After a public hearing Tuesday, the Houston City Council may well vote on a vehicle-for-hire ordinance change that would allow for ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. That vote was initially to take place last month, but was delayed in the hopes that there might be consensus among stakeholders, including ride-sharing services and local cab and limousine companies.
On this edition of Houston Matters, we’ll revisit the ride-sharing debate, and talk through some of the as-yet-unresolved issues that may surface during Tuesday’s hearing. We’ll welcome your questions and comments for Houston Public Media transportation reporter Gail Delaughter.
Then we turn our attention to other transportation issues. We welcome any questions you may have about parking policies in the city of Houston for Maria Irshad, Assistant Director of the City of Houston Parking Management, and Brian Crimmins, the Chief of Staff for the Houston Planning and Development Department. (Maria manages on-street parking; Brian can address your off-street parking questions).
And a study released last week by the national transportation research group TRIP suggests poor conditions on Houston roads cost drivers here, on average, nearly $1,900 a year. The study evaluates current conditions, usage and funding for Texas highways. We learn more from Rocky Moretti, Director of Policy and Research for TRIP.
Plus our summer reading series continues. We talk with Jennifer Mathieu, a local high school English teacher, and the author of a new young adult novel entitled The Truth About Alice. We discuss the impact her day job has on her ability to write for and about teenagers.
