Texas Transit Association

A good overall summary of what is going on in Houston, including what current transportation modes are costing the average Houstonian, rail plans and how they fit into the Houston transportation future, and … local politics.

Transportation takes big bite out of Houston budgets
By LUCAS WALL, Houston Chronicle, July 22, 2003

Houstonians love their cars. But that affection for the road comes with a high price tag.

Motorists in this region drive more miles per capita than residents in any other U.S. metropolitan area, eating a big chunk of the family budget. The average Houston-area family spends $9,566 per year on transportation, more than any other metro area except Dallas-Fort Worth and Anchorage, Alaska. The U.S. average is $7,633.

That’s according to the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a Washington D.C. interest group that supports alternatives to the car. It released a report Tuesday looking at what American families spend just getting around, noting that “a lack of transportation choices strains the family budget and hinders home ownership.”

The report, based on data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, recommends Congress shift its priorities from highway spending and instead increase funding for mass-transit projects. The policy project argues more choices can greatly reduce a household’s transportation costs, which now total more than food and health-care costs combined.

The STPP report faults Houston — which will soon vote on a multi-billion dollar mass-transit plan — and other cities for massive sprawl, which leaves residents little choice but to get on the freeway.

“In many sprawling areas, families spend a much larger portion of their household budget on transportation than in more compact, transit- or pedestrian-oriented areas,” the report states. “As public investment in transportation began to focus more on the building of roads and highways, private spending on transportation skyrocketed.”

Opponents of mass-transit expansion dismiss the report, noting Houston’s sprawl is in response to cheap land prices which provides affordable housing.

While they pay more to motor than residents of more-dense localities, Houstonians pay much less for their homes, said David Hutzelmann, leader of the Business Committee Against Rail. BUSCAR is fighting the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s efforts to get voter OK for its massive plan, which includes expansion of Houston’s new light rail system.

“Add the transportation and housing costs together, and you’ll find the cities with the most sprawl have lower total living costs,” Hutzelmann said. “There’s more to a person’s life than transportation and the total cost is what matters.”

The median price of a Houston single-family home sold in June is $140,000 — 16 percent less than the national median of $167,000, according to the National Association of Realtors. Because housing is a family’s most expensive cost, it makes sense to live somewhere with cheap homes, even if that means buying an extra car, Hutzelmann said.

Monthly car payments and finance charges are the top transportation expense for the average family, the report states.

The policy project and its supporters, who spoke to reporters on a nationwide teleconference Tuesday, note the high costs of buying more vehicles adds up — especially for the poor.

“Compared to these high costs, public transportation is much less expensive,” the report notes. “But communities designed with the car in mind give lower-income families no other alternative.”

Anne Canby, STPP president, said poorest Americans spend 40 percent of their income on transportation. They are losing “the opportunity of realizing what has long been known as the American dream — home ownership — because they are forced in essence to buy an automobile to get around and live in their community,” she said.

Canby and her supporters criticized a recent House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee vote to cut the Federal Transit Administration’s grant money for new city transit lines by $150 million next year, plus trims to “enhancement projects” such as bicycle and pedestrian paths.

Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, sits on that subcommittee. He said every agency needs to be cut this year because the federal government is running a projected record $455 billion budget deficit.

Culberson said Houston is large geographically and has a rapidly growing population, so it’s not a surprise to find out it’s costly to travel here. He expressed support for more transit spending in Houston if voters endorse Metro’s plan, but also noted expanding highway capacity must be part of the solution so drivers don’t idle away in gridlock.

“The road network in Houston has been built out to reach the neighborhoods where people choose to live,” he said. “We shouldn’t shoehorn people into a transportation design based on what Washington think tanks believe.”

Houstonians drive 37.6 miles each day per capita, according to the report, more than any other metro area of the United States. That figure has exploded 53 percent from 24.6 miles per day in 1992, a growth rate triple that of most other regions. All that driving means Houstonians’ transportation costs consume a fifth of the typical family budget, the report states.

Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Beaumont, said Congress can’t decrease transit funding if lawmakers hope to reduce congestion.

“It is appalling that as the cost of transportation continues to soar, some in Congress want to cut back on transit,” said Lampson, whose district includes a part of southeast Houston. “We need more options for our families so they can decide how best to get around.”

John Sedlak, Metro vice president, said Harris County voters will have more options if they endorse the transit plan. The current $4.4 billion proposal calls for 55 new miles of light rail, an eight-mile commuter rail to Missouri City, and dozens of new bus routes and Park & Ride lots.

“One of our objectives is to make transit more convenient, more accessible, more attractive to additional users and in doing so then we believe that would change some of their travel patterns,” Sedlak said. “Instead of needing two cars in a family, possibly you could get by with one car because transit would now be a viable choice for them.”