TriAg2010 said:
Kellso said:
Goose said:
MGS said:
Before they decide to spend billions of dollars on this, why don't they wait a year and see if it's still needed in the post-covid era?
I'm not even sure it was needed pre-covid and/or if covid had never happened. Tenants traditionally occupying CBD buildings have been migrating north for decades, and advancements in technology to enable people in the workforce to come together virtually instead of in person would have provided better value than the cost for office space in due time anyways. Mass transit in lower density populations is a pipe dream to begin with. But if the increase in work-from-home percentage is combined with the rising popularity of Uber type services, the oncoming promise of ride-share/car-share platforms like Turo or Zipcar, and the incorporation of autonomous vehicles into either or both, then the need to spend a couple billion dollars to get some personal vehicles off the surface streets and alleviate some parking requirements in a CBD on the decline is not a good value at all.
I've always thought that this line of thinking was a short sighted way of looking at public transportation.
Anything that gives residents a choice (rather than a car) and gets cars off the streets is a net positive in the long run.
One of the reasons a lot of people hate Houston is that their public transportation options are garbage....which means you have to drive a car everywhere you go. This factors into all the traffic congestion and horrible pollution that Houston is known for.
If I am a business owner, and most of my employees are low income.....I don't want to make it harder for them to get to work. Having to drive to work each day is ultimately a tax.
Its a gas tax, a wear and tear on your car tax, and a life-style tax.
If Dallas is going to want to compete for Global business you have a way that people can get from the Airports to your downtown without having to get in a car.
You can now do that from DFW, but its a bit harder from Love Field.
Houston has higher mass transit ridership than Dallas because it has a very effective bus network and Park & Rides. Not that it's a big difference. Both cities are practically indistinguishable from a transit standpoint. Any criticism of Houston transit is equally valid or Dallas.
You're just echoing the conventional wisdom that we should have mass transit because we need it to ~compete~ without anything to back up that subjective claim. Apparently it's on the grading rubric to be a "serious" city. Dallas had no issue competing for corporate HQs and businesses before the Orange Line was finished. Practically nobody rides to the airport now anyway.
Your just echoing the....
"its too expensive because it doesn't benefit me" mantra that I've heard for years.
Freeways = Good.
Public Transit = Bad
and Houston does not equal Dallas because you can't commute on a train from Sugarland or Spring to the Texas Medical Center or downtown Houston like you can in Dallas.
If you work in Central Houston and want to live in the burbs then you have to drive a car.....and this is why Houston sucks.
I have a client that works at the Dallas VA Hospital in Oak Cliff, and he lives in Plano. His commute is about 10 minutes to the Parker Road Station, and then he takes the train all the way to the front door of his employment.
That is one less car on the road Monday through Friday (multiplied by thousands)
The DART rail is not on the level of what you would see in NYC, DC, Boston..etc
But those transportation agencies have been around a lot longer. They've had a much longer time to fix issues that invariably come up with public transportation.
The DART rail is only 25 years old. Its a baby. This is why its so short sighted to think that a public transport agency is going to turn around everything over night. It doesn't happen that way at all. You have to project 25-40 years forward. Its not supposed to be perfect right away.
I promise you the cities that have great public transportation also took many years to eventually fix their issues.
A great city should not prioritize cars over being able to not drive.