Results tagged “transit”

Good morning, Houston. How better to end the week than with a little soul searching — and when better to do it than on Evaluate Your Life Day? Yeah, we know, it used to take hours (days, even) to find your true self, but the good news is that you can get things taken care of much more quickly these days: using online quizzes, you can figure out whether you're CEO material, which celebrity's...

Back in February of this year, Houstonist attended a screening of the 1983 ground-breaking documentary Style Wars, as part of the MFA's "Movies Houstonians Love" series. The film, presented by one half of UGK,Bun B, was screened to a sold out crowd of Houstonians, and was followed by more than an hour's worth of conversation surrounding Houston's underground music and art culture, that was co-led by Style Wars star and DJ legend, Kay Slay....

So the Draft Environmental Impact Study for Metro's proposed University light rail line has been released — a lot of information that a lot of people will be poring over. Fortunately, Christof at Intermodality has a summary of the DEIS for the line's western segment already, and here's what he found: There are three alignment options for the Main-to-Hillcroft segment of the University Line: Richmond to Cummins to Westpark, Richmond to Greenway to Westpark, and...

From the tallest skyscraper in the City of Brotherly Love to Canadian tourism copywriting brilliance, here's what you should know from our -ist cities: This week, Phillyist took a gleeful listen to the White Stripes' exciting new release, watched in awe as their new tallest skyscraper was finally completed, found a cheaper way to get to Gothamist, invented a tasty new dessert, and brought back their Craigslist Round-Up feature with a bang. Bostonist watches...

Google recently announced two exciting new features. One is street view, a new feature of Google Maps, which allows you to see street-side views of locations in many major cities. Right now, the feature is available only in San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Miami, and Denver, and there are plenty of interesting things to be seen, aside from the feature being helpful if you're traveling to a new location. Google has also started incorporating...

Those of you who ride the MetroRail regularly might be interested in reports today of two near collisions caused when trains were running on the wrong tracks. Both happened earlier this month, six days apart; the good news is that no passengers were in danger. More or less.

The Metro board approved a $77.3 million agreement yesterday that's a step toward construction of four new rapid transit lines — the first step in a construction project that's estimated to cost more than $1 billion. Under the contract, Washington Group Transit Management Co. will begin work on the early design and construction of four transit corridors: north, from UH-Downtown to Northline Mall; southeast, from downtown to Palm Center; East End, from downtown to...

Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it's nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here's a glimpse at what's been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed. For LAist, strong winds attacked LA on the same day the Feds raided the Crips. Not to fear, though: the Japanese version...

Ubiquitous Richmond Avenue rail opponent Daphne Scarborough has pulled out a new weapon in her fight against the light rail expansion that she says would destroy her livelihood and her street: Scarborough has sued Metro, claiming that the transit agency has broken a "contract with the voters" established by the 2003 passage of the Metro Solutions referendum. Scarborough's focus in the suit isn't solely the contentious Richmond light rail alignment, but that's certainly a part of it: The suit claims that Metro has isn't complying with the terms of the referendum because the western section of the proposed University light rail line won't run totally on Westpark. Scarborough said she's filing suit because she has tried to talk with Metro for three years and has gotten nowhere: "I can't seem to get any straight answers," she said.

We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we're sensational, but it's very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we've decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week. Torontoist Special Report: Rosie to Trump: "Fire 300 Bicyclists for Fraud!" On DCist: Students Go Wild for Slogans, Secrets and Sexual Harassment The action was thick...

Good morning, Houston. If you live anywhere along the proposed University light rail line, here are a couple of chances to express your opinion on the choo-choo, pro or con: Metro will hold public meetings today and tomorrow. The first, from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight, will be at the Renaissance Hotel at Greenway for folks along the west end of the line (between West Alabama, Main Street/Wheeler Station, Bissonnet and the Hillcroft Transit...

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... Over at Sampaist, spring has more than sprung: it's sweltering! But, as everyone knows, museums are an ideal...

Movies Houstonians Love: Houston Rapper Bun B presents "Style Wars" It's just that Larry Dierker, Barbara Bush, and B-U-N-B! That's right, folks. Houston's hometown rap impresario, and one half of UGK, Bun B joins the Movies Houstonians Love series at the Museum at Fine Arts tonight. Bun will be presenting "Style Wars", regarded by many as the definitive document of the emerging hip-hop culture.An emblem of the spirit that burst forth from underground tunnels, uptown...

