Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Houston

Transit Ridership Falling Everywhere — But Not in Cities With Redesigned Bus Networks

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 24, 2017 | 52 Comments

Transit ridership decreased in almost every major American city last year. But there were two notable exceptions -- Seattle and Houston. Those two outliers share one thing in common: In addition to expanding light rail, they're both redesigning their bus networks.

The Hilarious 1960s Vision for the Underbelly of a Houston Highway

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 30, 2016 | 4 Comments

Ah, the best laid plans. As Texas DOT considers tearing down the Pierce Elevated Freeway on the east side of downtown Houston, it’s instructive to look back at what people were thinking when they made this eyesore. Kyle Shelton at Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research shares these hilarious drawings from the late 1960s that depict how happening […]

Houston’s Big Chance to Turn Back the Tide of Car Traffic

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 29, 2016 | 3 Comments

There’s a lot riding on Texas DOT’s $7 billion plan for downtown Houston freeways. TxDOT has been working for more than a decade on a plan for the three highways that roughly form a circle around the city — I-45, I-10, and U.S. 59. Last April, the agency revealed a draft version of the plan, and another revision […]

How Will Mayor Turner Change Houston’s Streets? Here Are Some Hints

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 26, 2016 | No Comments

What would it take to turn traffic-clogged Houston into a more walkable, transit-rich place? Newly elected Mayor Sylvester Turner made waves earlier this year when he called for a paradigm shift in the region’s transportation policies, prioritizing transit instead of highway expansions. Now a copy of Turner’s transition plan leaked to the Houston Press sheds some […]

Houston Unveils a Bold New Citywide Plan for Bicycling

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 19, 2016 | 19 Comments

The same team that helped overhaul Houston’s bus network is turning its attention to the city’s bike network. This week, recently-elected Mayor Sylvester Turner unveiled the city’s first bike plan since 1993. The plan envisions a network of low-stress bikeways — a welcome improvement over Houston’s previous bike plan, from 1993, which mostly consisted of “share the road” signs and sharrows on wide, high-speed roads, […]

What Will It Take for Houston to Eliminate Traffic Deaths?

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 20, 2016 | 2 Comments

In 2014, 227 people were killed in traffic collisions in Houston. Per capita, that means the city’s streets are more than three times as deadly as New York City’s. Despite the toll, there’s a culture of acceptance surrounding traffic violence in Houston. Now a group of local advocates are trying to change that. Houston Tomorrow, a local think tank devoted […]

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