Good to know they're doing some enforcement. I've never seen a police officer on or near the light rail.

It's a basic necessity when there is a substantial urban population, Houston still lacks that, IMO. Those riders could also take the bus, there is nothing to suggest that the light rail has made it easier for people.

The question is a chicken and egg one, do we build up the infrastructure in the hopes that the people will move into the urban area and pay the taxes to support it or do we wait and hope that people will move here and build it after they are here. This is my reasoning for bolstering the bus system, it essentially bridges the gap between rail and nothing. If there was a time efficient manner for me to get from the Heights to the far east side, I'd do it, but the bus service is not on time and does not go to the edge of the city.

People see the buses as a nuisance, not me, especially with the natural gas models being used more and more.

aloha box. :-:

CLE has a great light rain system connecting the airport to downtown and two locations on the east side. I used it all the time growing up, though now it is not all that convenient to me. Unfortunately, it does not go to the neighborhood that need the connection to reduce traffic, such as the southeast and far west side, and it is too expensive to implement without major federal funding. There are some great proposals for real trains from these areas - and to other parts of the state - but nothing is moving forward as fast as I would like.

Interesting note, the historic Terminal Tower in Cleveland was names as such as it was one of the primary rail hubs between NYC and Chicago. The infrastructure is still in use for the RTA light rail system.

I am officially a huge fan of Star. Finding reward availability in premium cabins is almost too easy. ^

Still no BD mi. from 3 weeks ago. :mad:

I need to hop on that bus for honeymoon planning. :-:

If Houston had rail connecting it to the airports, a lot of people would use it.

Most of the neighborhoods here that cause the traffic are outside of the City of Houston and some are outside of the county, making the light rail or high speed rail a multiple city effort, especially when some of the cities want nothing to do with it.

Have you decided on a destination?

What did you find now?

I am thinking of doing a IAH-ORD-JFK-ZRH // VIE-JFK-ORD-IAH redemption for the summer.

I figure if I'm going to burn the miles to Europe, it better be good. I am tempted to burn them to Asia but Japan and Australia/NZ are our only interests.

Yes. Yes. Yes. A light rail line to IAH and HOU would be wonderful. Perhaps with a stop or two along the I-45 corridor (though most of the traffic is attributable to Spring and Teh Woodlands), it might even serve to lessen the horrendous traffic nightmare that is the North Freeway these days. I also suspect that any line to Hobby would be consistently packed, as the areas of South Houston that it would pass through already have some of the highest Metro bus ridership rates in the city.

So far, I have JFK-IST-FRA-JNB in TK and LH F. I'm not sure if the IST-FRA backtracking will fly, but I suppose I will find out when I call. Finding 2 seats has been pretty easy as well. ^

I'm still searching for the return, but it will probably just be in C (to allow for more carriers) with a stop over somewhere in Europe.

It's a shame you guys need to route through ORD to get to JFK.

I want to do a LAX/MIA-ZRH-GRU for 100K in F with BD mi. :D

I wish I could say the same. Trying to find availability to and from MAD for my wife in a couple of weeks has been a challenge (though there is apparently some -- as long as she is OK with double connecting one way and I'm OK with F one way and C the other).

It doesn't help that I was a giant :rolleyes: and forgot to write down my ANA number when I signed up -- no e-mail, and I'm sure the card is on the slow boat from Japan.

As you know, one of the east side lines was essentially built to get commuters from Shaker Heights downtown. The problem is that it is only useful for going from Shaker or Euclid downtown or to the airport. I assume there is more use now that there is an entertainment district downtown and the Cavs are playing in Cleveland vs. Richfield.

Along the Shaker Blvd line there is still a right of way (that I assume was intended originally for the Rapid) that goes all the way to Gates Mills. It will never be built, though.

Not the case in Cleveland, although as MBM3 and I have discussed before, the setup in Cleveland is really only useful if you are traveling between the airport and meetings or hotels downtown. The setup in Philadelphia or Boston or Chicago is much more useful IME.

Just sign up again with a different email address.

When they do the Hardy extension, we should be out protesting and getting people calling for this. They'll have the opportunity then to connect the rail line to downtown and from there, IAH.

HOU is even easier, there are lines already going from downtown to down there and all they would need is a little bit of right-of-way to add a track.