I've been pretty silent on the rail issue. The main reason being that I don't come down really hard either way in the abstract. I think rail could well be a part of the long-term solution for Houston commuters. That said, I find the pro-rail side of the debate to be particularly obnoxious and dogmatic. When it's pointed out that rail's ability to handle a city as geographically diverse as Houston, they talk about changing Houston's geography. The author in particular doesn't say much about rail, but I can guarantee you that everyone nodding in agreement with him supports it. Support of rail isn't so much about effective transit as it is about lifestyle.

It's no surprise then that the rail Houston eventually got was catered to those that supported it. Instead of getting rail to ease the traffic from the icky sprawling and dumb growth suburbs where all those people who vote Republican live, it goes from inside the loop to... well, inside the loop. In any other circumstances, a multimillion dollar construction project that connected wealthier neighborhoods (Med center) to places that only rich people can afford (downtown) so that they don't have to ride with those icky poor people (bus riders) would be lambasted by liberals. But it's rail, so that makes it okay.

As such, I don't expect this to make much of a dent in their perspective:

Five Houston Chronicle reporters assembled in a randomly chosen subdivision one morning last week to conduct a race to the newspaper's main office on Texas Avenue downtown. One reporter drove alone from Quail Valley, two carpooled, a fourth rode an express bus and the other drove to the Fannin South Park & Ride and hopped on the train.

The solo driver and the carpool pair, each using U.S. 59, arrived in a parking garage near the newspaper within a minute of each other and rode the same elevator down, walking into the newspaper simultaneously. The bus rider arrived 15 minutes later, while the train passenger came in last, rolling in after a commute of 1 hour, 15 minutes.

The Chronicle calculated the expense of the commute by adding parking fees and transit fares and estimating a cost of 37.5 cents per mile driven. The bus was the least expensive.

But it won't make Houston a world-class city! It also requires roads! And isn't as cool!

The fact that rail's primary selling factor was that the rest of the world will like us more is a pretty damning indictment of, well, a rational reason to build the rail that we have.

The last part that I found interesting (and like Kevin, am surprised the Chronicle had the courage to print), was this:

Forlano points out that the commute used to be much worse before the Texas Department of Transportation widened most parts of the Southwest Freeway in recent years.

But building more roads doesn't work. Liberals who support rail tell me so.