.granicus.com/MetaV...&meta_id=67760

This was mentioned in a July meeting of the METRO Board of Directors. The overpass was mentioned as part of the overall extension of the Purple Line to Hobby Airport in time. It also looks like the Green Line will be extended and merge at the Airport eventually. I think it had been discussed over the years, but I don't recall seeing possible stops on either route until this graphic.

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https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/a...fety-concerns/

METRO scraps new floating bus stops on Heights Boulevard amid safety concerns

Two raised concrete platforms for bus riders near the intersection of Heights and 11th Street, which were part of a broader redesign of 11th, are being removed by Houston’s public transportation provider.

ADAM ZUVANICH | POSTED ONSEPTEMBER 12, 2023, 2:42 PM

Houston's public transportation provider is removing a pair of floating bus stops at a major intersection in the Heights neighborhood – just months after they were installed – because of safety concerns and complaints from community members.

Two raised concrete platforms with ramps to the street were installed on Heights Boulevard at its intersection with 11th Street as part of the City of Houston's recent redesign of 11th, which included the addition of bicycle lanes and a reduction in vehicle lanes on the east-to-west thoroughfare. The platforms were designed to be used by METRO bus riders, who historically have used existing bike lanes on the outsides of Heights Boulevard as their bus-loading space, but had not been utilized since the 11th Street project was completed in March.

METRO said in a statement that its chief safety officer determined the new configuration – with the floating bus stops situated in between the bike lanes and single vehicle lanes on each side of the boulevard – "did not provide the safest environment for bus passengers nor others on the road." The removal of the platforms, which is ongoing, also was supported by the Houston Heights Association and the super neighborhood council that represents the area, according to Houston City Council member Abbie Kamin.

"While I'm always open to new ideas, the positioning really didn't work," Kamin said. "We saw a lot of vehicle crashes, a lot of confusion. It didn't have the intended purpose that it set out to do."

METRO spokesperson Tracy Jackson said the agency is spending about $150,000 to remove the floating bus stops, located just north of 11th on the northbound part of Heights Boulevard and just south of 11th on the southbound side. One already has been removed, she said Tuesday.

The bus stops on that part of Heights Boulevard are returning to their previous locations on the opposite sides of 11th, according to David Fields, the chief transportation planner for the city. Bus riders will go back to sharing the bike lanes with cyclists.

None of the other changes implemented as part of the 11th Street project are being impacted by the removal of the floating bus stops.

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BCycle may go down...

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/a...ial-hardships/

Houston bike share program BCycle to shut down amid financial hardships

Its annual ridership reached 300,000 trips and was not able to keep up with the operational costs.

ASHLEY BROWN | POSTED ONSEPTEMBER 18, 2023, 4:55 PM (LAST UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 19, 2023, 9:54 AM)

Houstonians who enjoy navigating the city aside from using a car will soon be saying goodbye to a decade-old bike-sharing program. The non-profit Houston Bike Share announced to the Houston Chronicle on Friday that Houston BCycle is shutting down in about two months after experiencing financial hardship.

The program launched in Houston in 2012 with just three stations and about 15 bikes; as of today, there are more than 150 stations across Houston. The organization said it began to grapple with its finances during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its annual ridership reached 300,000 trips and was not able to keep up with the operational costs.

"It’s really disappointing for all of us, it’s heartbreaking really," said James Llamas, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Bike Share. "So many people have put so much into this network, most of all our staff – they’ve really stepped up, especially over the last year."

Though Mayor Turner has proposed keeping the service afloat for a while longer through additional funding.

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/a...rary-reprieve/

BCycle, Houston’s bike share program, may get a temporary reprieve

Mayor Sylvester Turner is seeking temporary funding while METRO considers establishing its own bike share program to replace it.

MICHAEL HAGERTY | POSTED ONSEPTEMBER 21, 2023, 11:12 AM

Houston BCycle may last a little longer, after all.

Houston Bike Share, the nonprofit that runs the Houston’s bike share program, has announced plans to shut down the program due to lack of funding. But Mayor Sylvester Turner says he will seek $500,000 to help keep the program afloat temporarily.

Meanwhile, METRO, which previously expressed interest in taking over BCycle, is now exploring its own bike share program. In fact, METRO's Public Safety, Customer Service and Operations Committee is scheduled to seek board authorization to pursue just that at a meeting Thursday afternoon.

