Houston's Light Rail Network Evolution

[@VanishingUnderground]

Full timeline of station openings, courtesy of Rodney Chan: bit.ly/HoustonMetroRail

[@ExpressRailfan]

Houston needs subways too

[@samkuzel]

😭 we need wayyyyy more light rail here. It's so sad because most people that I know in Houston don't drive (and the ones that do drive hate driving here, myself included). Only one of them lives within walking distance of the metro rail and they use it all the time. 'Build it and they will ride…' or whatever. Call me crazy but I think there should be federal funding for light rail and everyone within reason (maybe excluding extremely small rural towns) should be guaranteed a right to public transit.

[@colormedubious4747]

Federal matching funds for transit projects have existed since the UMTA was created in 1964. Now called the Federal Transit Administration, its budget for FY 2022 is $13.2 billion. That money tends to be stretched VERRRRRY thinly across the states, territories, and federal district. There are also a lot of hoops to jump through (EIS, DBE, etc) before qualifying for grants/matching funds. Some cities have voted to bypass federal funding and fast-track their system starts using local funding mechanisms, most famously Dallas in the 90s. Federal legislation such as ISTEA and TEA-21 gave localities more flexibility in allocating federal funds among transportation projects so, if you have a problem with car-centric planning and the short-changing of rail transit, take it up with your local MPO. Side note: Everyone ALREADY has a right to use public transit, thus the word "public" in the term. On the other side of that coin, every citizen also has the right to vote against funding transit projects, which is a major reason why so many American cities got such a late start rebuilding their destroyed world-class rail transit networks. It took nearly half a century to wipe them off the map -- it might take a BIT longer than that to put them back!

[@PresentGenGamer]

@@colormedubious4747 We need something akin to the Federal Highway Act of 1956, but for public transit and better frequency/service on Amtrak wherever possible other than the NE corridor.

[@colormedubious4747]

@@PresentGenGamer Good idea. Maybe we could call it the IIJA. Maybe the President could sign it into law a month ago. Oh, wait...

[@PresentGenGamer]

@@colormedubious4747 It's a step forward, but we would need near unlimited funding if we ever hope to catch up to virtually any other first world country. It's also unlikely that smaller light rail systems will see a significant percentage of that money anyway, while the NYC subway will get a sizable chunk of it.

[@colormedubious4747]

@@PresentGenGamer Let's just keep those money printers humming! It's not as if our economy is already feeling an impact from that. It's probably more fair than not to allocate limited funds based on population. Sure, who doesn't want to see El Paso extend their streetcar, but I'd bet that you'll find more people on a single MTA train at 8:00AM than on El Paso's entire system in a month. :)

[@aaravyadav3748]

4th Largest City in the United States of America is having only 3 light rail lines and 1 Bus Rapid Transit

[@danegerous24]

Give thanks to John Colberson who was finally voted out of House office. He blocked federal funds for Houston metro for 20 years.

[@williamerazo3921]

Yelp

[@williamerazo3921]

@@danegerous24 good

[@williamerazo3921]

Look at Dallas . Same predicament

[@Muhoslav]

Phoenix has 5 milion people and has only one line

[@strongbad635]

Very exciting to see more pro-transit leadership in Houston coming into office. I'm excited for the future of TOD and transit usage in our city!

[@brantley2171]

Keep voting democrat then

[@montman821]

I would love to see a DART Dallas transit video. The stations for dart are very scenic

[@TheUpoop]

Came to the comments to say this. I'd love to see a video about DART.

[@arthurmillet8023]

Dallas has the biggest light rail system in all of the United States.

[@parker6227]

@@arthurmillet8023 no...

[@QuarioQuario54321]

@@parker6227 It has the most track

[@The-NSA]

@@parker6227 yes…

[@dan_air_houston]

Houston's transit system kinda sucks. But you gotta give them credit for what's been done lately. It's improved a bit with more frequent buses and more future plans. Hopefully Houston will get more bus routes, BRT, LRT and eventually Commuter rail. It can't be done overnight like many people want it but we'll get there.

