Transportation in Houston
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[edit] Roads and highways
Urban sprawl and hot, humid summers have made automobiles the favored means of transportation in Houston, Texas.
Houston’s freeway system includes 575.5 miles of freeways and expressways in the 10-county metro area.[1] The State of Texas plans to spend $5.06 billion on Houston area highways between 2002 and 2007. Houston freeways are heavily traveled and often under construction to meet the demands of continuing growth. Interstate 45 south has been in a continuous state of construction, in one portion or another, almost since the first segment, the Gulf Freeway--Texas's first freeway--was opened in 1948. Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) planners have sought ways to reduce rush hour congestion, primarily through High-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes for vans and carpools. Timed freeway entrances, which regulate the addition of cars to the freeway, are also common. Houston has an extensive network of freeway cameras linked to a transit control center to monitor and study traffic. One characteristic of Houston's freeways (and Texas freeways in general) are its frontage roads (which locals call "feeders"). Alongside most freeways are two to four lanes in each direction parallel to the freeway permitting easy access to individual city streets. Frontage roads provide access to the freeway from businesses alongside, such as gas stations and retail stores. New landscaping projects and a longstanding ban on new billboards are ways Houston has tried to control the potential side effects of convenience.
Houston has a hub-and-spoke freeway structure with multiple loops. The innermost is Interstate 610, forming approximately a 10 mile diameter loop around downtown. The roughly square "Loop-610" is quartered into "North Loop," "South Loop," "West Loop," and "East Loop." The roads of Beltway 8 and their freeway core, the Sam Houston Tollway, are the next loop, at a diameter of roughly 25 miles. A proposed highway project, State Highway 99 (The Grand Parkway), would form a third loop outside of Houston, though some sections of this project have been controversial. As of 2007, the completed portion of State Highway 99 runs from just north of Interstate 10, west of Houston, to U.S. Highway 59 in Sugar Land, southwest of Houston, and was completed in 1994. The next portion to be constructed is from the current terminus at U.S. Highway 59 to State Highway 288 in Brazoria County.
Houston also lies along the route of the proposed Interstate 69 NAFTA superhighway that will link Canada, the U.S. industrial mid-west, Texas, and Mexico.
- Further information: List of Houston highways
[edit] Mass transit
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas, or METRO, provides public transportation in the form of buses, trolleys, and lift vans.
METRO began running light rail service (METRORail) on January 1, 2004. Currently the track runs approximately 8 miles (13 km) from Downtown Houston to the Texas Medical Center and Reliant Park. METRO operates an extensive park-and-ride bus system to serve many of Houston's outlying suburban areas. Most of the park-and-ride buses run in barrier-separated high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes that provide direct service from park-and-ride parking lots to major employment destinations. Prior to the opening of METRORail, Houston was the largest city in the United States without a rail transit system.
Following a successful referendum held locally in 2003, METRO is currently in the beginning design phases of a 10-year expansion plan to add five more sections to connect to the current rail system. An 8.3 mile (13.4 km) expansion has been approved to run the service from the Uptown District (the Galleria area) through Texas Southern University, ending at the University of Houston campus.
[edit] Airports
[edit] Airports within the city limits
Houston is served by two commercial airports—the largest of which is the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The airport is the 7th-busiest in the United States for total passengers, and 16th busiest worldwide. Houston is the headquarters of Continental Airlines, Bush Intercontinental is Continental's largest hub, with more than 750 daily departures (more than 250 of which are Continental flights).
Bush Intercontinental currently ranks second in the United States for non-stop domestic and international service (221 destinations), trailing only Atlanta Hartsfield with 250 destinations. The United States Department of Transportation has also recently named Bush Intercontinental one of the top ten fastest growing airports in the United States.[2]
The second-largest commercial airport in Houston is the William P. Hobby Airport (named Houston International Airport until 1967). The airport operates primarily small to medium-haul flights and is the only airport in Houston served by Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways.
