Houston the Latest City to Increase Commuter Rail
Another city is ramping up development of their commuter rail lines.
(Houston) City Council approved an agreement Wednesday with the Metropolitan Transit Authority, giving permission for the agency to build five light rail lines on Houston streets, but also pledging to make sure Metro does the job right. - Houston Chronical
Houston isn’t the most progressive city in the Country by any stretch of the imagination, and yet it’s leaders managed to identify and plan for the needs of it’s residents with regard to their increasing desire for mass transit options.
June 20, 2008 7:18 am 
I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and son Carter.; ?>/images/feed-icon-16x16.gif){kind=icon}
By Dave Reid, June 20, 2008 @ 11:17 am
The other thing to note is that Houston population density is significantly less than of Milwaukee. What these means is when people argue that Milwaukee isn’t dense enough for mass transit then clearly that isn’t true.
By Smitty, June 20, 2008 @ 12:21 pm
I urge you to read the comments section on that Houston Chronicle article. Everything is not as rosy as Dan might think.
By Sean, June 23, 2008 @ 8:12 am
Dave (and Dan),
Again, to use a city, like Houston, as an argument for Commuter Rail in Milwaukee is preposterous. Houston has a population of 5+ million. Milwaukee has 1/10th the size…heck Houston’s population is almost the size of the whole state of Wisconsin.
By Daniel Cody, June 23, 2008 @ 9:34 pm
And yet no matter which city I cite as an example of increasing demand for mass transit, you’re always pointing that they’re all in some way different from Milwaukee.
What I’m pointing out, and the national trends are proving, is it doesn’t matter if the city is bigger like Houston, smaller like Buffalo, or bound by water like Seattle/Tacoma.
People across the Country are using mass transit in record numbers. It’s well past time that Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin got on board the train.
By Sean, June 23, 2008 @ 11:02 pm
The reason I point out the differences is because they’re there. Regardless of that fact, just because mass transit is going up doesn’t justify spending the 10’s if not 100’s of millions of dollars to satisfy less than 10 percent of a city’s population…..