See that map up there, showing all the stations on Metro’s planned light-rail lines? Metro is asking the public for help naming those stations. But not the stations that don’t have any names indicated next to them — the transit agency isn’t quite yet ready to get to those. No, Metro wants your help choosing names for the stations that are already marked with names. Like, the “Burnett Transit Center.” What should that station be named? Anyone? Anyone? And how about the one marked “Boundary”? Any suggestions? Spicoli?
This is, of course, the best kind of call for submissions. If you can do better than what they’ve already got, go ahead! If you can’t beat what’s there already, why bother? And you can get an idea what the fallback is gonna be, if all the suggestions suck. Just think what we might have ended up calling East Downtown if that naming “contest” had been pitched like this: Yeah, we’re threatening to name this area EaDo — unless you stop us, with something better. How well would that have worked?
You can get a sense of where the stations are planned for the new North, East End, and Southeast Lines from these maps:
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Names for stations on the University and Uptown Lines are not on the menu this time. Metro wants simple, easily remembered names with a maximum of 26 characters. It does not want stations to be named after a person — unless that person’s name is already used for a nearby street or the name refers to a nearby location with historical significance. They’ll consider commercial names, though. More rules here. Submissions are due by the end of June.
- We want to hear your suggestions for station names [Go MetroRail]
Maps: Metro
5 of the stations should be named after the space shuttle orbiters that were lost in the line of duty and lost to LA, DC and NY.
I vote for the following names:
Epic Waste of Money Station
Public Urinal Station
Raise My Taxes Station
Hobo Sleeping Station
Causing More Traffic Station
Could’ve given everyone a free car for the money we spent on this thing Station
A money losing proposition Station
And so on and so forth
I propose naming them all “Boondoggle ##”
Swamplot Station?
That sure does look like a sharp turn between the Quitman and Boundary station. I wonder what the turning radius is on a wham-bam-tram.
Maybe they should randomly use some of the “most hated boys/girls names in the US”:
Nevaeh
Destiny
Gertrude
Bertha
Makayla
Bentley
Jayden
Aiden
Braden
Kaden
I see no stations named “Hobby Airport” or “George Bush Airport.” IJS.
God forbid we actually name a transportation depot after the street where it resides. I’m sure tourists love getting directions in Houston already. “Take the East Tex Freeway south, then when you get to the Baytown Freeway, head west but catch the Gulf Freeway and it’ll get you right where you wanna go.”
…light rail doesnt go to the airports yet…as reflected in the maps…IJS.
They should name them after the major rivers in Texas. Sort of like Austin has in West Campus.
“Sort of like the street names in Austin” I mean. Not sure if they are in West Campus or South Campus…Rio Grande, Red River, Brazos, etc.
I personally have no problem making the current “placeholder” names permanent if that’s what the public wants. But I figure that neighborhoods have a better idea of what names would describe their places well… that’s what this process is about. We need names that make sense and give riders some idea of where they’re going, but some of the cross streets the stations are named after are pretty obscure: Altic, Melbourne, and Graceland come to mind.
The Bastrop station looks like it will be directly adjacent to the Dynamo stadium, but maybe they want to keep the name more location-based since it’s a transfer station.
I’m surprised none of the stations are named for UH. That could be because they couldn’t pick which one of the several that surround the campus, or it could be because they already named one for UH downtown—oops.
None of the stations are named for UH because those are really just placeholder names — mainly street names, transit centers, parks. Note that the guidelines specifically suggest university names as possible station names.
jpsivco: Your sarcasm seems to have exited at the wrong train station. Toot Toot.
Quit, man, before you get to the Boundary!
There is nothing wrong with the cross-street names, for pete’s sake. But for local color, Metro could name the Quitman stop “Salvation Army Men’s Shelter.” The Moody Park stop could be either “El Taconazo” or “Joe Campos Torres.” But the Graceland stop should keep that name, to let riders think they’re in Memphis.
Wow its pretty amusing the bs people put on here. The current names are fine. Not a big deal.
BTW I was referring to the comments, not the actual Swamplot article. Just to be clear o_O
Comments here are starting to sound a lot like comments on the Chron. What a shame.
I miss your blog Mr. Spieler, I hope that you and your people put METRO on track (no pun intended).
I wish they had done this with some of the earliest stations… Had anyone ever heard of the Smithlands before getting on a Metro wham-bam-tram? (Shout out to iLackTact for that fitting moniker)
“some of the cross streets the stations are named after are pretty obscure: Altic, Melbourne, and Graceland come to mind.”
Those are great names to have the word ‘station’ tacked on behind them. And they’re geographically relevant to the people who would need to know to use them.
How about:
Reliant Station
Toyota Station
Minute Maid Station
Nike Station
Gallery Furniture Station
Have companies pay for naming rights. I mean, I just heard on the radio that private companies can now pay $175 a month to advertise on the sides of HISD school busses. Why not?
(where’s that sarcasm emoticon when you need it?)
Another waste of tax payer money, just to rename and replace signs and all related documents, references and websites. Apparntly those as Metro just don’t have enough to do, sounds like a make work project to me.
River Oaks station?
Bob Lanier Station 1
Bob Lanier Station 2
Bob Lanier Station 3
and so forth