- Do you have a moment to call or email to improve Houston transit? - May 3, 2006
- Makes cents - May 2, 2006
From the Citizens' Transportation Coalition. Please take a moment to visit their site and take action.
Citizens' Transportation Coalition members are partnering with BikeHouston members to finally get bike racks on Houston Metro buses. METRO has agreed to do bike racks in 2008/09. But they have access NOW to $1.2 million in federal bike rack dollars (already appropriated) that expires in August 2006. What's missing is political will to follow through, resolve any implementation challenges, and get this program underway.
METRO's board of directors is appointed, which means they are ultimately accountable to our city and county elected leaders.
We already have the support of Senator Rodney Ellis, Judge Robert Eckels, and Council Members Carol Alvarado and Adrian Garcia. We've had positive meetings with several others. On Tues May 2, we'll go to Commissioners' Court (10:00 am) and Houston City Council (2:00 pm) and ask our local elected leaders to support bike racks on buses. You can help by calling or emailing to voice your support in the next few days.
You can get phone numbers and email addresses for leaders, read more background, and download the packet we're giving elected leaders in our online forum: http://www.ctchouston.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=211
Why are bike racks on buses important?
The combination of bikes and buses will take more Houstonians to more destinations than either one can alone. Bike racks on buses encourage "multi-modal" trips and will help reduce automobile dependence in Harris County. Bike racks:
- Connect existing bus routes to more destinations by making long walks easy
- Allow METRO to serve transit users at the edge of the service area and beyond
- Support cyclists caught by inclement weather or mechanical problems
- Improve safety by allowing cyclists to travel by bus through hazardous traffic areas
- Help Houston meet air quality goals by increasing use of both transit and cycling
Twelve of the 15 largest US cities have racks on buses. Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio have racks on buses. And with your help, Houston can, too.
Posted by Lyn Wall at 08:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
This afternoon a handful of Texas Progressive Alliance bloggers got on a conference call with Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, who has proposed a summer-long gasoline tax holiday for Texas drivers.
Last week DallasBlog published his op-ed where he laid out the program:
HB 120 would impose a 90-day moratorium on the fuel taxes collected on every gallon of gasoline and diesel in Texas. At .20 cents a gallon, HB 120 takes $4.00 off your gas bill on a 20-gallon tank. That’s like getting 1 1/3 gallons of free gas. If you own more than one vehicle, your savings doubles.
The money -- around $700 million -- does not come from the state's budget surplus, nor does it it short-change other highway projects. It comes from a projected increase in Federal Highway Adminstration funds, already approved but not earmarked, of $788.1 million (according to his website, GasTaxCut.com) .
This isn't a lot of money, and it's short-term relief for a long-term problem, but other than that I can't find fault with this idea. Go sign the petition if you agree.
Posted by Perry Dorrell at 07:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack