Transportation

Comprehensive Transportation Planning and Public Project Transparency

  • Houston lacks a consistent and transparent approach to transportation planning and infrastructure project communication. The fragmented nature of transportation planning among agencies, combined with limited public access to project information, leads to confusion, inefficiency, and a missed opportunity to align infrastructure investments with the city’s mobility, safety, and economic development goals. A comprehensive transportation plan—paired with a centralized, publicly accessible map of transportation projects—would restore leadership to the City of Houston, improve transparency, and foster coordination among local, regional, and state entities.

  • The City of Houston currently lacks a coherent, city-led strategy for guiding transportation investments. Without a comprehensive transportation plan, decisions around transit, bikeways, streets, and freight infrastructure are made in a piecemeal, politically driven manner. This absence of a shared vision allows reactive governance to dominate, reducing the City’s ability to effectively prioritize projects, compete for external funding, and ensure consistency with regional mobility goals. Political interference in agency-led work has also jeopardized federal grants and weakened public trust.

    Further exacerbating this issue is the fragmentation of infrastructure information. Agencies like METRO, Harris County, TxDOT, and various management districts often undertake projects independently, and the public lacks a single, accessible tool to understand what is being built, when, and by whom. This erodes trust in government, creates public frustration, and reduces civic engagement in transportation decision-making.

    The status quo impacts several constituencies. Businesses suffer from unpredictable traffic disruptions and lack of long-term infrastructure alignment. Residents experience avoidable construction confusion and degraded pedestrian safety. These problems also disproportionately affect communities with limited mobility options, reinforcing transportation inequities. Though previous initiatives like the Bike Plan or Vision Zero have touched parts of the transportation system, they were never fully integrated into a broader capital improvement framework or paired with real-time implementation transparency. The absence of a unifying vision has broken the implicit public promise of coordinated, data-informed, and inclusive transportation investment.

  • To address these challenges, the City should undertake a two-pronged strategy:

    1. Develop a Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) that integrates all modes of movement—transit, bikeways, sidewalks, freight, streets, and safety.

    2. Launch a Public Infrastructure Dashboard that maps all major public infrastructure projects - regardless of implementing agency - in one accessible digital platform.

    The CTP would serve as a blueprint for policy, design, and capital investment over the next two decades. It would include actionable near-term items such as street project prioritization, a sidewalk strategy, and the next 50 miles of bike infrastructure. Houston should lead this effort to realign fragmented efforts under one civic framework. This would prevent the current administration - or future ones - from undermining established best practices or jeopardizing partnerships with H-GAC or federal agencies.

    The interactive map component would provide real-time visibility into all ongoing and upcoming roadway, transit, and capital projects. Inspired by platforms used in National City, California and Hutto, Texas, this site would include project descriptions, status updates, traffic alerts, conceptual designs, and opportunities for public feedback. This solution addresses the demand for greater civic transparency and provides businesses and residents with actionable information.

    Precedents for these solutions exist across the U.S. Cities like Boston, Austin, and San Diego have implemented capital improvement dashboards and coordinated mobility plans to great effect. Their experience shows that visualizing infrastructure improves civic understanding and inter-agency accountability.

    However, a CTP alone cannot ensure implementation without political backing or dedicated funding. Likewise, a project dashboard may only be as reliable as the information agencies agree to provide. These tools must be linked to enforceable policies, ongoing maintenance, and regular public updates.

    Houston has the legal authority to develop a citywide transportation plan and maintain a transparency portal. While some transportation domains are subject to state control (e.g., TxDOT projects), no law prohibits the City from coordinating internally or externally, nor from transparently sharing infrastructure data.

    The financial cost of a CTP and project dashboard is modest compared to their long-term benefit. H-GAC would be a strategic funding partner—especially with the renewed attention to Prop B. The planning process and dashboard development could be funded via a combination of the General Fund, regional grants, and philanthropic support. Over time, these investments would improve capital efficiency, reduce duplicative spending, and boost the City’s competitiveness in federal grant programs.