[@elevatorsbylexi]

Did you do DART in Dallas

[@CharlieND]

Very good video, but Houston only has 2.31 million people (not including metro area since the light rail doesn't go outside of Houston's city limits) It's a shame that a city has large and spread out has Houston doesn't have better transit. They have a long way to go.

[@erikgustafson9319]

Yes they do they should just stick to light rail for the core network, Commuter rail to connect the Suburbs and Galveston along with TCR, and BRT for Intra suburban commutes. This could be accomplished if Biden pulls the plug on TxDOT wastefully highway expansion

[@sergeykuzmichev8064]

@@erikgustafson9319 ur exactly right. all these modes of transit would serve a niche and compliment one another. especially with more frequent bus service to these higher speed modes. i am also hopeful that future light rail lines would follow the red line model of dedicated right of way along streets, which make the streets very pedestrian friendly. the silver brt has been pretty good about this as well, its much more useful than building a busway in a highway median

[@earlaweese]

*Houston is trash. I abhor this city.*

[@NealCMH]

I would love to see a video on the Evolution of the Transit System in Minneapolis-St. Paul MN. They have two Light Rail lines and three BRT lines as well as Commuter Rail.

[@midcenturymoldy]

The people criticizing Houston for not have a larger light rail system should do a little research on the politics of transit in that city and the powerful people in the US Congress who cut off funding specifically to prevent expansion of the system. I suggest they google Tom Delay and John Culberson. To the people who keep saying Houston should stop building freeways: It’s the State of Texas that designs, locates and builds those freeways.

[@queenmajesty895]

Great video! Thank you!

[@broderickgillum7731]

Thank you former Mayor Lee Brown for starting the light rail train in Houston Texas.

[@jamesthejet1501]

Hey man. When you decide to do the video of New Yorks subway system evolution could you include some of the systems outside of NYC that would be too small for their own video, such as PATH trains. Thanks.

[@VanishingUnderground]

Yep, I’m planning on doing the New Jersey subway, light rail, and commuter rail this summer, and the remaining New York subway & rail systems near the end of the year

[@aaravyadav3748]

I think just like the Washington Area Commuter Rail Evolution Video, you can do New York Metropolitan Area Commuter Rail Evolution Video which includes Metro-North Railroad, New Jersey Transit, and Long Island Rail Road

[@abdullahrizwan592]

Congratulations on your tenth video of American cities! Are you going to make videos on any other countries?

[@Redridge07]

What is the ridership? Are people using the system?

[@vicgodsucks1157]

*HOUSTON NEEDS TO BUILD MORE RAIL LINES AND LESS FREEWAYS!!*

[@blackhole9961]

Simply building more doesn’t fix anything, that merely throws money at the problem without actually recognizing it. In a super spread out suburban city like Houston, public transit is generally impractical, considering your going to have to figure out what your going to have to do next to get to your final destination.

[@vicgodsucks1157]

@@blackhole9961 NO!! Building more freeways don't fix the problem, it just makes more traffic! Mass transit is the solution, without mass transit NYC and Tokyo won't exist!

[@blackhole9961]

@@vicgodsucks1157 most American cities are nothing like NYC or Tokyo. Heck they aren’t even urban really. Just look at their low density suburban Euclidean sprawl, public transit isn’t suppose to serve suburbs because it can’t serve them. This is the main reason why public transit will never work or be hugely successful in the same way it is for the rest of the world.

[@vicgodsucks1157]

@@blackhole9961 That's a lie!! Atlanta is just like Houston and have the same problems! Uncontrollable growth without planning, mass transit is the solution! You can have rail service going out to the suburbs and bus services from there! You'll see how much better it can be, if not people will get sick and tired and move! I got tired and moved from Atlanta because of the traffic!!

[@blackhole9961]

@@vicgodsucks1157 lol nobody is going to use it considering how spread out the suburbs are. Dallas DART has laughably low ridership despite having the nations largest light rail system.

[@yoyobass100]

I saw in a documentary that the Houston Metro is America's most accident-prone light rail network. The main reasons being that drivers recklessly try to beat, pass, and cut off the trains causing numerous delays.

[@grahamturner2640]

I wonder if it needs railroad gates at every intersection.

[@jayasmrmore3687]

That was like 12 years ago btw.

