Just yesterday she appointed Christof Spieler, a well-known blogger and transit advocate (ctchouston.org), to the Metro Board. That made me feel a little better about transit going forward for Houston.

Certainly in H-town, the Main Street line connects a U of H campus, the civic center, the performing arts center, the downtown office district, kinda sorta the baseball stadium and convention center, the museum district, Rice U, the medical center area, and the huge park-and-ride facilities near the football stadium on the loop, wow. No wonder that route is a national winner.

But I do think the University route would also do well, from the main campus of the U of H, connecting to the Main Street line, along a major commercial strip to the Galleria area. The Galleria is Houston’s second downtown, with plenty of jobs, shopping, and entertainment venues.

I’m sure this line is worth doing. But I’m not mad at the Mayor for looking to get the money lined up first. Whether they can get more from the feds, or in a miracle from the state, or whatever, this is no time for transit agencies to rush deeper into debt on a wing and a prayer.

For many schemes, it’s now, or never. And “never” means the real possibility of a future of African-style gonzo minivan, multi-passenger cab drivers to fill the infrastructure gap. And/or stranded, dead-end suburbs in the age of peak oil.

The past performance has little if anything to do with how other different lines will perform. In fact, those new lines could in fact make a previously successful line into an unsuccessful one. For example, when Denver opened their new SE LRT line, the number of daily trips on the old, existing SW line dropped by 20-25%.

And as Jim says, this is the best time to issue bonds. Interest rates are dirt low, construction bids will come in very low, and it acts as a stimulus.

The real trick is to get the politicians to PAY OFF THE BONDS once the economy is booming again, instead of just rolling them over at higher interest rates!

It is absolutely the *best* time to issue bonds. You are going to get the best possible rates. The lead time to get a major project into the construction phase pretty much guarantees that the economy will be improved by the time you need the tax revenues to gebin servicing the bonds. And if the economy hasn’t improved, you’ll be adding design, engineering and constructions jobs into your local economy at a time when you need it most!

By waiting until the recovery is in place, they are only making the project more expensive, via increase borrowing expense.

Very often, postphonement means cancellation – by setting an objective requirement, it will ensure that the project will happen, and everyone knows that.