    Anticipated supporters include civic tech advocates, business chambers, urban planning professionals, community development groups, and safety advocates. Potential opposition may come from political actors resistant to increased transparency or changes in capital project prioritization. The policy must be framed not just as a planning exercise, but as an economic and equity imperative that builds trust and delivers near-term results.

    1. Convene a coalition of planning partners, including H-GAC, METRO, Harris County, and local universities.

    2. Secure funding and staff resources to initiate the planning process and technology platform design.

    3. Define the dashboard’s scope with stakeholder input and implement it incrementally—starting with high-impact, high-visibility corridors.

    4. Frame messaging around economic competitiveness, transparency, and safety. Emphasize benefits to businesses, commuters, and underserved communities.

    5. Ensure early deliverables—like the dashboard and a draft project prioritization matrix—are shared within six months to avoid the perception that this is “just another plan.”

    Near-term wins such as a “one-stop” construction map, a prioritized bikeway build-out plan, and a sidewalk gap strategy can galvanize public support. Over time, integrating all transportation components - freight, Vision Zero, transit, and more - under one plan will yield a more sustainable, equitable, and transparent transportation future for Houston.

    1. ClearGov. (2021, September 8). 7 Best Practices for Promoting Capital Improvements in Your Community. https://cleargov.com/rc/article/best-practices-promoting-capital-improvements

    2. ClearGov. (2019, December 5). Department Dashboards Give Every Unit in Your Agency an Opportunity to Shine. https://cleargov.com/rc/article/department-dashboards-give-every-unit-opportunity-to-shine

    3. City of Hutto. (2025). Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Projects Dashboard. https://www.huttotx.gov/363/Capital-Improvement-Plan-CIP-Projects

    4. City of National City. (2025). CIP Projects Dashboard. https://natcity.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/806c335977874ffa8b52792fd58db018

    5. Pew Research Center. (2024). Mobile Fact Sheet. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/

    6. Buell, R. W., & Norton, M. I. (2011). The labor illusion: How operational transparency increases perceived value. Management Science, 57(9), 1564-1579. https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/Norton_Michael_The%20labor%20illusion%20How%20operational_f4269b70-3732-4fc4-8113-72d0c47533e0.pdf

Freight Rail Crossing Safety

  • The freight network that cuts across Houston poses an enormous safety risk (delaying emergency vehicles, causing pedestrian fatalities, and recently derailing). At grade crossings also degrade our quality of life with noise and traffic delays.  Previous plans to address this issue have not been comprehensive - the city must lead the way on addressing this issue comprehensively.  

  • At-grade freight crossings - where railroad tracks cut through neighborhoods, across city streets - are particularly bad in Houston’s city center and on the east side.  Freight crossings also impact  other parts of the city –Hiram Clarke, Galveston Road,  290 Road, US 90A, and the River Oaks / Galleria area. 

    Across the city this leads to: 

    • Increased risk of trains hitting motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. 

    • Delays in school and work commutes - whether on foot, via car, bike or public transit.  

    • Delays and rerouting of emergency vehicles responding to fire or medical emergencies. 

    • Neighborhood disturbance (e.g., lack of quiet zones leading to train horns)

    • Some plans have proposed grade separations  or pedestrian bridges in parts of the city,  but no comprehensive solution has been proposed to separate whole lines, not just crossings. A piecemeal approach to a system-wide problem leaves Houstonians at unnecessary risk.  

  • The only complete solution is grade separating crossings - elevating or depressing either roads or rail lines.   Priority should be given to high volume rail lines and those that move slowly in the core part of Houston and around major yards. The city must lead the way in applying for and securing state and federal funding to execute a grade separation plan and to ensure that all TxDOT highway projects address adjacent crossings. METRO funds may be used for grade separations that will make bus service more reliable. 

    While grade separations are being funded and built the city should work with partners to fund and install crossing monitoring systems.  In Sugarland, these systems help drivers, first responders, and a transit dispatchers know in real time which crossings are blocked.  