[@ErelH]

Great video! I'd love for these videos to also include future expansion

[@VanishingUnderground]

I typically include future expansions if a construction tender has been awarded. Unfortunately while Houston has a few projects in planning, none of them are currently under construction.

[@ExpressRailfan]

​@@VanishingUndergroundWhat about the Chicago L Network?

[@luisstransport]

Could you please do a video on a city outside North America sometime please

[@brainwells6634]

When are you going to do Chicago with The L or EL and Chicago Commuter Rail system Metra

[@frojo9]

I think he's doing the larger ones last. It is going to take awhile to do Boston, Chicago, and New York

[@bobbyswanson3498]

@@frojo9 boston is already up!

[@frojo9]

@@bobbyswanson3498 Yep I saw. He posted it last month and I commented before it was posted. Great video!

[@milosnikwiewiorek]

You need to do one of Boston. Im from Boston and id be interested in seeing what u make

[@minnbeef]

Time to do the Minneapolis METRO next.

[@MJofLakelandX]

Houston has a long way to go to rival with Dallas DART. You'd think Dallas-Fort Worth was the largest region in Texas

[@KingAsa5]

It is the largest region in Texas. Population of 8million vs Houston which only has 7.1million

[@trinorxc7007]

If light rail would be elevated it would be better the 3 lines are just expanding no more rail and more brt ,but the thing we need the most is commuter rail, Houston area has 9 transit agency of which 1or 2 is planning commuter rail

[@garfieldclarkjr2483]

Can you please do one for Boston MBTA

[@NWIndianaElevators]

Do Chicago's CTA Network Evolution as well as SouthShore!

[@dangelohartley5977]

Metra too

[@davidtsvetovat9419]

You also didn’t do Minneapolis light rail 🚈

[@urbanpreppie05]

seriously...stop.

[@amiranore1707]

Dallas

[@QuarioQuario54321]

Do BART next

[@MrRampp]

Great video! Do one on Dallas' DART Rail. Oldest in Texas. Longest in the nation.

[@VanishingUnderground]

Coming later this year

[@AVeryRandomPerson]

Technically, LA has 93.6 miles of track, while DART has 93, but 16.9 miles of LA's track is heavy rail, bringing LA's total to 77.5 miles of Light Rail track. An additional 22.2 miles of LRV track is under construction in LA though, with many more to start soon

[@timothytao898]

@@AVeryRandomPerson Doesn't Dallas have the Silver Line under construction? I don't know how long it is, but it seems quite long

[@KingAsa5]

@@timothytao898 Its 26 miles long and will use the Stadler flirt Commuter Train. Dallas also has the new D2 subway under construction

[@rodrigorodriguez2610]

Do Dallas

[@meandwhoism]

This 'system' is below pathetic... wow.

[@danegerous24]

Blame our Republicans and Nimbys.

[@Zones33]

Beyond the East Coast public transportation is neglected in every major city

[@dan_air_houston]

At least it ain't Austin.

[@earlaweese]

*Harris and surrounding counties are wretched and corrupt with overlooked humanitarian crises. I absolutely abhor this patch of the planet.*

[@earlaweese]

*If you want to feel powerless and underrepresented, move down here.*

[@tntmaster1104]

Houston's first light rail that opened 2004 is about 16 years old, and LA's first light rail that opened 1990 is almost 31 years old.

[@InugamiTheHound]

I do hope they finish the light rail line with make the gold and blue line offical. That Would be great and if they expand them to airports (Hobby and Bush via red and purple lines) that would make this great light rail line.

[@ed777tx-edward8]

Nice video, could have shown some of the actual trains in action? Thanks for sharing.

[@jayasmrmore3687]

Search up “MetroRail Houston” to see videos

[@herschelwright4663]

Up next, Dallas.

[@jayasmrmore3687]

There should be more places this train goes.

[@mtymama6598]

I wish instead of driving in my car 2-3 hours a day and stuck in traffic theres a rapid transit train of sort from West Houston to East Houston and back. We def need better bus/train systems here.

