Subject: Transportation

• Learning to Crawl

  March 2, 2007

• So Long, Friendly Skies

  August 10, 2006

• The Osteen Trial: Let The Feasting Begin

  August 12, 2008

• Houston's Light Rail Not Good Enough For Baltimore

  August 13, 2008

• Your Highway's A Parking Lot, But The HOV Lanes Are Clear

  September 22, 2008

• Dog Bites Train

  The Main Train and selling pets to labs have nothing in common. Until it comes to referenda, that is.

  July 8, 1999

• Train In Vain?

  Main street's light rail is on it's way, and boosters hope to see passengers lining up for a ride

  February 3, 2000

• News Chopper Crash Shows The Dangers

  October 13, 2008

• Guy Sues Continental Airlines over Fuel Surcharges

  October 14, 2008

• Trainspotting

  Here's how Metro wants to sell us on light rail

  September 11, 2003

• High-Speed Rail Coming To Texas, Once Again

  Last week, the Houston Business Journal reported that high speed rail  is coming to Houston. At a speech at New York's Penn Station, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced that her office will soon begin "accepting expressions of interest to finance, design, build, operate and maintain high-speed trains on the Northeast Corridor and in 10 other federally-designated corridors around the nation."And wonder of wonders - Houston is on one of the corridors.Just think -

  December 23, 2008

• Tough Month To Be A Houston Flier

  October was really a tough month to be an air passenger in Houston.The federal Bureau of Transportation has released its latest survey of flight delays, and Houston plays a prominent role in it.The third-worst airline when it came to on-time arrivals was our very own Continental. Almost 19 percent of the airline's arrivals were late in October.But it's in the category of "Longest Tarmac Delays" that Houston really shines.

  December 10, 2008

• Southwest Airlines Going All International On Us

  You are now free to move about...another country?Has Southwest Airlines, the little Texas company that introduced cattle-call boarding, going all international on us?The airline announced today it's taking the first steps to offering flights to Canada, which is a country somewhere to the north of the U.S. It has different money, some people there speak French, and they drink a lot of beer.There is already a sneaky way to book Canada flights through Southwest and WestJet, its Canada partner, but

  December 23, 2008

• Just Don't Breathe It

  February 3, 1994

• Letters

  December 1, 1994

• The Rule of Men, Not Law

  June 8, 1995

• East End Transit

  November 27, 1997

• Tempers Flare At The Metro Board Meeting

  Some important things could have been resolved at today's Metro board meeting, particularly the absence of a contract between Metro and an outside company to design and build four proposed light-rail lines, the cornerstone of future mass transit in Houston.Instead, we got wife-beating. It started when anti-Metro-zealot Tom Bazan told the board that he thought it was discriminating against poor people and minorities by minimizing bus routes in favor of rail. Board member Bishop James Dixon to

  February 19, 2009

• Upping the Ante-Up

  May 7, 1998

• The Great Non-Communicator

  July 2, 1998

• What, The Name "Death To Jews" Was Taken?

  Photo courtesy Qatar AirwaysQatar Airways is making a big move in the Houston market -- it's got ads on the air touting its luxurious service, it's got a giant new 777 plying the new Houston-Doha route.One thing it's probably not doing -- advertising in Houston's Jewish Herald-Voice. Or, if they are, they're probably not headlining the name of the new 777 flying exclusively from Houston to Doha.Qatar Airways has named it the Gaza.The airline names all its planes after cities or geographic locati

  March 4, 2009

• Letters

  February 17, 2000

• Best Patio

  September 21, 2000

• On the Right Track

  March 16, 2006

• Bullet Train to Vegas

  Sunday, July 9, at Java Jazz, 2502 FM 1960 East, Spring, 832-482-2684

  July 6, 2006

• Letters to the Editor

  April 13, 2006

• Run Over by Metro

  The city's bus company shows little inclination to pay up or change its ways, even after it smacks into people like its own employee Clarence Santee Jr.

