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Latest News
Texan perspectives on electric vehicles in UH-TSU study
By Houston Daily | Dec 17, 2023
The University of Houston (UH) has revealed that, according to a survey conducted in collaboration with Texas Southern University, electric-powered vehicles have not managed to spark significant enthusiasm among Texans. This information is part of the five-year Texas Trends survey series, a joint initiative by UH’s Hobby School of Public Affairs and TSU’s Barbara Jordan–Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs.
Transit carries less than 1% of daily trips in Houston
By Bill King | Nov 20, 2023
In my recent survey on transit, I asked respondents to estimate the percentage of daily trips made by Americans and Houstonians on some form of transit. The average estimate for the U.S. and Houston were 7.3% and 4.3%, respectively. As we will see, these estimates are significantly higher than the actual ridership.
Turner is pressuring Houston first to pay $124,000 for his book
By Bill King | Nov 17, 2023
If you attended the City of Houston’s State of the City luncheon in September, you were given a copy of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s new book, A Winning Legacy – The Power of Vision, Collaboration, Resilience and Transformation. Its ninety pages narrate Turner’s life story and what a great job he has done as mayor over the last eight years.
Houston Metro’s Purple Line: A case study of the insanity of building light rail
By Bill King | Nov 5, 2023
In 2015, Houston Metro opened its Purple Line (aka Southeast Line). The Purple Line is a light rail facility that snakes 6.5 miles from downtown by Texas Southern and the University of Houston, ultimately terminating at Palm Center on Griggs Road.
Destructive Desires: What is HISD doing?
By Khalil Daniels | Oct 26, 2023
Toward the end of last summer, several Sharpstown High School students, including me, were informed that our school would begin enforcing uniforms as part of a new dress code. Hundreds of families went into an uproar about the announcement, especially because they had already purchased new, non-uniform school clothes for their children.
Recording shows Congresswoman Lee is ill-suited to be mayor
By Bill King | Oct 24, 2023
Unlike many cities with a city-manager form of government, the City of Houston mayor is the chief executive officer of the City. In addition to the mayor’s role presiding at Council meetings, the mayor also is the day-to-day manager of the city’s twenty-two departments with over 20,000 employees. The ability of the mayor to lead and manage the city workforce is crucial to the success of any administration.
City of Houston sales tax receipts up significantly in the last two years
By Bill King | Oct 24, 2023
After seven years of mostly flattish sales tax receipts, the City of Houston saw double digit increases over the last two years. However, the sales tax receipts have begun to cool and appear to be returning to historical patterns.
Day of forgiveness
By Bill King | Oct 24, 2023
Forgiveness is not a word that we hear very often on social media. The Forgiveness Project on Twitter has 8,700 followers, while all manner of hate groups garner followers in the millions. According to Google’s Ngram tracker, the word “revenge” was used ten times as frequently in books in 2019 as “forgiveness.”
Ballot measures
By Bill King | Oct 23, 2023
In the upcoming elections, voters will be asked to decide on a number of ballot measures. The specific referendums on the ballot will depend on where you live.
Results of transit survey
By Bill King | Oct 11, 2023
A little over 800 readers took the transit survey I sent out last week. Let’s start with a bit about who answered the survey because this certainly was not a scientifically selected sample. The two largest partisan groups were Independents at 35% and “mostly Republican” at 30%. Another 22% identified as “strong Republican” with 12% either “mostly Democrat” or “strong Democrat.” 73% live in the City of Houston and 93% in the Houston region. Virtually all of those living in the City plan to vote in the November election.
U.S. population and immigration
By Bill King | Oct 9, 2023
I regularly see on social media and some pundits on the mainstream media make fantastic claims about the number of immigrates coming to our country. While there is no doubt that the cartels have devised a scheme to manipulate our asylum laws resulting in a surge in immigrants over the last two years, in the longer term, the effect of immigration has been remarkably stable.
As epicenter of human trafficking crisis, Texas’ largest city needs pro-law enforcement leadership
By Thomas Homan | Oct 9, 2023
In recent years, major cities across the country have struggled to get rising crime under control. In major metro areas like Chicago, New York, and San Francisco, crime rates remain elevated above pre-pandemic levels, and Houston – the nation’s 4th largest city – is no exception.
Hidalgo returns to work following extended medical leave for clinical depression
By Houston Daily | Oct 3, 2023
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has returned to work after taking an extended medical leave to seek treatment for clinical depression. In an October 2nd post on X, Hidalgo expressed her gratitude for the support she received during her time off.
Houston Metro riders pay 4% of the cost of their rides
By Bill King | Sep 13, 2023
I think most people understand that taxpayers hugely subsidize those who ride transit. But with the collapse of ridership since the pandemic and Metro’s burgeoning expenses, the subsidy has reached an unprecedented level. In FY 2021-2022, Metro’s total expenses were $1.34 billion.
China's flagging economy
By Bill King | Sep 7, 2023
For most of the last decade, there has been a ubiquitous media narrative that it was just a matter of time before China’s economy surpassed the U.S. economy.
Texas must act on carbon capture or get left behind
By Andreas Cantu | Jul 27, 2023
When you think of Texas, you think of energy. Texans take great pride in their rich history of supplying America and the world with the vital energy required to drive our economy forward.
Proposed DOI offshore wind leases may mean trouble for the Texas grid
By Bill Peacock | Jul 25, 2023
The Department of the Interior announced last week that it will hold its first offshore wind energy lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico.
To Keep Houston From Becoming Chicago, Next Mayor Must Be Serious About Tackling Crime
By Donald Baker | Jun 16, 2023
While Houston may be close to surpassing Chicago as the nation’s third most populous metro area, Houstonians must make sure that the city’s violent crime rate does not even come close to what we are seeing in the Windy City.
Fed policy is exacerbating housing inflation
By Bill King | Jun 8, 2023
It is often said the Federal Reserve’s policy tools, raising and lowering interest rates and adding or withdrawing liquidity to the financial system, are blunt tools.
The city of Houston is not starved for revenue
By Bill King | May 30, 2023
The Houston Chronicle editorial board has once again called for a referendum to end to what it and many others mischaracterize as a “revenue cap” on the City of Houston.