by Tory Gattis — My lead item this week is my proposed alternative to channelizing Buffalo Bayou or an expensive tunnel to better drain the westside reservoirs and avoid a future Harvey flooding tragedy.
by Tory Gattis — Dallas has experienced a ridership drop of 57%, nearly identical to Houston. We probably won’t see a rebound in transit ridership until there is widespread vaccination and rush-hour traffic congestion returns to pre-covid levels.
by Tory Gattis — Texas Central high-speed rail is now looking for federal loan guarantees. But to repay the $30B in loans, rail prices will exceed comparable air fares, assuming 6M riders.
by Tory Gattis — What will be Houston’s economic future in a less carbon-intensive energy world? Will we still be an energy capital, or could we play to other strengths?
by Tory Gattis — Houston ranks in top 5 of America’s global cities behind NYC, LA, and SF. We’re still the most affordable global city in America!
by Tory Gattis — Houston’s All-American Pandemic Response: Ignore Until It’s Too Late. It saw what happened in NYC but its Covid-19 response was a failure anyway.
by Tory Gattis — Houston’s economic output relative to its geographic size puts it at #7 in the US. And we cover how Houstonians are incredibly supportive during flooding.
by Tory Gattis — HCTRA toll road revenue will now be diverted into a general fund, even as transportation already suffers in Texas from the state’s diversion of gas tax to non-transportation needs.
by Tory Gattis — United Airlines has planes and crews idled by the pandemic – they could establish a new hub somewhere if they wanted to. But where would a new hub fill gaps and make economic sense?
by Tory Gattis — For proven housing reform, look at Houston, arguably the most pro-housing city in the country. Houston leads housing affordability for large metros.