Project seeks transportation ideas from area residents

The City of Houston Parking Management's D. Varnado writes a parking tickets on Kelvin drive in Rice Village Sept. 1. Parking, and the need to drive, is a component of a transportation project launching this week. less The City of Houston Parking Management's D. Varnado writes a parking tickets on Kelvin drive in Rice Village Sept. 1. Parking, and the need to drive, is a component of a transportation project launching this ... more Photo: James Nielsen, Staff Photo: James Nielsen, Staff Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Project seeks transportation ideas from area residents 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Houston drivers are very accomplished at complaining about traffic. A new initiative to talk to them about specific needs and ideas for reducing congestion, improving transit and exploring other ways to travel in the region will test their skill in coming up with ideas.

Mobility Houston, modeled after a successful program developed in Austin after that city’s voters rejected a transportation bond, launched Monday. Organizers will spend the next week talking to various groups, preparing for a wider January launch.

The concept is simple: Ask people for ideas and then let others respond. Much of the discussion starts online, kicking off Wednesday at Houston’s next Civic Hack Night.

Mobility Houston is still organizing, but it already has the support of BikeHouston and the Hobby Center for Public Policy at the University of Houston. More sponsors are likely, said Francisco Enriquez, managing director at Glasshouse Policy, the organizers of Mobility Houston.

"No matter how you get around, Houston mobility priorities are changing," Enriquez said. "Whether you're a biker, driver or rider, Houstonians are due for a conversation on how multi-modality, smart city design and an inclusive mobility system can decrease time spent in traffic, increase safety for our riders and drivers and improve quality of life for all Houstonians."

The topics include specific proposals for how to make transportation in Houston better, such as enabling smartphone payments for Metro rides. Ideas can be as precise as fixing a certain traffic light or as broad as the benefits of more freeway lanes versus tollways or expanding park and ride service.

Metro, incidentally, is working on a mobile ticketing system developed by GlobeSherpa, a software company recently acquired by Austin-based RideScout. RideScout has an app that lets people decide their transportation options for trips, giving them options for taking transit, driving, hailing a cab or Uber or walking.

Joseph Kopser, CEO of RideScout, worked with Glasshouse Policy on Mobility Austin and is involved in moving it to Houston.

All those ties aside, Kopser said he is excited to see how Houston responds, because the region has many challenges but also many opportunities.

Though driven by a lot of tech-focused folks, the discussion is aimed at involving as many people as possible, either online or through public events scheduled for early 2016. Kopser said disadvantaged communities are especially important because they are underrepresented in many public discussions.

The goal, Kopser said, is not to tell people what they should do to “fix” transportation, but start an honest discussion about what people want, the benefits of various choices and how policies that might not benefit drivers directly could benefit the overall transportation system.

In Houston, where transportation options are often very different depending on where someone lives, that discussion could lead to wildly different preferences. Part of the discussion, however, is explaining those options to both sides, and seeing how they affect everyone in the region, said Thomas Visco with Glasshouse Policy.

The results, if Austin is any indication, will compile some of the most popular ideas. Then it’s up to officials to respond and the public to hold them accountable, organizers said.