Trevor Reichman
DCL
Main Street in Houston has been transformed into a corridor for it's new, soon to be expanded, light rail metro train. Main Street has also been renovated to serve pedestrians, bus riders, bicycles, and downtown businesses and residents.
While we have heard a lot about 'Main Street' being overlooked by politicians, we have not heard much during this campaign about investing in important community infrastructure such as mass transit, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and trains. Perhaps these are issues that are better tackled at the local level?
What You Can Do To Get Infrastructure in Your Town
1. Call 311.
Many cities now have this convenient telephone number for important, but non-emergency questions or comments. I recently called this number in Houston to propose a pedestrian walk sign in an intersection that had 16 intersecting lanes, 3 major bus stops, but no pedestrian crossing. They sent a crew out there to investigate, and even gave me a ticket number to follow up with.
2. Ride mass transit, cycle, and walk.
Ridership data is tracked and the infrastructure is developed to meet the demands for different modes of transportation.
3. Write letters to your representatives and/or pay them a visit.
If they don't hear from you, then they only hear from special interests.
