By a narrow margin, voters resisted a multimillion-dollar campaign to reject rail expansion and approved Metro's ambitious $7.5 billion regional transit plan.
With all precincts reporting, Metropolitan Transit Authority's proposition passed 51 percent to 48 percent.
Metro officials declared victory to supporters at the Magnolia Hotel downtown at 12:45 this morning. The transit authority has scheduled a news conference for later today to discuss how its plan will be implemented.
"Tonight we celebrate victory," said Mayor Lee Brown. "It's a victory for our city, it's a victory for the next generation and generations to come. Tonight Houston joins the ranks of the truly great cities of the world."
Metro board Chairman Arthur Schechter said, "This is going to completely change the nature of Houston, especially the core of the city."
Anti-rail group Texans for True Mobility broke up its party at midnight but refused to concede defeat until the final precincts report. Rail foes acknowledged likely defeat, however, while maintaining the narrow margin shows voters were skeptical of Metro's plan.
"This is far from a mandate," said Michael Stevens, chairman of TTM.
Paul Bettencourt, Harris County tax assessor-collector, said "Metro needs to heed that there are serious concerns in the community that their plan doesn't fix the problem."
The next step for Metro is to obtain federal matching funds. Otherwise it won't be able to afford to build the rail lines. U.S. Rep. John Culberson and fellow rail critic House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, vowed during the campaign to fight for federal dollars on behalf of Metro if voters endorsed the plan.
"This vote does reflect the desperation of Houstonians for immediate traffic relief," said Culberson, R-Houston, one of Metro's harshest critics. "The closeness reflects deep flaws in Metro's plan."
But Culberson said despite his dissatisfaction, he will follow the voters' will.
"My job now is to move forward with this new instruction from the voters," Culberson said. "I've got my marching orders."
Back in 1988, voters approved a transit proposition that included 20 miles of rail, but that plan was rejected by Mayor Bob Lanier after his election in 1991. The mayor of Houston appoints five of the nine members of the Metro board, which is tantamount to controlling the transit authority.
Metro advocates are cheering for Bill White, a rail supporter, to win the mayoral runoff against Orlando Sanchez, who opposes Metro's plan.
The centerpiece of the "Metro Solutions" program authorized by voters Tuesday is the expansion of Houston's nascent light rail system to include 73 more miles by 2025. It is the largest mass-transit proposal adopted in Houston since the creation of Metro in 1978.
Voters approved a $640 million bond issue to accelerate construction of the next 22 miles of light rail, extensions to the 7 1/2-mile Main Street line nearing completion between downtown and Reliant Park. They also authorized 44 new bus routes, a doubling of HOV lanes, and extending Metro's participation in local road projects for another five years.
Metro's proposal sparked a heated campaign, with the transit authority spending $3 million to advertise the plan and promote light rail. Two political action committees, Texans for True Mobility and pro-rail group Citizens for Public Transportation, spent almost another $3 million combined.
The bottom line, according to interviews with voters Tuesday, was that Houston commuters need another alternative to driving alone on the freeways. The region is the only one of the top 10 populated U.S. metropolitan areas without rail, a topic that has been debated dating back to a 1973 failed rapid-transit referendum.
Houston boomed as a car-oriented city but is now the place in America where residents drive the most miles per capita per day, pay the third highest transportation costs per family, breathe some of the most polluted air, and endure traffic congestion ranking in the top 15.
Many voters said it's time for a change.
"I don't understand what the big issues are about not wanting to have trains," said Bill Taylor of northwest Harris County, riding to work recently on a Metro commuter bus. Motioning to gridlocked 8:15 a.m. traffic on the Northwest Freeway, he added, "This obviously hasn't worked."
Fran Schaeffer, also a commuter-bus rider, said the region can't continue building big highways that soon become congested as growth follows the new concrete.
"I'm not crazy about it," Schaeffer said of Metro's expansion plan. "But if we don't start somewhere, we're just going to be on top of each other. If we keep accommodating people to drive their own cars by themselves, then we're going to defeat ourselves. It can't go on like that."
Ummm...exactly??