    1. Convene a coalition of planning partners, including H-GAC, METRO, Harris County, and local universities.

    2. Secure funding and staff resources to initiate the planning process and technology platform design.

    3. Define the dashboard’s scope with stakeholder input and implement it incrementally—starting with high-impact, high-visibility corridors.

    4. Frame messaging around economic competitiveness, transparency, and safety. Emphasize benefits to businesses, commuters, and underserved communities.

    5. Ensure early deliverables—like the dashboard and a draft project prioritization matrix—are shared within six months to avoid the perception that this is “just another plan.”

    Near-term wins such as a “one-stop” construction map, a prioritized bikeway build-out plan, and a sidewalk gap strategy can galvanize public support. Over time, integrating all transportation components - freight, Vision Zero, transit, and more - under one plan will yield a more sustainable, equitable, and transparent transportation future for Houston.

  • Freight related crash data and stats (2021 - 2023) for Harris County

Upholding the METRONext Vision

  • In 2019, Houston voters overwhelmingly approved the METRONext plan - a $3.5 billion transit vision for expanded bus rapid transit (BRT), rail corridors, and improved bus service. But under the Whitmire administration, that vision has been systematically dismantled, with major projects indefinitely postponed and transit dollars redirected toward road resurfacing. In response, this policy proposes City ordinances that preserve METRONext’s voter-approved integrity, require its integration into any City-led street construction, and re-center long-term transit equity and connectivity in Houston’s infrastructure planning.

  • METRONext represented a generational opportunity to transform mobility in Houston. The plan, developed over years of community engagement and technical review, proposed 75+ miles of new BRT, major rail expansions, and improvements to local routes, sidewalks, and transit access in communities like Gulfton and Acres Homes. The $3.5 billion bond referendum received support from nearly 70% of voters, signaling a clear public mandate to expand high-capacity, equitable public transit.

    However, since taking office, Mayor John Whitmire and his newly appointed Metro board have dramatically shifted direction under a new plan called MetroNow. MetroNow emphasizes short-term service enhancements - like increased cleaning, policing, and microtransit pilots  - while pulling back from the infrastructure investments that make robust transit possible. METRO has already removed key project pages for the University, Inner Katy, and Gulfton BRT lines. Meanwhile, the city has repaved streets that once hosted bus-only lanes and has deprioritized sidewalk and bike connectivity.

    This shift not only undermines long-term transit expansion, but also violates the spirit - if not the letter - of the METRONext bond. By diverting transit-designated funds to general-purpose road repairs, Metro and the City risk breaking faith with voters who approved the plan. And with bus service levels still below pre-COVID levels, neighborhoods that rely most on transit are being left behind once again.

  • To defend the METRONext vision and prevent further erosion of voter-approved transit priorities, the City of Houston should adopt the following two ordinances:

    1. Transit Corridor Protection Ordinance
       Require that any City-led street construction, repaving, or redesign project along METRONext-designated BRT or rail corridors must include and preserve the transit features outlined in the plan. This includes right-of-way for BRT lanes, transit signal priority, and platform-ready street design. No street reconstruction should move forward if it compromises or precludes a METRONext project.

    2. Bus Stop Infrastructure Ordinance
       Require that all City capital projects include high-quality bus stop amenities—such as shelters, benches, ADA-accessible sidewalks, lighting, and wayfinding—at METRO-served locations. Additionally, commercial and multifamily developers should be required to contribute to transit infrastructure near their projects, ensuring that new development supports transit use.

    These ordinances are within the City’s legal authority and consistent with Houston’s Complete Streets Executive Order. They provide a direct mechanism for the City to uphold METRONext even if METRO deprioritizes it. Embedding future transit infrastructure into today’s street design is fiscally smart, environmentally responsible, and equitable.

    Importantly, these ordinances are not about dictating specific corridor routes or station designs. Instead, they ensure that the City does not undermine future transit through neglect or shortsighted street engineering. By requiring integration of METRONext projects into street construction, Houston reinforces the democratic principle that voter-approved plans must be honored and implemented.

