as offered July 30, 2025
Good morning, I am the Rev. Dr. Colin Bossen, Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston. I urge the Metro Board to restore full funding for the MetroNext plan. Two-thirds of Houstonians voted for it. Undoing it undemocratic and short-sighted.
Mass transit is an ecological necessity and a public health priority. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Cars drive Houston’s air pollution. Our city ranks 10th worst for ozone and 16th worst for particle pollution. This puts residents at risk for asthma, heart disease, and other ailments.
Car dependence costs time and health. Houston commuters waste 49 hours a year in traffic. Twenty-seven percent of Harris County adults report no leisure-time activity. Ten percent have diabetes. Meanwhile, 26% of downtown land is parking. We need a system that serves people, not cars.
Instead, the Board and Mayor Whitmire have rolled back progress. The voted for University Corridor Line, which would have provided vital services to the city’s center, has been cut. Protected bike lanes have been removed. Rather than seeking to build a city that serves us all–including bicycle commuters like me–the Mayor has called bikes “recreational” and dismissed bus riders. In remarks undercutting the proposed Gulfton Bus Rapid Transit line, he said of Gulfton residents, “You think they’re going to be welcome in the Galleria?”
The human cost of all of this is tragic. 2024 was Houston’s deadliest year on record for traffic fatalities–345 deaths, 119 of them pedestrians.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Houston can build a world class transit system. It is what voters approved. It is what the Metro Board and the Mayor need to implement.
The values of my Unitarian Universalist tradition call upon us to care for the Earth and uphold human dignity. The Board needs to:
Restore full funding to the MetroNext plan.
Guarantee the Gulfton Bus Rapid Transit line is built.
Actively pursue options to construct the University Corridor BRT line.
This is about our health, our climate, and our quality of life. It is about Houston’s future. We need to build a city for everyone. Thank you.
