Proposal:
Study the feasibility of bringing rail to Kingwood. Experiment with a feeder network of small buses or vans that would let people take public transportation to local destinations.

Why this is important:
Houston has not met federal air quality standards and faces significant penalties from the Federal Government as a result. These include the loss of more than $1 billion in transportation funding. Local industries may also be prohibited from receiving air quality permits for new business development and expansion.

• For every minute, the average passenger vehicle is on the road, it emits enough NOX, SOX and CO2 to fill seventeen balloons.
• In one hour of driving (the average daily round-trip commute time), the average vehicle will emit 48 pounds of CO2.
• Every day, Houston commuters emit enough of NOX, SOX and CO2 to fill up the Astrodome TEN times!
• Every year, a single commuter emits 12,423 pounds of CO2 and spends more than $1200 on fuel to get to/from work.

Kingwood commuters pollute more than those who live closer to the City’s center simply because of the distance they drive to downtown. For health and environmental reasons, we must find alternative transit solutions that work in areas with our population density.

One set of rail tracks can carry up to eight to 10 times more people than one lane of freeway. Rail could reduce both pollution and traffic congestion on US59 as development extends northward to Montgomery County.

Cars ferrying people to locations in and around Kingwood can drive as many miles in a year as those driving downtown. To reduce pollution from these vehicles, we urge Metro to consider offering a system of small buses or vans that could circulate people from neighborhoods to local destinations like Lone Star College, the hospitals, airport, retirement homes and commercial centers.

This circulator system would benefit everyone, but especially the very young who cannot drive or who cannot afford vehicles, and older people with reduced mobility.