Photo Of Houston River Valley

Here is a picture I took of what passes for a river valley here in Houston.

This is one of our bayous in a concrete channel. I took this photo from a bridge that passes over the bayou.

A bridge or going up an elevator is really the only way to get any elevation in Houston.

Below is the Rhine River valley in Germany.  It sure looks nice

Would it be better to be where it is so nice?

No–Every place has good points and bad points.

There is really nothing so wrong with the Houston river valley.

Things are as they are.

The Houston Area Needs More Buses And Should Move On From Notions Of More Super Expensive Demolition Derby Light Rail Trains

There has been yet another accident involving the Metro light rail train here in Houston.

(Above—A Houston Press picture of the accident.)

A Metro bus smashed into the train this afternoon and 19 people were hurt. It seems that none of the injuries are serious.

The light rail train is on a track and all it does is go back and forth from the Univ. of Houston-Downtown out to the Astrodome area.

We only have one-light rail route for all of the Houston area. That is all we have for all the years this matter has been discussed.

You have to make an effort to hit the train. It is just on a track and it goes back and forth. The train can’t come out and attack you while you are driving. You’ve got to make an improper turn or run a red light to hit the train.

Yet there have been many accidents involving the train since it began operation in 2004.

Our city does not have enough money to build enough trains to make for effective mass-transit.

Maybe folks are striking back at the train for being such a waste of money.

What we should have in Houston, Harris County, and in our area as a whole is a regional transit authority. We should be making sure that we have enough buses for all people in our region who need a ride.

Here is a post I wrote in favor of a regional transit authority for the Houston area.

This is not Portland, Oregon or some type of some type of imagined utopia for the 5% of the public in Houston that even thinks about how wonderful light rail would be.

This is the Houston area where people often have a hard time getting from Point A to Point B. We need reasonable transportation plans and not this hugely expensive demolition derby we have with these trains.

Go stand out along the very busy Highway 6 between 290 and I-10 and wait for a bus to arrive and pick you up.

It will never happen no matter how long you wait.

Work in this well-populated area and don’t have a car?

You are out of luck.

These trains in Houston are a process driven by a narrow elite that has little to do with the daily lives of people in our region. It is also a process driven by self-interested Metro executives.

Let’s have buses for the masses and not boondoggle trains that enable a small group of people to pretend they live someplace other than Houston, Texas.

(Below—A demolition derby held at the West End Fair in Gilbert, Pennsylvania in 2007.)