Out of the Box Thinking for Transportation

An innovative thinker from Houston has an analysis of current urban transportation solutions and new approaches using emerging technologies.(Houston Transportation Strategies)

"The first step is learning from what has and hasn't worked for other cities. Rail investments in other decentralized, Sunbelt cities, such as Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver, and Atlanta, have been disappointing. Los Angeles in particular is a cautionary case. With $9 billion spent on new rail lines in a city with twice the density of Houston and perfect walking weather year-round (unlike our summers!), they have seen overall declines in transit ridership and worsening traffic congestion. Rail is incredibly expensive — typically over $100 million per mile — and just not well suited for spread-out Sunbelt cities built around the automobile in the post-WWII era."

"The second step is understanding the ramifications of coming new technologies — specifically self-driving cars."

"Customized SUVs could be made with private individual compartments, so that passengers traveling in generally the same direction could share a ride without interacting. When vehicle pulls up, an indicator could tell you which door to enter for your compartment, then alert you again when it's time for you to get out based on the destination you put into your smart phone. A private ride combined with shared prices and efficiency: the best of both worlds."

Georgetown's transportation planners should be looking at these concepts for solving Georgetown's long term traffic problems. Wider streets with dedicated lanes for self-driving cars need to be planned far in advance of actual implementation.

Rail systems are prohibitively expensive and serve a very small segment of the population and take a long time to plan and implement. Bus systems are much more economical and quicker to establish, but, still use the existing roads. New technologies and approaches to solving transportation problems are sorely needed and Georgetown should take the initiative to lead the way.