Environment Texas Blog

As a car-less college student, I am among the most qualified to judge the Houston public transportation system, and I am deeply convinced that the system must be updated and the light rail system expanded. Having a good public transportation is one of the key successes of a well-run, efficient metropolitan area, and Houston has not yet managed to reach this milestone. Public transportation alleviates traffic, cuts down on pollution, boosts the economy, and keeps the citizens happy by providing a quick and easy way to move around town.  

In Houston, the light rail is the most accessible of the public transportation devices in the city; it’s easy-to-ride, convenient, and by virtue of its popularity, great for the environment. However, there is the problem that there is only one light rail route in all of Houston. So instead of spending gross amounts of the stimulus funding received for transportation on building roads that professional sources such as the Infrastructurist are calling one of worst proposed roads in the nation, the Houston Department of Transportation should be focusing instead on expanding public transportation. As of now, however, the transportation department is too focused on the construction of more and more highways. Building plans for Segment E of the Grand Parkway, which will connect US 290 and US 10, has been approved. Construction of this stretch of road, dubbed the Road to Nowhere, will use up an estimated $181million of the stimulus funds given to Houston for roads and transportation. And what exactly will this $181million get us? A highway that cuts through 700 acres of the Katy Prairie, one of the last ecological treasures in Houston and winter home of millions of migratory birds. All that money for a road that encourages urban sprawl, benefiting only the developers looking to build suburbs along the highway. Why not use the stimulus funds on improving public transportation instead? 

The advantages of public transportation are endless, especially in metropolitan areas; public transportation cuts CO2 emissions substantially, which jeopardize public health in crowded areas due to its toxicity. Plans for expanding the existing light rail are in place; five new lines are expected to open by 2011. The North-Hardy Line and South East Line are basically ready to be built. The cost for each of these lines is approximately $30 million, as opposed to the almost $200 million that will be used to benefit a much smaller portion of the population. Environment Texas and TexPIRG are working together to call upon the Houston Department of Transportation to use the stimulus funds in a way that would benefit more constituents, the environment, and overall public health of the city. Let’s not waste our money on roads that destruct our beautiful earth but instead focus on solutions that will improve it.

The author, Wanna Zhang, is an intern at Environment Texas and a student at Rice University.