Transit Ridership: Is Houston Discovering the Bus?

When most Houstonians leave the house to traverse the city, the overwhelming mode of transportation is by car. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that most people in the Houston metropolitan area have never even taken public transit. If they have, it was probably in a limited capacity. Houston is the definition of a “car city”.

But even if progress is slow, it’s still happening just the same. The latest report from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reveals that some Houstonians are at least beginning to discover that our public transit system is usable for more than the rodeo. From 2012 to 2013, Houston’s overall public transit ridership increased by 2.76%. Though not a huge number, it is the largest transit ridership growth of any major city in Texas. Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso and even ultra progressive Austin all saw declines in transit ridership.

The numbers are even more surprising when examined by mode of transit. It’s clear that Houston’s bus system is leading the way in this growth. Bus ridership alone grew by a healthy 3.44% between 2012 and 2013, putting Houston 2nd in the nation for highest increase in bus system usage. Only Washington DC’s bus ridership increased faster than the Bayou City at 3.45%.

Many bus riders are starting to see a change in Houston METRO services, including more new busses on the road, more predictable travel planning thanks to new innovations like METRO’s T.R.I.P. app, and increased numbers in the seats. As was discussed recently on Houston Matters, there are some surprising intrinsic benefits to public transit use.

For all of the focus that Houston has put on rail transit, including the recent opening of the North Line, ridership on Metro Rail was actually down by 0.72%. Granted, the North Line occurred only 10 days before the close of 2013, so we’ll have to wait for next year’s report to see any true effect on those numbers. But the heart and soul of Houston mass transit system is certainly busses, and it’s good to see growth in that area.

Off the Kuff has a broader take on this interesting report.

TexWatch 2014: Past the Primaries Part 1

The old saying goes like this…

Democrats fall in love. Republicans fall in line.

Once again, this political principle was on display this week’s Primary election. Republicans, as expected, were out in much greater force than their Democrat counterparts, despite all of the hope and anticipation of positive developments like Battleground Texas. In the first statewide election since BGTX’s founding, Democratic turnout was almost the same for 2014 as it was in 2010… dismal. The GOP side had easily twice the number of voters.

Houston Chronicle’s editorial board seems to agree…

The tea party groups won also in this, their third election cycle, because they are knowledgeable and engaged and they show up. They contest every office.

Are you listening Democrats? Until the state’s hapless minority party emulates the tea partiers, they’ll continue to embarrass themselves with such beyond-the-fringe candidates as Kesha Rogers, a Fort Bend County follower of Lyndon LaRouche who has advocated impeaching President Obama and who carts around a poster of the president with a Hitler mustache. Rogers is a Democrat in name only, but low-information primary voters keep voting for her anyway.

Knowledgeable? Well, TEA-Publicans definitely show up. And they always bring a trove of consistent, even if rarely factual, talking points. And in the state’s current voting environment, it’s enough to wallop the Democratic side.

But the most frustrating part of all of this? Even if Republicans are out-voting Democrats by a 2 to 1 margin, the combined voter turnout is still abysmal. Fewer than 1.9 million people voted in this week’s Primary election… roughly 0.5 percent of the state’s population made these decisions for 26 million Texans. 12 million registered voters were nowhere to be found. Of the supreme oligarchy that does manage to get to the polls, many of them have no clue what or who they’re voting for. There’s no better evidence of this than the fact that a virtual unknown can draw over 114,000 votes just because they have a name of Hispanic origin. Reynaldo “Ray” Madrigal, a Corpus Christi native and Wendy Davis’ only primary opponent, never even campaigned north of I-10.

After this week’s contest, it’s pretty easy to see why Texas Democrats are caught in a cycle of disappointment. They are still a weak party, but all is not lost. Some glimmers of hope (and likely evidence that Battleground Texas is making a difference) include increased voter turnout in urban counties, an improved fundraising apparatus and a literal ARMY of new volunteers. Check back for more insight into how statewide candidates did, and how they can win this November.

BREAKING: Arkansas ‘Private Option’ Is Safe!!

Some very good news for the people of Arkansas, and other states that may follow in their footsteps…

The Arkansas State House of Representatives has finally approved funding for the ‘Private Option’ with a vote of 76 to 22. They passed the exact version of the State Senate’s bill, which was approved with much less drama. Here’s more from Gavin Lesnick of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The state House of Representatives has passed funding to continue Arkansas’s private option Medicaid expansion, approving the bill after four attempts last month came up short.