The third-largest airport and former U.S. Air Force base, Ellington Field, is primarily used for government and private aircraft. At one point, Continental Express operated flights across the city to Bush Intercontinental primarily for residents of southeast Houston and Galveston County. Passenger flights, however, ended on September 7, 2004.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the state of Texas selected the Houston Airport System as Airport of the Year for 2005, largely because of its multi-year, $3.1 billion airport improvement program for both major airports in Houston.
[edit] Airports outside of the city limits
Five general aviation airports are located outside of Houston and in Harris County:
- La Porte Municipal Airport in La Porte
- Baytown Airport in unincorporated east Harris County, north of Baytown
- West Houston Airport is a general aviation airport located in unincorporated western Harris County, west of the Houston city limits.
- David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport, a general aviation airport, is located outside of the Tomball city limits in unincorporated northwest Harris County.
- Weiser Air Park is in unincorporated northwest Harris County.
Three general aviation airports are located in Fort Bend County:
- Sugar Land Regional Airport in Sugar Land
- Houston Southwest Airport in Arcola
- Westheimer Air Park in an unincorporated area
Two general aviation airports are located in unincorporated Brazoria County:
- Brazoria County Airport between Lake Jackson and Angleton
- Pearland Regional Airport (also known as Clover Field Airport) south of Pearland.
Two general aviation airports are located in Liberty County:
- Liberty Municipal Airport is in Liberty.
- Cleveland Municipal Airport is in Cleveland.
Three airports are located in Chambers County:
- Chambers County Airport in unincorporated Chambers County, east of Anahuac
- Chambers County-Winnie Stowell Airport in unincorporated Chambers County, near Winnie and Stowell
- RWJ Airpark in Beach City
Lone Star Executive Airport, a general aviation airport, is located in Conroe in Montgomery County.
Scholes International Airport at Galveston, a general aviation and military airport, is located in Galveston in Galveston County.
Skydive Houston Airport (Skylake Airport) is located in an unincorporated area in Waller County.
[edit] Air traffic control center
The Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center stands on the George Bush Intercontinental Airport grounds.
[edit] Intercity rail
Amtrak, the national rail passenger system, provides service to Houston via the Sunset Limited (Los Angeles–New Orleans), which stops at a train station on the north side of the downtown area. The station saw 10,855 boardings and alightings in FY 2006.[3]
[edit] Intercity bus
Greyhound Lines operates services from five train stations:
- Houston Greyhound Station at 2121 South Main Street [1]
- Coach USA Inc. Dept. Casin (Houston Crosstimbers) at 4001 North Freeway [2]
- The Box Store (Houston Northwest) at 1500 West Loop North Suite 117 [3]
- Americanos U.S. L.L.C. (Houston Southeast) at 7000 Harrisburg Street [4]
- Agencia Autobuses (Houston Southwest) at 6590 Southwest Freeway
In addition, Greyhound operates services from two stops [5]:
Greyhound also operates services to stops within the Greater Houston area, including:
- Alvin (Yellow Jacket Grocery-Citgo) [6]
- Angleton (Ocampos Mexican Rest) [7]
- Baytown (Baytown Travel Express) [8]
- Conroe (Conroe Greyhound Station) [9]
- Galveston (Galveston Bus Station) [10]
- Katy (at Millers Exxon) [11]
- Prairie View (at Unco Food Store) [12]
- Rosenberg (at Shell-McDonalds) [13]
- Sealy (at Mazac Muffler City-AC) [14]
- Texas City (at McKown Air Conditioning, also serving La Marque) [15]
Kerrville Bus Company [16] operates from the Houston Greyhound Station in conjunction with Greyhound.
El Expreso Bus Company [17] operates services to a station in Houston adjacent to the Greyhound Station.
Tornado Bus Company operates services to two stations in Houston [18], with one along Airline Drive and one along Harrisburg.
In the 1990s various bus companies began operations in the East End, serving Mexico and other parts of the United States from East End terminals.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.houston.org/blackfenders/11BW001.pdf
- ^ Houston Airport System
- ^ Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2006. Amtrak. 2006. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
- ^ Berryhill, Michael. "East End Transit." Houston Press. 1.
[edit] See also
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