    MetroNow, in contrast, fails to address Houston’s structural mobility needs. Its reliance on microtransit and aesthetics over connectivity and capacity is a poor substitute for the robust, high-ridership system METRONext envisioned. MetroNow proposes scattered fixes in place of a system-wide strategy and continues a pattern of underinvestment in the communities most reliant on public transit.

    1. Draft ordinance language with support from transit lawyers, planning experts, and Complete Communities representatives.

    2. Convene a public hearing on METRONext implementation and invite testimony from voters, neighborhood groups, and transit riders who supported the 2019 bond.

    3. Partner with LINK Houston, Air Alliance Houston, Rice University’s Kinder Institute, and other civic organizations to build public support and messaging.

    4. Emphasize that these ordinances defend the will of the voters and provide critical protections for long-term infrastructure readiness.

    5. Monitor upcoming City capital improvement projects and ensure the ordinances are applied to active corridor redesigns.

    1. Ganesh, A. (2025, February 25). Transit agency announces MetroNow initiatives to boost ridership, improve experience. Houston Landing.https://houstonlanding.org/transit-agency-announces-metronow-initiatives-to-boost-ridership-improve-experience/

    2. Hagerty, M. & Cohen, C. (2025, March 26). From METRONext to METRONow — how public transit is changing in Houston. Houston Public Media.https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/shows/houston-matters/2025/03/26/516937/from-metronext-to-metronow-how-public-transit-is-changing-in-houston/

    3. Zuvanich, A. (2024, May 3). Is METRO scrapping its plans for bus rapid transit in Houston? Houston Public Media.https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/transportation/2024/05/03/485628/is-metro-scrapping-its-plans-for-bus-rapid-transit-in-houston/

    4. Ganesh, A. (2024, May 28). Whitmire’s Metro emphasizes street repairs, microtransit. What does that mean for METRONext? Houston Landing.https://houstonlanding.org/whitmires-metro-emphasizes-street-repairs-microtransit-what-does-that-mean-for-metronext/

    5. Kinder Institute for Urban Research. (2019, February 20). At Rice University's Metro Day, Locals Share Their Concerns About METRONext. Rice University.https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/rice-universitys-metro-day-locals-share-their-concerns-about-metronext

    6. Sierra Club Houston Group. (2019, June 26). METROnext: Transit Plan Update. Sierra Club. https://www.sierraclub.org/texas/houston/blog/2019/06/metronext-transit-plan-update

Bring Vision Zero Back

  • Houston experienced a record-breaking 345 roadway deaths in 2024, a tragic reversal after years of modest progress under the City’s Vision Zero commitment. To stem this crisis, the City must re-commit to Vision Zero with an enforceable mandate: require all City-led street projects to incorporate traffic safety best practices based on national standards and establish cross-departmental crash response protocols that drive design reform.

  • At least 345 people lost their lives on Houston streets in 2024—the highest annual total in the city’s history. Victims include drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike, disproportionately impacting Black and Hispanic men. Despite a decrease in total crashes, fatalities surged by 15% compared to 2023, reflecting the severity of crashes on streets where vehicle speed and road design amplify risk (Begley, 2025).

    Houston adopted a Vision Zero Action Plan in November 2020, committing to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030. The plan emphasized redesigning streets for safety using a “Safe Systems” approach, data transparency, and equitable community engagement. However, under Mayor Whitmire, that vision has been largely abandoned. The administration has halted safety projects, widened lanes against expert advice, removed safety medians, and deemphasized Vision Zero as a guiding principle (McClenagan, 2025; Zuvanich, 2024).

    Houston adopted a Vision Zero Action Plan in November 2020, committing to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030. The plan emphasized redesigning streets for safety using a “Safe Systems” approach, data transparency, and equitable community engagement. However, under Mayor Whitmire, that vision has been largely abandoned. The administration has halted safety projects, widened lanes against expert advice, removed safety medians, and deemphasized Vision Zero as a guiding principle (McClenagan, 2025; Zuvanich, 2024).

