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Welcome to a super-long extra-bonus episode of Talking Headways! We only took on two topics this week, but we got so gonzo excited about them both we just couldn\\u2019t shut up.

First, we talked to\\xa0Christof Spieler, a member of Houston Metro, about the \\u201cblank-sheet\\u201d bus overhaul he helped design. Instead of trying to tweak the current system around its edges, Metro decided to start again from scratch, planning a system of routes and service that makes sense for the way the city is now. They thought the upside would outweigh the downside, but they weren\\u2019t prepared for this: There was almost no downside. By eliminating \\xa0redundant and inefficient service, they could optimize their routes without eliminating low-ridership routes that people depend on. And to hear Christof tell it, what they\\u2019re accomplishing is pretty amazing:

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What we\\u2019re really doing is focusing on frequent service. We\\u2019re basically doubling the number of routes that offer frequent service, and we\\u2019re extending that frequent service to seven days a week. So: every 15 minutes, seven days a week, network of about 20 routes.

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That puts a million people within walking distance of those routes; it puts a million jobs within walking distance of those routes. It is going to be one of the largest coverage areas of high frequency transit in the United States. And that is a huge deal for our existing riders, because currently only about 25 percent of our boardings are at stops that have all-week frequent service. This will take that up to 73 percent.

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Once we tear ourselves away from Christof and his beautiful vision of the future of transit, we do a debrief on what\\u2019s going on with the transportation bill in Congress.\\xa0The Senate bill isn\\u2019t all it could be, but in Congress nothing is ever all it could be, and this one at least stands a chance of passage \\u2014 or it would, anyway, if there were an actual, realistic funding stream attached to it. No such luck. Tune in for all the gory details.

Side note: Big thanks to all who have donated during Streetsblog\\u2019s spring pledge drive, especially those of you who specifically mentioned the podcast as why you\\u2019re giving. We appreciate you! There\\u2019s still time to get in on the fun:\\xa0Please donate today!

As always, Talking Headways is available on\\xa0iTunes\\xa0or\\xa0Stitcher\\xa0or by signing up for our\\xa0RSS feed, and this right here is where you leave your snappy comments. We welcome your backtalk and your sassy mouth.\\xa0