Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: The Mobility Panel at the 2014 Economic Outlook Forum

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: The Mobility Panel at the 2014 Economic Outlook Forum

Trout Payment Systems - 3.31.2014

Houston is the energy capital of the world. With the rest of the nation stuck in the worst post WWII “recovery” thus far, while the energy markets enjoy $100/barrel oil prices and a domestic E&P renaissance, people are moving here in record numbers.

The Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land Metropolitan Statistical area added more residents last year than any other U.S. Metro area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Patrick Jankowsi, economist and VP of research at the Greater Houston Partnership, added that Harris County had the largest population increase, adding 82,890 residents and remains the nation’s third most populous county with just over 4.4 million residents.

As any native Houstonian or new residents can attest, traffic, congestion, and overall mobility is a major problem. Fortunately, plans are underway to alleviate these problems and panelists shared some of the highlights of impending improvements and insights into the planning process.

The first area addressed was the 290 corridor, a vital artery linking Northwest Houston to the loop 610. This project is a pure partnership between Harris County and TXDOT, in which they will share $1.8 billion in costs with the county shouldering $400 million of the burden. Precinct 4 Commisioner Jack Cagle indicated that as a major stakeholder and beneficiary to this improvement, the county showed great initiative through this partnership to accelerate the project timeline.  Another innovative feature that hastened construction has been the use of “design build” approach which consolidates oversight with one contractor overseeing the entire project.

This has allowed for greater flexibility and prioritization in segment build outs. For instance, the people of Tomball emphasized the importance of working on the segment of 290 closest to them which feeds into 2920, a major artery for the town, and not pushing the project off into the next decade. Why? Baker Hughes and many of their suppliers and vendors are in Tomball.

To address the traffic issues of Woodlands, Spring, and Klien residents, Harris county will be adding lanes and extending the Hardy Toll road to I-10. In some areas of Harris county, lane expansion and extension is not an option, and changeable lane assignments will be attempted. This means that during peak hours there will be multiple turning lanes in areas with frequent bottlenecks, beginning with N. Eldridge at W. Little York and Kuykendahl at Louetta.

In addition to intercity mobility, panelist Robert Eckels, President of Texas Central Railroad presented plans for a high speed rail between Houston and Dallas. Modeled on the Japanese system, which has been used for 50 years without a single train accident fatality, the idea is to travel between Houston and Dallas in 90 minutes or less at about three quarters of the cost of flying.

This 10 billion dollar project will be privately funded, with a major Japanese bank and other institutional investors backing it. They are currently analyzing several options of connecting routes, one which would run nearly parallel with I-45, another which would trace along 290 before connecting at College Station and heading north, and one that follow the old Teague line in between the two alternatives. A station would be place in Northwest Harris county, and the system would be built for expansion and integration with other modes of travel.

As the world’s energy capital, Ian Wadsworth, head of the Houston Airport system explained that the city is modernizing its airport system to facilitate it’s growth as an international city. With modern aircraft like the Lufthansa A 380, which has a composite body that is lighter and has greater range, Houston can service direct flights to international locations such as Tokyo, Munich, and Qatar. In fact, there are now daily flights to Munich whereas just a few years ago there were only several per week.

Houston is uniquely positioned to serve as a hub to middle America and Latin America, and over 150 million dollars will be spent in upgrading Hobby to add an international terminal. With nearly 50 million planning and deplaning each year at Bush Airport, and currently 10 million passing through Hobby each year, another 10 million additional annual customers may not be out of the question.

Having grown up in Houston, and remembering when the highway 290 was itself a construction project in Cypress, it is fascinating to think that these mobility options could be a reality. To think that a person could hypothetically take a bullet train from Dallas to Houston, hop off the train station and drive down 290 to Beltway 8, and then jump on an international flight from Hobby to a distant point in South America is amazing. Who would have thought the bayou city would one day become an international city.

Napoleon Butic is the CEO and founder of Trout Payment Systems, a merchant services provider focused on hooking Houston area businesses up with the best deals and service on debit/credit card processing. For more information visit troutpays.com  or like our Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/TroutPaymentSystems