Posted on 01/31/2004 3:50:04 AM PST by Flyer
Crowds Force METRORail To Cut Service
2 Park & Rides Closed
HOUSTON -- For the second night in a row, large crowds at METRORail stations forced officials to shut down some of the light-rail route and implement their emergency plan.
Service for the new transit system was stopped at Main and Walker Thursday and Friday night when METRO police became concerned that crowded streets could lead to trouble.
"Once it got to a point that we had too many pedestrians to operate safely, we discontinued rail through the downtown area," said Chief Tom Lambert, with METRO Police.
Since METRO expected large crowds through the weekend, it decided to close two of the Park & Ride locations.
The Park & Rides at the West Loop, 4675 South Braeswood, and Fuqua, 11755 Sabo Road, are not open to the public.
METRO officers can make more changes if needed.
"We've asked them to exercise their discretion. If they see circumstances beginning to arise to let supervisors know. And that's exactly what happened last night. Some folks, I think playfully, (tried) to touch out to the train. When you start doing that, we get a little nervous about that from a safety standpoint. That was brought to our attention by the officers, and so we just made a decision that we just discontinue operations. We'll do the same thing tonight," Lambert said.
METRO said the service would end Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m.
Many of the downtown revelers used METRORail to get to the street parties.
"By the time we got halfway here, you couldn't get on the train. It was packed -- you know, it was full. People were actually having to wait for the next train," said Steven Hypes, who road light-rail train.
"We live out in Sugar Land and so the 90 and Fannin Park & Ride was great," said Bonnie Hypes, who also road METRORail.
Riders were not surprised that the trains did not go further into downtown.
"There was like two or three times the train had to slow down in town here because people walked across, so yeah, that makes sense. Somebody will stumble across it," Steven Hypes said.
The Texas Medical Center is opening one of its parking lots near Greenbriar, Old Spanish Trail and Braeswood to help alleviate downtown congestion.
Approximately 3,500 vehicles will be able to park there. Shuttles will take drivers and passengers into downtown.
Flocks Of Fans Make Their Way To Houston
Fans are starting to take the Bayou City by storm, arriving at area airports to cheer their favorite team on.
Thousands of passengers got a warm and cheerful welcome as they arrived in Houston Friday at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports for a weekend of partying and football.
"Flight was just full. There weren't a lot of seats on the plane, so I'm glad I got my tickets early," out-of-towner Russell Ebelherr said.
Houston Airport System spokesman Ernie DeSoto compared this weekend to a holiday, where passengers come in sporadically.
"Today, we are seeing a lot more people coming in. We are seeing a number of people who have gotten the three (or four) days off and are coming today," Houston Airport System spokesman Ernie DeSoto said.
However, after the game is over with, DeSoto said everyone flocks to the airports at once.
"People start showing up after the game and sleeping on the floor. They just want to get to the airport, crash from partying throughout the whole game, and catch their flight in the morning," DeSoto said.
Extra police and undercover officers have been added to the airport systems patrol for Super Bowl weekend. Officials are warning passengers that security will be tight.
You'd think that some smart city newspapers would occasionally print submitted work like yours on their editorial page.
You'd think so- but not in Houston. The Houston Comical has a policy
prohibiting opinions other than their own, and guess what flavor those are.
They love the freakin' train.
We're hicks!
Don't fergit us rednecks or we'll kick yer a$$!
How fortunate for you that you are spared this inbreeding problem,
as pigs and goats and sheep cannot sucessfully interbreed with humans.
But not for lack of trying, I'm sure.
Huh, guys ~ this happens with EVERY form of mass transit. It's all quite normal with light rail, heavy rail, subway, surface, trolly, or bus system!
People who regularly commute via any of these systems can tell you.
It would appear that few Freepers (leastwise not those on this thread) are aware of what really happens ~ that's my take on the various attempts to attribute crowding on mass transit systems to unbridled immigration.
Have you ever been on the Tokyo subway? There really aren't any appreciable numbers of immigrants crowding up that particular system. They had "pushers" to fill the cars!
Everyone's expectations for Houston's light rail system would seem to be misplaced.
The idea of just shutting down the system if the cars get crowded is absolutely incredible. Then there's this mention of the authority of the "officers" ~ visions of worker trains from SOWETO to JOBURG popped into my mind.
Looks to me like it's long overdue for "W" to send the Army into Houston to re-establish a Republican form of government, eh?!
It was shut down not because of the full cars, but the drunk crowds on the streets.
They refurbished downtown to attract people and then ran a rail line right down the middle of where all these people are.
I lived in New York for three years in the 60's, and the crap I saw on your trains will never be matched down here.
You are not from Houston or Texas. Once the Super-Bowl immigrants leave, I promise you, there will no longer be an over-crowding problem.
You can have my Chevy 4x4 pickup when you pry my cold, dead fingers from the stearing-wheel. (sorry Mr. Heston)
THEY ought to have none not more. I moved out of Houston 20 years ago when it became apparent that those who pay no taxes out numbered those who do at the polls.
Longer trains would block vehicular and pedestrian cross-traffic. They all share the same road!
Maybe we can find you a job as Lee P. Brown's teaching assistant over at Rice?
But is it self supporting? That would be the true test of whether it works well or not - if the riders are willing to pay the costs.
We have public buses in downtown/campus that look so crowded they must work great. They weren't crowded until the fare became FREE. When there was no cost associated many more people rode it. Of course, our taxes pay for that. The buses to the outlying areas are much less crowded, at $1.25 a ride...
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