Mass Transit & Energy Use
Greater Houston Partnership and Metro: A Little History
By Ben Hill
Oct 26, 2005, 22:16

Houston is the fourth largest city in the nation, behind New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. It’s also the only one without a large-scale mass transit rail system. With the completion of the Main Street Metrorail and the vote for a massive expansion in 2009, Metro has plans to expand the rail system, paving the way for Houston to contend as a major city in the 21st century. But after so much opposition, how has the rail become a reality?

The story of mass transit in Houston has all the drama of a daytime soap opera. Since the early 80s, rail supporters have been trying to build a full-scale mass transit system to compete with the nations’ other large cities. Houston, however, is more spread out than any of the other large cities, with the exception of Los Angeles.

In the 1990’s there was a big push by home developers into the suburbs, as upper and middle-class people fled central Houston, fearing high crime rates. Many of these home developers chose their locations knowing that new freeway extensions would have to be constructed to accommodate commuter traffic, a big plus for low-cost construction operations. Houston suburb Kingwood is a prime example of this.

In 1988, voters passed a measure that would have built twenty miles of light rail, but that was killed in 1992 by Mayor Bob Lanier, who then proceeded to spend $500 million that Metro had set aside for a light rail by creating the Metro police force and fixing potholes.

The vote to build a light rail was finally passed under Mayor Lee Browns’ administration, but current Mayor Bill White would see it come to fruition. The light rail began ferrying passengers on January 1, 2004.

Yet, there is more to this story that hasn’t been told.
The Greater Houston Partnership has been on both sides of the light rail issue, but was ultimately instrumental in getting the light rail built. Official minutes from the Partnership’s June 6, 2000 Board of Directors meeting reveal that a delegation was sent in May of 2000 to Washington D.C. to meet with various members of Congress, including Rep. Tom Delay, one of the light rail’s chief opponents. Meetings with the U.S. Congressman were held in order to come to “a better understanding of the light rail issue.”

What was actually said in those meetings remains secret, but the minutes seem to suggest that things went in the Partnership’s favor.

At that same board meeting, Richard Everett, who was chairman of the Partnerships’ Transportation and Infrastructure Advisory Committee, reported that Delay was thinking of killing federal funding to the light rail project and that letters had been sent to the congressman’s office informing him that: “…The seven mile stretch of Main Street’s light rail should be built with or without federal funding…” The Partnership was clearly concerned.

But what reasons would Delay have to deny funding to the light rail?

One answer is fairly straightforward: Metro’s plan did not benefit his interests or those of his constituents. Delay does not represent Texas or Houston. He represents Sugar Land. When Metro asked for federal funding, Metro had no plan in the works to alleviate traffic congestion on U.S. Highway 59, the city’s main link to Houston.

Thus, Delay was hostile to such a costly endeavor when it carried few, if any, benefits for his constituency. Delay also fought the initial light rail plan because he believed it wouldn’t have any significant impact on traffic congestion in the downtown area and that Metro was simply wasting money.

As Delay was resisting the rail, the Houston Chronicle, which is a member of the Greater Houston Partnership, caused its’ own share of controversy by accidentally posting an internal memo that revealed an undeniable bias in favor of the project.

The memo, which appeared on the Chronicle’s website on November 20, 2002 outlined an aggressive pro-rail campaign, which focused on attacking the project’s two biggest rivals: former Mayor Bob Lanier and Congressman Delay.

The Chronicle has often been accused by critics such as the Houston Press as being little more than a propaganda machine for light rail.

Building a light rail system was only a small part of a larger plan to revitalize Downtown Houston and make Houston a major convention and tourist destination. Along with the building of two downtown stadiums, city beautification projects and street maintenance, the light rail helped bring the Super Bowl to Houston and set the stage for a World Series.

The Partnership has plans that go beyond these improvements. One of its’ affiliates, the Gulf Coast Regional Mobility Partners, plans to add nearly 70 miles of light rail track and eight miles of commuter rail by 2025.

Ironically, Delay is a member of the Gulf Coast Regional Mobility Partners executive committee, and former Mayor Bob Lanier is a member of one of its steering committees.

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