Why is there suddenly so much energy surrounding keeping a program going that doesn't appear to be financially viable? Well, BCycle, which started in 2012, may well be a victim of its own success.

As mentioned, METRO may be adding a similar network of 20+ stations for bicycles starting next year.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...e-18381048.php

Metro mulling 20 stations, 140 e-bikes as start of its own shared cycling system

Dug Begley,
Staff Writer
Sep. 21, 2023
Updated: Sep. 22, 2023 9:28 a.m.

A new set of shared bikes could be poised for Houston sidewalks, as Metro officials consider a $10.6 million integration of as-needed cycling into the transit system, starting with 20 stations in early 2024.

The proposal, scheduled for approval next Thursday by the Metropolitan Transit Authority board, would approve a three-year deal with PBSC Urban Solutions, with two annual extensions.

The aim is to use cycling either to connect to places within biking distance or to access frequent transit, Metro CEO Tom Lambert said. Though costs are not finalized, the plan would be to charge a price for the bikes similar to the buses and trains, where a person pays $1.25 for a three-hour block of time.

“If you are starting with a bike and going to a bus, that is one trip,” Lambert said.

Metro moving into the bike business comes as the nonprofit running the existing BCycle system struggles to stay afloat. Houston Bike Share said last week without financial help it would start shutting off more stations and close within two months, but city officials are considering heading that off with a $500,000 commitment.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said the funding would help bridge the time between Metro’s system being operational and BCycle finding firm footing or ceasing to exist.

Leadership of the current system said it welcomed Metro's plan.

″We have long felt that Metro should operate bike share in the city," Neeraj Tandon, the nonprofit’s chairman, said in a statement. "Our goal for years has been to migrate the service to a public utility such as Metro because we know bike share is unsustainable without public funding."

If approved, the proposed system would be similar to the BCycle system for users, but with noticeable differences. The app and payment system will be different and integrated with Metro’s fare system.

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...t-18209183.php

Metro Red Line's solution to illegal parking? A 497-space garage and transit center, beginning construction next year

Dug Begley,
Staff Writer
Sep. 23, 2023

A long-sought solution to an illegal parking crunch at the top of Metro’s Red Line light rail is slated for construction early next year. Transit officials are relying on a new, but unproven, way of selecting a builder aimed at expediting construction and lowering risk.

Metropolitan Transit Authority board members, at the board’s capital subcommittee meeting on Wednesday, approved staff soliciting bids for a 497-space parking garage and transit center on the east side of Fulton where the Red Line ends at Northline Commons, near the Houston Community College (HCC) campus. The project, which could total more than $50 million, would more than triple the amount of parking for transit riders, replace the cramped Northline Transit Center bus bays and have a Metro Police substation, ride store and possible commercial space.

Broadly, transit officials said, it has the potential to meet current and future demand for rail and bus travel into many areas within Loop 610, which the project would sit just outside of, while becoming a destination for the surrounding neighborhoods, which are undergoing their own changes.

“We believe by building this facility … it does have the overall effect of inducing more demand around us,” said Clint Harbert, Metro’s vice president for system and capital planning.

Plans for a garage at Northline and a new transit center have been around for roughly a decade, as the likely second phase of the Red Line’s opening in December 2013. Metro leases fewer than 200 spaces from HCC for park and ride use at the bus and rail hub, leading many travelers to illegally park outside the allowable spaces.

Metro has already acquired the property, on the east side of Fulton between Julia and Rebecca streets.

While changes in travel following COVID have eased the parking demand somewhat, with plans to eventually extend the Red Line northward, Harbert said the garage is still needed.

“It is an in-closer location that has good access to the freeway,” he said.

Getting to the garage, however, has Metro trying a method of how to select a builder.

Typically, using a request for proposals process, Metro works with a number of potential bidders and lets them propose changes to the project, then settles on the design and building of that project with price as a factor. Under the completive sealed proposal method Metro will use, transit officials and the project’s designers will outline exactly what they want built and only accept proposals that follow exactly that, then heavily weight them based on total cost.

“That puts a finer point on the actual price,” said Shri Reddy, Metro’s executive vice president for planning, engineering and construction.

State law allows public agencies to use either of the methods, within certain parameters, but competitive bidding is the much more common method used. This would be Metro’s first foray into sealed bids for a major project.