[@njv1234]

Great video, pathetic transit for such a large city

[@mariomejia8809]

Yup, super pathetic for a large city with that

[@arandomyoutubechannel2940]

At least Houston is not Chiraq

[@D_Marrenalv]

Forty-nine stations in a miniscule part of a 600 Sq Mile aprawl isn't exactly "across the city".

[@portugueseeagle8851]

Only 24 miles of light rail? In such a big city? Meanwhile where I live (Porto) in a city of 260 thousand people, with 1,5 million in my metropolita area, we have 70 kms of pre-metro with 6 lines. Glad I live in Europe I guess😂😂

[@samkuzel]

*cries in Houstonian*

[@arthurmillet8023]

Houston is a very spread out city which means that they would need to build more lines to serve the same amount of people in a densely populated city. Boston only has about 7 rapid transit lines but serves the majority of the population.

[@earlaweese]

@@arthurmillet8023 *Quit supporting corruption and wretchedness. Quit justifying nonsense.*

[@WilliamJones-sf5pt]

He forgot to include the mini light-rail system at the Houston zoo.

[@brendanu1680]

Needs More Commuter Rail At Central Station!

[@mitchellshields9679]

can you do a video about Dallas Texas dart in Fort Worth Texas Trinity Metro

[@hypebeastdog518]

It’s home to 6.3M people actually

[@AdamFaruqi]

You should do Los Angeles next. We have been building out our metro like crazy since the 90s, with many, many more lines planned for construction over the coming decades thanks to Measure M.

[@jonathanoz941]

Please do Chicago

[@likenewjeep3189]

I live there hay

[@nerd23x]

Like they need to expand the metro rail bc them mf buses be taking too long

[@TheLuisTorresChannel]

Please do a video on DART!!!

[@utterbullspit]

I saw Houston's light rail in action and I have to say, it seemed very slow and inefficient.

[@IBeforeAExceptAfterK]

That happens when you're mixed with traffic and don't have signal priority. It doesn't help that it uses low-floor trains which have lower top speeds, lower capacity, and take longer to load and unload than proper high-floor trains.

[@solo.life.travels7215]

Any tips for visiting Houston for the first time? I'll be there 4 days

[@evanbookbinder9662]

can you do philadelphia?

[@ExploringwithCole]

Can you do one on the Sarajevo Tram system please?

[@TrainSounds]

I hope you do Chicago as well

[@thehoustonstrangler2]

the grey line should been a light rail line.

[@n1thmusic229]

Could you please somtime do a video on a city outside of North America

[@scoredtrain4535]

Lack of public transport in Houston is part of the reason why there’s so much traffic especially during rush hour

[@abdimahamed2431]

You should do phoenix az

[@matthewbarry2079]

Houston’s public transit sucks

[@earlaweese]

*Harris county and surrounding counties are generally wretched and corrupt due to the red state/snobbish mentality that exists here.*

[@arandomyoutubechannel2940]

No, you suck

[@discounicorn31]

PLEASE BRO DO NYC

[@BaggyMcPiper]

Dallas is much better at light rail by comparison, and it isn't even that well-integrated with Fort Worth which is literally adjacent to it.

[@blackhole9961]

Much better light rail system, still has laughably low ridership for a metropolitan area with that population mainly because everyone lives in suburbs.

[@midcenturymoldy]

Average daily boardings per mile during the first quarter of 2023 for Houston’s light rail system was 1705. In Dallas it was 597. Dallas’s system is 3.9 times the length of Houston’s yet it has less than 1.4 times the daily ridership. Source: “List of United States light rail systems” on Wikipedia.

[@andrewtabatabai9590]

Do la metro

[@sumeetbeniwal6365]

Even though I live in Houston, i am kinda disappointed at our light rail system.

[@penelopeboivin3191]

shortest video for the biggest city, because there's so little to cover

[@lelaassang5599]

I will give you a task if you get 99 million likes in 24 hours likes I will be a subway station in Houston

[@joshuafajardo5697]

🚈🚌🇺🇸

[@Zones33]

It might as well be nonexistent because nobody uses it

[@earlaweese]

*You clearly have never used public transportation because a lot of people do, indeed, use it AND rely on it.*

[@kertchu]

Why would they choose those colors? 🤮