IAH Traffic Is a Complete Joke

I just dropped off a friend for a domestic flight at Terminal C yesterday evening and wanted to comment about how piss poor the traffic was. I don't know whose idea it is to have four lanes at the Departure point that merge into a single lane that then has to cross two lanes for Terminal D International Arrivals to exit the Airport while people are trying to merge into those two lanes to pick people up. It's a total joke.

And what's worse is how the issue highlights that there are absolutely no viable alternatives to pick up and drop off at either of Houston's airports besides private vehicles. Obviously, we don't have any train lines to either Bush or Hobby. Any such proposals are dead on the water. (Meanwhile, Texas DOT has the greenlight to bulldoze hundreds and homes and businesses to add another lane to I-45.)

The Metro 102 runs from Downtown Houston to Bush, but would take over an hour with 28 stops with half of those being a detour through Greenspoint. And Hobby is even worse. If I left from Downtown Houston to get to Hobby, I'd be in for a one hour bus ride with 70 stops.

I just returned to Houston from a trip to Paris, Barcelona, and Madrid and can't help but feel embarrassed by how piss poor our transit system is. Both of our airports seem as busy if not more so than those in these cities, but we have no transit links at all. And as you leave IAH, they have billboards plastered on the way out saying "Change is Coming" to promote the new Terminal under construction.

Again, it's a total joke. The people in power here are worried about building a new terminal when we don't even have any alternative to getting to and from the airport without a car. Totally pathetic. Embarrassing. Ridiculous. Insert any number of adjectives here to describe how utterly bad it is. I'd say that we should demand better, but I wouldn't recommend anybody hold their breath on that. I certainly won't be. My best advice would be to find a better place to live. It's clear to me that better alternatives exist. I love the people and culture in Houston, but it seems clear to me that our government isn't going to ever do their job.