The final price will be determined once bids are accepted. Metro plans to announce it will accept bids for the project next month, open them in January and have the chosen builder start work in March.

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...t-18388197.php

Second bike sharing vendor coming to Houston, with Metro approval of transit-focused system

Dug Begley,
Staff writer
Sep. 28, 2023
Updated: Oct. 1, 2023 5:41 p.m.


More publicly available bikes are bound for Houston sidewalks in the coming months as Metro officials approved spending $10.6 million to create its own bicycle sharing network, aimed at largely replacing the existing and floundering nonprofit system.

Metropolitan Transit Authority board members on Thursday approved a contract with PBSC Urban Solutions, the Canadian company that manages and provides bikes and technology for bike share system in some of North America’s largest cities.

"This gets us from the limbo we are in, with the potential of not having a bike share system in the fourth largest city," said Metro board chairman Sanjay Ramabhadran.

The system would start with 20 kiosks and 170 bikes, installed by mid-2024, officials said. Annually, plans call for adding 20 more stations and 170 bikes for up to four consecutive years. Spread across both the vendor for the bikes and kiosks, and the company that will maintain the system, Metro expects to spend $10.6 million.

Transit officials have said the system is intended to connect riders to transit, meaning kiosks will be concentrated on where they can either replace bus and rail trips, or connect riders to other travel options.

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...l-18457959.php

New bridge, underpass planned to ease Uptown to Memorial Park bike and ped trips


Dug Begley,
Staff Writer
Nov. 1, 2023
Updated: Nov. 1, 2023 6:19 p.m.

The overwhelming task of getting to Memorial Park from Uptown by bike or on foot is poised to vastly improve, provided a $22 million project for a bridge across Buffalo Bayou and underpass of Loop 610 come to pass.

“The West Loop has always been this wall that makes getting to Memorial Park harder than it ought to be,” said John Breeding, president of Uptown Houston.

Uptown, acting as the area’s county improvement district, was awarded nearly $18.5 million last week for the project aimed at better non-motorized access to Memorial Park. As the park has added amenities and seen reinvestment in trails, running facilities and its eastern portion, use has grown and with it, the demand for safer and easier access to it without a car or truck. Hemmed in by Loop 610 to the west and Interstate 10 to the north, getting to Memorial Park can take some maneuvering, including where it isn’t bounded by a freeway.

“It can be a puzzle, for sure,” bicyclist Mike Autry said. “If you are like me and you cannot really come with traffic, you can’t do it safely on the big streets.”

There is no greater barrier than Loop 610, which from the west is only crossed into the park by Memorial Drive and Woodway. Neither, especially at the frontage roads, offer much space for runners and bike riders, nor do speeds along the streets and the inclines bode well for pedestrians and cyclists.

Though there is a path along the southbound frontage road to Loop 610, Breeding said the crossing can be complex. The proposed project, which is about a year away from final design, creates a new route from Post Oak Boulevard — where the wide sidewalks can accommodate bicycles and pedestrians — north to Buffalo Bayou.

Breeding said from there the plans include a new bridge across the bayou, west of the frontage road, which will connect to a new trail on the north banks that will follow the water beneath the frontage roads and freeway, then ascend back up to street level on the east of Loop 610 and connect along the side of the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center to the existing trail along Woodway.

Getting up and down, through and around the area requires some complicated design, but Breeding — who is retiring — said his hope would be to have the project fully designed within a year.

“My objective is to bid this project for construction in December 2024,” he said.

[Wattleigh]

New fare collection system going in on METRO routes / vehicles. The long-running Q Card will be replaced with the new ONE Card.

c/o 004n063 on HAIF

[aprice1828]

Originally Posted by Wattleigh

New fare collection system going in on METRO routes / vehicles. The long-running Q Card will be replaced with the new ONE Card.

Always good to see contactless! After living somewhere for 6 years where you could only board a bus with exact change or a day/week/month pass, I'm super excited to see this barrier to transit being eased. Assuming no other city beats them to it, Houston will be the 7th city in the U.S. with contactless fares after NYC, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Portland, and Philly. And that list is rapidly growing.

[Wattleigh]

Email from this afternoon - c/o hindesky on HAIF

https://www.ridemetro.org/about/metr...rridor-project

[Wattleigh]

*delete*