How Houston missed the bus.
A man with a hand cast approaches Partner in the Houston light rail. He points at her and points at himself as if to say “we’re both injured!”
His opening line: “are you a believer?”
Partner grunts, “Catholic”.
He tells her that Jesus will take care of her. See: he prayed and his hand doesn’t hurt.
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Houston is a car-based city. The light rail only navigates along a few specific stretches. Therefore the main people who use the light rail are those who don’t have cars. The selection effects mean the light rail users are mainly poor or homeless. It’s the highest proportion of people talking to themselves or yelling arguments at the empty air that I’ve ever seen.
So what?
So it’s a little bit of a spiral to the bottom. The New York City subway definitely has more total homeless or poor or ghost-yellers than the Houston light rail. But the proportion in Houston dwarfs that of New York. And it feels – at least to me – much less safe. I wonder whether that causes it to only attract those without other options. So it attracts fewer riders – and fewer affluent and influential riders. And therefore the service doesn’t expand?
Houston doesn’t necessarily need a better light rail. The buses also work well enough, if you’re okay standing in oppressive heat for fifteen minutes. But it’s a notable trait of infrastructure: if you don’t invest early enough, you’re generally better off waiting for the next paradigm. The US is a car culture. Next up: personal helipads?
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And a funny quote from Partner:
“You know what’s the funniest part of BTUs? The Brits don’t use air conditioning.”
Julian Wise 