Driver Feedback Wanted
Texas Transportation officials are going straight to the source when it comes to expanding freeways in the Houston area. They are asking drivers to provide feedback on the I-10 Katy Corridor, and the people are responding. "There are a lot of positive comments and a handful of negative ones," says Dr. Mark Burris at Texas A&M's Transportation Institute (TII). The TII is conducting the survey in conjunction with TxDot in order to find out what works and what doesn't in urban freeway expansion.
A large portion of the responses so far have been in regard to HOV lanes. "There were ones that complained about the congestion that is starting to occur on the HOV toll lanes during the peak periods," says Dr. Burris. Others, he adds, aren't happy about how those lanes are being used. "There were some complaints about them not being HOV lanes at all times of day." Currently, drivers can only use the HOV lanes toll free during morning and afternoon rush hour times.
Overall, the survey is proving that it's difficult to please all drivers, according to Dr. Burris. "Some people complained there are too many officers out there checking for violators causing the lanes to slow down...and other people complained there were too many violators and not enough police checking for violators." TxDot plans on using the results of this survey for future freeway projects in Houston. The survey is available through September 19th at http://www.katysurvey.org