  March 30, 2006

• Double-Wide Divide

  Critics say Perry's turnpike plans will take a terrible toll on Texans

  January 13, 2005

• For Whom the Hell Tolls

  Heights residents fear the toll road authority's new land acquisition plans

  November 25, 2004

• Up in the Air

  Was this the punch line to a bad racist, homophobic joke or a dry run for a terrorist bombing?

  October 14, 2004

• Best Place to Pretend You're in Blade Runner

  September 23, 2004

• Best Use of Taxpayer Dollars

  September 23, 2004

• Pimp My Ride

  Why buy a Hummer when you've got the army?

  August 5, 2004

• The Mixmaster

  County Judge Bob Eckels, the Doc Ock of transportation, is busy planning more roads

  July 22, 2004

• Perfect Fit

  Metro's new president already has a Houston attitude

  April 29, 2004

• Ship Wrecked

  A Houston firm certified the oil tanker Prestige as good to go. It broke apart in the Atlantic, causing the worst environmental disaster in Spanish history.

  February 12, 2004

• Training Day

  Light rail's first day brings one high after another

  January 8, 2004

• Bridging the Gap

  Birders and the port are new buds seeking to block the proposed toll span at Bolivar

  November 27, 2003

• Letters

  November 6, 2003

• Bad Blood on the Tracks

  Metro's consulting becomes insulting for some Hispanic leaders

  October 2, 2003

• Best Hype

  Super Bowl 2004

  September 25, 2003

• The Train Ride Gets Bumpy

  Metro's coalition shows some early cracks

  May 1, 2003

• Air Sic

  In cargo holds or plane cabins, critters are taking more than flights of fancy

  May 17, 2001

• Best Bike Lanes

  West Alabama at South Shepherd

  September 21, 2000

• The Katy: Railing On

  Fears of a future light train trouble Katy Freeway expansion critics

  December 9, 1999

• The Insider

  September 10, 1998

• Metro's Light Rail, Directed By Martin Scorsese

  Houston METRO Light Rail from NC3D.com on Vimeo Via Swamplot comes pretty, pretty pictures of the proposed light-rail lines Metro is building.See!! Swooping visuals as you zoom in from the skies and glide past trains and Second Life pedestrians!!Hear!! Light-rail trains that sound like Santa's sleigh ho-ho-hoing its way though town!!Be amazed!! As -- right before your eyes -- Metro creates new development where there had been none!!Note: Your actual mileage may vary. And as far as we can tell,

  April 20, 2009

• Feds Say Metro Has Violated Civil Rights Laws (Without Specifics)

  We reported yesterday on things looking up for Metro, but today Hair Balls learned that our transit authority is violating the federal government's definition of civil rights. According to a letter dated April 27, the Federal Transit Administration conducted a Title VI Compliance Review of Metro earlier this year, which, among other things, ensures "that the level and quality of transportation service is provided without regard to race, color, or national origin" and evaluates the "social an

  May 21, 2009

• Commuter Rail From Galveston And Hempstead By 2012!! Well, Maybe

  ​The Citizens Transportation Coalition is currently giddy with dreams of 90 MPH commuter trains speeding from Galveston and down 290 into the city...possibly by 2012, which sounds like the far future but is only three years away. There hasn't been much public movement on commuter rail since the HGAC's study was released a year ago. But quietly, gears are meshing, and we may have commuter rail to Galveston and Hempstead as early as 2012.On Thursday, the North Houston Association hosted a high-p

  August 4, 2009

• Metro Vice President To Homeless: Stay Off Our Train

  ​Todd Mason is the vice president of real estate services for Metro. At the time of his hiring, there was some concern that by hiring Mason and dabbling in big-time real estate development at and around Metro properties, the transit organization was extending itself far beyond its mission statement, which reads: METRO is an innovative regional transportation organization of dedicated employees committed to partnering with the public and private sectors to provide the safest, highest quality se

  November 6, 2009