The House voted 76-24 Tuesday in favor of the Senate version, which passed on its first try last month. It will next go to Gov. Mike Beebe.

It was the fifth vote for the private option bill in the House. No previous attempt got more than 72 votes.

Beebe said he was “obviously” pleased by the vote, which he said should have been an easier process than when legislators narrowly approved the private option last year. This time around, they had approval of the program from the federal government and a host of tax cuts passed based on its savings, he said.

“If anything, it was even more compelling this time to do it than it was last time — not to mention the fact you’d be throwing 100,000 people off healthcare” if it didn’t pass, he said.

House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, who expressed optimism the bill would ultimately pass even as it fell short in previous attempts, applauded legislators for the passage.

“I think the story is about a lot of things and one is it’s about political courage,” he said. “I truly do believe this is an example set for the rest of the country.”

The vote came after several speeches on the floor for and against the bill.

Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, announced he would vote for the bill after previously opposing it.

“There are people who will be hurt if I don’t vote for this,” Hammer said. “And I don’t want to see those innocent people hurt because of that.”

Hammer — who joined Reps. Les “Skip” Carnine and Mary Lou Slinkard in switching to yes votes — said he had not “betrayed” opponents of the bill and would not shy from voting against it next year if the program is not successful.

Kudos to Governor Beebe and House Speaker Davy Carter on what has surely been a difficult fight. On a personal note… my mother, stepfather and several of my friends and family are constituents of Representative Kim Hammer in Benton, Arkansas. Besides sending several tweets that mentioned Mr. Hammer, I spoke to a few family members that are his constituents (some of them directly affected if the Private Option was dropped) and asked them to call him regarding his vote.

Whose to say if their actions had a direct impact on his decision, but from his answer here, it sounds like he changed his vote because constituents reached out to him and voiced their concerns. It just goes to show you that sometimes communicating with lawmakers really can make all the difference.

Now that the inner political drama is done, let’s hope that other states (like the one to the immediate south and west, perhaps) will take a second look at the ‘Private Option’ as a possible solution to their growing healthcare challenges.

Texoblogosphere: Week of March 3rd

The Texas Progressive Alliance is delighted to see marriage equality take another big step forward as we bring you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff examines the past performance of UT/Texas Trib polls in statewide Demorcatic primaries and finds it wanting.

As the Uber rideshare program (and all its politics) come to Houston, George and Horwitz at Texpatriate take different sides on the issue, one in favor, one against.

After a recent visit to the Natural State, Texas Leftist has discovered that Arkansas’ ‘Private Option’ alternative to Medicaid expansion is a rousing success. So successful in fact, it seems only natural that dysfunctional GOP politicians would try to kill it. Are they really willing to kick one hundred thousand people (and counting) off of their health plans?

WCNews at Eye on Williamson reminds us that the Texas GOP holds all the power in Texas and therefore Everything That’s Wrong With Texas Is The Texas GOP’s Fault.

It’s a good thing that Greg Abbott doesn’t comprehend the damage he’s doing to his chances to get elected, observes PDiddie at Brains and Eggs. And as long as Abbott continues not getting it, Ted Nugent is going to be the gift that keeps on giving.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why Greg Abbott’s campaign publicly endorses Ted Nugent’s views.

Neil at All People Have Value posted about the brave and hopeful man who interrupted arguments at the Supreme Court to speak up in opposition to Citizens United. All People Have Value is part of NeilAquino.com.

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

John Coby has Greg Abbott’s next apology all ready for him.

The Texas Green Report updates us on the Sierra Club’s litigation against industrial polluters.

Offcite looks at your cancer risk in Houston.

The Lunch Tray reports that a growing number of Congressional Republicans are seeking to gut the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

The Inanity of Sanity mocks the latest video smear attempt by James O’Keefe, this time against Battleground Texas.

TFN Insider awaits an apology to teachers from Dan Patrick and David Dewhurst now that their accusations about CSCOPE have proven to be utterly groundless.

Grits explains again why more security cameras do not equal more security.

Happy Electtion Day!! Make sure to go VOTE!!!

TexWatch 2014: DO NOT VOTE FOR KESHA ROGERS!!

If you are late to the voting info, but plan to vote in the Texas Democratic Primaries tomorrow, here’s some important news…

Please DO NOT VOTE FOR KESHA ROGERS!! She is a LaRouche Democrat that openly calls for the impeachment of President Obama. She’s bad news for the Texas Democratic Party.