  • What the Solution Solves

    The proposed policy directly addresses the design flaws that make Houston’s roads dangerous. It corrects the Whitmire administration’s retreat from safety-focused planning and re-centers evidence-based solutions that reduce crashes by slowing traffic, narrowing lanes, improving pedestrian crossings, and creating dedicated space for all road users.

    Precedents

    Cities like Austin, Hoboken, and New York have implemented Vision Zero with measurable success. Austin, for example, has seen its traffic fatality rate on city-owned roads drop significantly - reportedly achieving a per capita traffic death rate 50% lower than Houston's - thanks to persistent application of the Vision Zero approach (Fairbank, 2025). Internationally, countries like Sweden and Canada have reduced traffic deaths by as much as 50% using these design principles (Grove & Lynn, 2022).

    Limitations

    This proposal doesn’t fully address enforcement or driver behavior - issues like distracted driving and intoxication will still require complementary efforts in education and policing. Additionally, streets managed by TxDOT remain outside the City's jurisdiction, limiting comprehensive change unless interagency coordination improves.

    Legal Authority

    Houston retains full legal authority over city-owned streets and infrastructure. However, the Texas Legislature has previously attempted to preempt local governments from implementing “road diets” and lane reductions. While opposition is possible, no blanket preemption currently prohibits safety-focused designs.

    Fiscal Impact

    There is no new fiscal burden associated with this policy. It calls for better use of existing capital improvement resources and design standards. Redesigns already underway can be modified at negligible cost to incorporate safety standards. In fact, recommitting to Vision Zero may unlock federal grants tied to safety metrics, such as the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program, which awarded Houston over $100 million prior to Whitmire's rollback (Zuvanich, 2024).

    Revenue Potential

    Indirectly, safer streets reduce emergency response costs, hospitalizations, and crash-related lawsuits. Moreover, a recommitment could qualify Houston for future federal safety funding.

    1. Pass a City ordinance requiring all City-funded street design and capital projects to follow safety principles from NACTO and national Vision Zero guidance.

    2. Reestablish the High Injury Network analysis with annual updates, using crash data to prioritize safety interventions.

    3. Form a Public Works–Police Crash Review Board that evaluates all traffic fatalities and recommends design-based prevention strategies.

    4. Mandate publication of Vision Zero annual report cards as required in the adopted 2020 plan (Communication 1.1), alongside reports for the Complete Streets and Houston Bike Plan.

    5. Incorporate safety upgrades (like narrower lanes, improved pedestrian crossings, and bike infrastructure) in already-funded capital improvement projects.

    6. Restore and expand community engagement with vulnerable neighborhoods, particularly those overrepresented in fatality data.

  • Begley, D. (2025, February 3). Houston just recorded its highest number of road deaths. What can Mayor Whitmire do about it? Houston Chronicle. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/houston-roadway-deaths-record-20023292.php

    Brey, J. (2024, April 11). Houston’s new mayor pumps the brakes on street safety projects. Governing Magazine. https://www.governing.com/transportation/houstons-new-mayor-pumps-the-brakes-on-street-safety-projects

    Fairbank, R. (2025, February 7). “When you design roads, that is public health.” Harvard Public Health Magazine. https://harvardpublichealth.org/policy-practice/vision-zero-aims-to-reduce-traffic-deaths-through-better-road-design

    Grove, L., & Lynn, V. (2022, October 20). To achieve Vision Zero, Houston must shift the way it thinks about transportation at every level. Urban Edge, Kinder Institute for Urban Research. https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/achieve-vision-zero-houston-transportation

    McClenagan, K. (2025, February 3). Houston traffic fatalities rose to record numbers in 2024 as city lags on previous Vision Zero goals. Houston Public Media. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/transportation/2025/02/03/512816/houston-traffic-fatalities-rose-to-record-numbers-in-2024-as-city-lags-on-pervious-vision-zero-goals

    Zuvanich, A. (2024, March 21). Houston deemphasizing commitment to Vision Zero traffic safety initiative under new Mayor John Whitmire. Houston Public Media. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/traffic/2024/03/21/481261/houston-deemphasizing-commitment-to-vision-zero-traffic-safety-initiative-under-new-mayor-john-whitmire