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Houston opens new light rail line
JEFFERY GUSE the line is only free on opening day! How can you be a member of the provider class with such poor reading comprehension?
Light rail fare for both providers and takers one-way is a $1.25… offering affordable and efficient urban transport to the undeserving masses who prop up our capitalistic overlords… Priceless!
The golden egg that the Guse thought he was laying with the comment above sure was loud and smells to high heaven.
Once again, the provider class working to live and living in every place but the location of this welfare transportation project are forced to provide transportation for the recipients who are entitled to free transportation. Sure they claim to pay for it with a fare. Trouble with that argument is, they get a tax exemption at the end of the year which equals or exceeds what they pay at the fare box. Isn’t welfare wonderful? A railfan complaining about this realistic outlook is like a professional football player complaining about the only cheerleader refusing to sleep with him.
This is great news! I remember well the opening day of the original part of the line - I wish I could be there today. Houston is a wonderful city that just needs a few more projects like this to get the kind of reputation it actually deserves. Austin is great, but the traffic issues there combined with a lack of foresight on projects like this are going to slow it down eventually.
By the way, streetcars run - you guessed it - on the street. The traffic system on Fannin and elsewhere on the original line is very simple, no more complicated than anywhere else with streetcars. The problem is with people that want to treat a downtown street like its IH 45, that doesn’t work, but they’ll learn one way or another….
Maybe goosie would not mind paying higher fuel taxes for the damage his truck does to the highway system when compared to the weight of an average car…about a 20:1 ratio (4000 lbs versus 80,000 lbs), which means he should pay 20 times the fuel tax car drivers pay. But suddenly that would be declared “socialist” because sharing the burden is anathema to those types. That’s why MA is a “Commonwealth” obviously an alien concept to some folks.
For once Houston’s MetroRail expansion is reported by Trains Magazine. The first time I learned of the expansion was from the Canadian rail passenger organisation Transport 2000.
Two more lines await completion. Unfortunately, University Line and Post Oak Line have yet to be started.
Great to hear that another Light Rail Line is extended. Must ride it whenever I get to Houston in the future. But the most interesting thing is, since when does “the goose” know anything about women and cheerleaders???
Wow… Didn’t see anything on the news about it. The original line is horrible, street running built on an existing bus line. We set the record for vehicle/train collisions, before the line was open for revenue service.
If the provider class insists on paying subsistence wages to the welfare class, then they will keep clamoring for subsidies. Pay people a living wage but make them pay what it really costs to continue using the service. Sounds naive.
Any public transportation would be controversial in my hometown of Houston, a city founded by land developers. The existing line is heavily used in the Medical Center, which is near my home. The number of collisions has gone down. The extension goes through a long-neglected area. Only time will tell if residential and commercial development ensues.
Nice to see Trains reporting on the Southwestern USA rather than another event in the Midwest. After all, our city motto used to be “Where six railroads meet the sea.”
I wonder how long it will be before the “Wham-Bam-Tram” racks up its first accident on the new extension?
I hope service from IAH to Hobby is on the drawing boards, or at least IAH.
I first rode Houston’s light rail a few weeks after it first started running and yes, there was crash causing a delay. The lady who was driving the pickup truck was ON THE PHONE and said she didn’t hear or see the train coming. Fortunately nobody was hurt, but her vehicle was totalled. If you want to yak on the phone while traveling, you need to be riding, not driving!
Also to our infamous Guse, if he has complaints about the free rides on the first day, that loss is nothing compared to the toll roads that are free for the first day they are opened. and some of the Houston toll roads have no tolls during off peak hours, but yet transit riders have to still pay a fare toi ride buses and trains. Those tolls need to be collected 24/7. If not, cut the money for building more toll roads since its supporters claim they pay for themselves, which is a big fat lie and a parasite on the budget.
I’m glad they opened the extension. I think I’ve seen all the awesome YouTube videos of cars and trucks hitting Houston Light Rail Trains, and now I’m looking forward to a new bunch of videos.