Houston Transportation Noella Cantu Chelsea Serrano-Piche Garrett Taylor ARCH 5502 Urban Design Studio Fall 2010

Topics Airport Ship Channel Railroads Highway/Freeway Roads Light rail – Existing – Proposed Bus Bike Pedestrian – Street Level – Underground Process

Work Produced

The Port of Houston is 25 miles long controlled by the Port of Houston Authority and more than 150 private industrial companies along the Houston Ship Channel. The port is ranked first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage and imports and ranked second in U.S. export tonnage. contributing to more than 785,000 jobs throughout Texas. Houston Highways Houston includes miles of freeways and expressways. Highways serving Houston are Interstate 10, Interstate 45, Loop 610, U.S. 59, U.S. 90, U.S. 290, Texas 288, Texas 225, Sam Houston Tollway, Hardy Toll Road and Grand parkway ( Texas 99). Houston Ship Channel

Houston Railroads The first railroad in Houston was built in Currently, sixteen tracks make up Houston’s railroad system and serve areas such as Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans and Galveston.

Houston Light Rail System Houston’s only existing light rail opened in January 2004, serving downtown and areas south of it. It includes 16 stations, consists of a seven and a half mile track, and carries 45,000 passengers daily. The proposed light rails include more than thirty miles of light rail transit made of: University, Uptown, North, East End and Southeast lines.

Houston Bikeways Houston has a 345 mile interconnected bikeway that spans over 500 square miles. This bikeway includes, bike lanes, routes, shared lanes, bayou trails, and other city wide multi-use paths. There are also numerous miles of bike trails that can be found within Houston city parks.

Houston Bus System Greyhound provides services from five bus stations within and around the downtown area. Public bus routes include more than 1,285 square miles, stopping every other corner along its route. Houston’s METRO system includes 28 Park and Ride lots for long- distance commuting.

Houston Roads The roads of Houston weave in and out of the built environment. Most space that is not developed consists of roads. It can be inferred that roads take about as much space as the built/planned spaces.

Resources Yi, Eui-sung, and Thom Mayne. L.A. Now. Five Proposals. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Dept. of Architecture and Urban Design, Print. METRO. METRO - Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Houston, Texas. Web. 16 Sept "Houston Railroads, 1997." TrainWeb for Train Travel, Model Railroading, Railfans and the Railroad Industry. Web. 16 Sept