Houston
Mixed Bag for Closely-Watched Local Transit Races
Last night delivered some good results -- and some disappointment -- for transit-related ballot initiatives around the country.
November 7, 2012
The Best Amateur Music Videos in Support of Active Transportation
Transit and bike activists are creative folks. More and more young, car-eschewing millennials are making their case in amateur music videos. The result is funnier and more imaginative than anything you'll find on basic cable.
August 3, 2012
Houston’s “Pedestrian Pete” Has a Bone to Pick
Meet Pedestrian Pete, otherwise known as Houston notable Peter Brown.
January 19, 2012
Streetsies 2011: The Local Edition
Yesterday, we started our year-end 2011 round-up. We lamented transit cuts in places where transit is more important than ever, cheered the successful ballot initiatives that will fund transportation lifelines, took a moment to explore the nuances of some difficult issues, and called out Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin for some hare-brained ideas about the best way to spend money.
December 29, 2011
Meet the Rick Perry Donor Who Runs Texas DOT
Last week Streetsblog looked into the suburban real estate moguls who used their public offices to advance the country's largest sprawl project -- Houston's third outerbelt, also known as the Grand Parkway. But even with all the cronyism and self-deal propelling this project forward, just a few months ago it looked like the Grand Parkway had been stopped in its tracks. The money had run out. The public was balking [PDF].
November 10, 2011
Texas Sprawl Builders Funneled Taxpayer $ to Highway That Enriched Them
If the U.S. had a national transportation policy, this story of corruption and waste never would have happened.
November 2, 2011
Exxon: ‘One Mega-Highway, Please.’ Texas: ‘Coming Right Up’
It's generally difficult to determine exactly how and to what extent the shadowy hand of Big Oil is at work in our publicly funded infrastructure decisions.
September 13, 2011
Third Houston Outerbelt Would Turn Prairies Into Texas Toast
There's a place just outside Houston where the vinyl siding and attached garages thin out and recede into grasslands.
April 28, 2011
Houston Planners Will Spend All Their Federal Air Quality Funding on Cars
It looks like the Houston region still has a long way to go in balancing the needs of cyclists and pedestrians with those of drivers. The region's Transportation Policy Council came down largely on the side of auto infrastructure Friday in deciding how to allocate tens of millions of dollars in federal funding. On the bright side, an all-out push from local cycling and pedestrian advocates successfully preserved a chunk of funding for biking and walking that had been under threat.
March 31, 2011
Houston Advocates Rally to Save Bike-Ped Funds From Motorhead Bureaucrats
Nobody would accuse the Houston region of lacking auto infrastructure. Now local bicycling and pedestrian advocates are fighting to protect their tiny slice of the pie. They're anxiously awaiting a final decision tomorrow about a pro-road money grab by the Houston-Galveston Area's Transportation Policy Council.
March 24, 2011