Metro may be a step closer to building its proposed North and Southeast light rail bus rapid transit guided rapid transit lines thanks to the Bush administration's 2008 budget proposal, the Chronicle reports today. The Federal Transit Administration announced that, under the proposed budget, the two Metro lines are among six projects nationwide that could qualify for 50 percent federal funding; last week and earlier this week, the FTA also issued records of decision in...

There's some news today on Metro's plan to expand its rapid-transit system: Two members of Congress from Houston have said they'll push for federal funding for more light rail, not the bus rapid transit lines Metro proposed for the northside, East End, southeast side and Uptown. The announcement from U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, both Democrats, came at a Metro board meeting yesterday where the agency OK'd negotiating with a team headed...

And so we have some final-ish alignment options for Metro's University light rail line: All of them would begin at MetroRail's Wheeler Station on Main Street and head west along Richmond Avenue for some distance, and all would avoid Afton Oaks, which has been a loudly squeaking wheel in the planning process. But that's pretty much where the similarities end: • The first proposal would turn south on Montrose Boulevard, then west on an elevated...

When HOV lanes were designed many years ago, it was to encourage carpooling by giving drivers with multiple passengers a dedicated lane to whip in and out of Houston. For the most part, it has been successful (until a Metro bus breaks down on the lane, which we’ve seen way too many times), but now the Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority is looking to open HOV lanes to one-passenger vehicles, for a price.

Remember City Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck's idea about running the University light rail line along the north side of the Southwest Freeway between Mandell or Dunlavy and Edloe? The one that would reportedly require the demolition of between 50 and 75 homes and part of Chew Park? Yeah, well, Clutterbuck says she's sorry for any confusion, but she didn't really mean she wanted to send the rail line through any neighborhoods — what she would like...

Not surprisingly, U.S. Rep. John Culberson's announcement last week that he won't support a proposal to run a light rail line down Richmond Avenue has sent Metro into something of a tailspin: The agency has now pushed the date it expects to recommend an alignment for the University Line back a few weeks while it conducts cost and ridership estimates for a variety of routes that would take the line from the Third Ward...

TxDOT has dropped plans to build 30-foot-high elevated frontage roads along the Katy Freeway between Washington and T.C. Jester, a move apparently driven by concerns from nearby residents about noise, pollution and aesthetic harm the elevated roads could bring. The proposed new feeder roads were part of TxDOT's $40 million proposal to create continuous frontage roads between Washington Avenue and Taylor Street — there are now gaps between Taylor and Studemont, Yale and Patterson...

As controversy over Metro's proposed University light rail line continues, a much quieter discussion is taking place across town on where to put the future East End rail line. The line — initially a dedicated busway that could eventually be fitted with trains — would go from downtown to the Magnolia Transit Center at Harrisburg and 70th, but how it'll get there is the question. According to the Chronicle, two options have pretty much...

What would a weekend in Houston be without some transit closures? This time around, we have a double shot: A road closure on the Katy Freeway and a MetroRail closure and bus detour in the Medical Center. First, the Katy: All eastbound lanes of the freeway between Silber and Washington will be closed from 9 p.m. today through 5 a.m. Monday. You can use east-west surface streets as a detour, or just stay home and...

Via Off the Kuff, Intermodallity looks at proposed alignments for the East End not-rail line, noting that Metro has proposed four options and is avoiding the catfights taking place along the proposed University line on the west side. The proposals for the Bus Rapid Transit line: • Harrisburg Boulevard, a major route through the residential areas of the East End and, west of 65th Street, through a commercial center. The alignment would run through...

Metro didn't make the cut for more than $300 million in federal funds this year, meaning the transit authority will have to wait yet another year before it moves ahead with proposed extensions of the light rail line. KHOU reports there were 15 projects this year that were at the same stage of development as the MetroRail expansion; five received a share of the Federal Transit Administration's $1.5 billion in recommendations for 2007. To our dismay, it seems Dallas was one of the cities recommended for FTA funding (although we have to admit that their rail system kicks MetroRail's butt).

Houstonist loves a good party. But sometimes as we're sprawled on the couch, hangover in full swing, we wonder: What's the point? You can imagine, then, our excitement at learning about a hip downtown party with a purpose. Okay, maybe "hip" isn't the right word, and it might be a stretch to call it a "party," but it's definitely downtown. And there is a purpose. The shindig in question is a lunchtime get-together today to...

So you've managed to coexist with MetroRail for nearly two years without running into the train? Congratulations. Now you might be electrocuted:

The road work that's quickly paving over the entire west side of Houston means another change for drivers on the Katy Freeway: The entrance to the westbound HOV lanes will move a mile west until April to accommodate reconstruction of the West Loop interchange. The Northwest Transit Center won't be affected.