The Moving Forward Plan seeks to improve transportation throughout the region, but funding and project priorities still need to be sorted out.

Dug Begley takes a closer look at the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s METRONext Moving Forward Plan that includes a series of bus, rail, and roadway projects. The plan outlines light rail extensions, proposed bus rapid transit routes, increased commuter and local bus service, and new high-occupancy vehicle lanes and park-and-ride facilities.
Begley says that projects are planned throughout Metro’s 1,200-square-mile service area to get more commuters using transit:
Inside the Sam Houston Tollway where buses travel most major streets and are more commonly used by residents, officials want to increase how often those buses come. Outside the beltway where more than 2 million of Harris County’s residents live, park and ride lots will be expanded and commuter buses will go to more places more often.
Critics, however, say that the plan does not do enough to provide transit service to growing job centers in the Houston area. They also point out that extending rail service to Hobby Airport should be less of a priority as these projects will be costly and will carry fewer riders than comparable BRT alternatives and other routes to more densely populated areas.
Funding for the $7.5 billion plan is still up in the air. About half of the money will come from federal sources, with the remainder coming mainly from sales tax revenue bonds. Metro has started conducting public meetings to get input and comments and expects to put the bond issue in front of voters in November.
FULL STORY: Metro plan’s mix of transit, services a nod to differing Houston-area demands

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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