To fix Houston’s traffic problems, ask: What would Mayor Bob do?
Elyse Lanier loves to tell a story about her husband that says a lot about him and about how to get things done.
One Sunday in 1992, as the two of them approached the Astrodome to watch the Oilers play football, traffic was so bad that an exasperated Mayor Bob Lanier bolted from their car and marched to the game just in time for kickoff. Elyse didn’t join him until the middle of the second quarter.
Mayor Bob, as we called him, was a man of action. Throughout his 89 years, he displayed the consistent ability to establish goals and then accomplish them. That, above all, is why he was admired by his friends and respected by his adversaries.
And so, the following Monday he gathered his lieutenants and traffic experts to his third-floor office at City Hall to identify the problem and find a solution. In no time, the complex challenge was solved with better traffic management to the satisfaction of tens of thousands of Oilers fans who had grown weary of waiting too long in traffic.
Something else arose from that meeting — the novel idea for a superagency that would coordinate traffic across Houston and the region. Soon, Transtar was created through a unique partnership between the city of Houston, Harris County, METRO and TxDOT. It has become a model for cities around the nation.
Once again, Mayor Bob had made a difference.
Consider it a lesson in leadership that today’s politicians could learn from.
Almost 20 years after he left office, the region’s population has grown by more than 50 percent to almost 7 million. Though much has been done to address traffic congestion, more will be required to keep up with our rapid growth. As Mayor Bob understood so well, Houston’s economy depends on a dynamic transportation system.
So it is a good time to reflect on four traits that made Mayor Bob a visionary and great leader, one who spent his efforts and political chits tackling many of the same transportation challenges that
confront our booming region.
First, Mayor Bob based his conclusions on hard facts and data. He was not a guided by whims or gut decisions. He lived in the real world of hard choices, one in which success depends on durable solutions. He became the region’s preeminent expert on transportation and traffic management issues, reading voraciously on the topics and consistently conferring with other experts. As a result, he made smart, wellinformed decisions.
Second, Mayor Bob realized that long-range planning is critical to traffic management. He knew how to look far into the future and find solutions to problems that inevitably arise. Decades ago, for example, he spearheaded the effort for the Grand Parkway — portions of which are now named after him — to address the rapid growth he predicted would swamp Houston without it. As a mayor in the early 1990s who had watched city infrastructure crumble, he helped pioneer park-and-ride shuttles, reversible HOV lanes and other common-sense traffic management strategies that are now commonplace.
Further, perhaps no one in Texas recognized earlier than he did that technology could change traffic management. That’s why Transtar became the first agency in Texas to link the highway system to a computer grid that allowed motorists to see traffic problems in real time.
Third, he understood that traffic and transportation are regional problems that demand regional cooperation. That means getting a broad of a consensus from as many officials as possible. One way to do that is to spread resources around the region to lessen neighborhood rivalries. Another way is to get everyone under the same tent, as done with Transtar.
Yes, Mayor Bob had his squabbles, and some were donnybrooks. But during the past half century, few Texans have been as successful building consensus as Mayor Bob. That’s one reason people from all sides of the political spectrum continued to seek his counsel long after he left office.
And fourth, he recognized transportation problems can’t be fixed without adequate fundcurrently ing. As a former chairman of the Texas Highway Commission (before it became the Texas Transportation Commission) he marshaled support for the last increase in the state’s gasoline tax in 1991. We suspect that were Mayor Bob alive today, he would be dismayed the gasoline tax hasn’t been raised in almost three decades even as the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks has risen dramatically.
Four years after his death, it remains apparent that Houston and the region were blessed to have had Bob Lanier take part in the important issues of his time. He was a giant with enormous capacities and accomplishments, and our city and region are better off because of him.
Though sorely missed, his legacy can remain alive if current and future leaders approach challenges in the same manner — with clarity, diligence and a broad-gauged approach. That’s still how to get things done. Burge, chairman of the Grand Parkway Association from 1998-2018, was Metro chairman from 1992-1996. Crosswell, chairman of the Texas Medical Center, was Metro chairman from 1996-1998.