Opinion

Start busing it if you hate parking so much

parking

Full parking lots are a common sight in virtually all lots across campus. | Anthony Torres/The Cougar

If you are reading this while sitting in traffic, you may have the time to read it twice. That is how long you spend in Houston’s congested highways every day when you could be doing something else.

It is no secret to Houstonians that transportation is an ongoing issue in the city. Whether you own a car or not, transportation can be a long, grueling process.

Houston has a car culture, and how affordable it is to own an automobile makes it seem like the heavy traffic makes sense.

We love our cars here. In 2010, Houston was the number one American city in car sales. We live in a city where 75 percent of us drive to work or school alone in our cars.

At UH, commuters make up 85 percent of the undergraduate student population.

As much as it is routine to criticize public transportation, the real problem lies behind our own choice to drive to school instead of using our resources.

With the particular case of UH, students don’t seem to be taking advantage of the newly-added transportation.

UH Parking and Transportation Services Director Robert Browand said the University has been trying since August to facilitate the acquisition of METRO cards for student commuters, but the numbers are still low.

“The last report I got showed a little over 1,200 boardings per month,” Browand said. “Assuming a student would come to campus an average of three times per week, that would equate to about 400 students.”

Despite UH’s efforts to bring more students on board to ride the trains and buses and diminish the issue of scarce parking on campus, commuters still opt in favor of driving instead.

“We started a new process this year where students can request their METRO cards directly from Public Transportation Services,” Browand said. “In addition, PTS has been represented at all student orientations and has participated in commuter and sustainability events to promote alternative transportation. METRO has also been on campus promoting the rail and bus service. To date, we’ve processed 679 METRO cards though the new request process.”

The questions of whether the new lines will work effectively are yet to be explored within the next years, but improvement can be made from a change in attitude.

Next time you are driving on Gulf Freeway wishing you were elsewhere, think of all the homework you could be doing while comfortably lying back and enjoying a bus or train ride.

Opinion Columnist Luiza Braga is a print journalism senior and may be reached at [email protected]

5 Comments

  • Buses and trains are almost as inefficient in this city as walking to your destination.
    The buses only serve just outside of Beltway 8 and inward leaving the 8+ communities that surround Houston high and dry, and the trains interact with street traffic which makes them no more efficient than a bus. Sure, you can sleep/do other stuff on a bus or train, but when faced with massive delays that turn a 1.5 hour commute in a car to a 3+ hour commute on bus and rail then you’re not doing public transportation right.

    • As a commuter myself the city has actually done a great job with this bus and train system after redoing over the summer. The Park and Rides are very efficient along with the trains (there is really no need to take a city bus) they are always there when the updated time sheets (i.e. the app) says it will be. Yes, the city buses are a bit more inconsistent by that is pretty much as expected in Houston traffic. However, the trains have yet to fail me. Also, yes, public transportation take longer than a car ride, but you have to account for the fact that they are stopping. I live about 35 minutes north of UH (without traffic) and it takes me anywhere from an hour to an hour and 15 minutes to get there via Metro. In reality it would take the same amount of time driving because one, i would have to account for morning traffic (add 15-30 minutes) and another 10 to 15 to find parking. It’s not all that different. Now, yes they could expand the Park and Ride system a tad. But you have the H.O.V. lane that often passes by one if you haven’t gone to far. It just requires some planning, and if necessary, getting up a little earlier.

      • If to put things in perspective, Metro’s website will not even route me to school because from where I live even Metro considers it too inefficient, and I don’t live that far away. My local park-and-ride is far too expensive and would still require two additional Metro connections to get to school.

        The overwhelming majority of people in this city would agree that Houston’s public transportation is far from great. Granted it will be very hard to solve public transit here because Houston has a very unique problem with excessive urban sprawl. I cannot think of another city off hand that serves such a large metropolitan area, and as you move further from city center the population density goes down which warrants less and less effective public transportation so people are essentially forced to commute.
        When it comes to parking I still tell people that buying a garage pass is one of the best investments I’ve made as a college student. If you fork over an extra 200$ and get an annual garage pass you also get a daily guaranteed spot and the peace of mind of not having to engage in battle for a spot, and/or bus from the ERP.

        Far too many people think that Houstonians are just too in love with their cars to try public transportation, but the truth is that despite traffic and parking delays using personal vehicles is still the most effective option.

  • Houston’s car culture is due to the fact that it’s such a sprawled-out city. If you live here and you don’t have a car, you’re screwed. Local bus service only takes care of downtown and it’s immediately surrounding areas, and park and ride service only goes as far as the Woodlands. Houston’s public transportation system is unsophisticated compared to that of cities of similar size and is not set up to handle the number of commuters in this city.
    So many people continue to drive to campus because it’s less cumbersome. They may complain but it’s simply the easiest and quickest option.

  • I hate it when people blame the university for their parking problems.
    The university has a solution: dorms.
    Either dorm or commute; don’t complain.

Leave a Comment