A Houston-Galveston Area Council committee voted not to include the Uptown Management District's proposed Bus Rapid Transit system among the projects included in the governmental planning agency's $460 million Transportation Improvement Plan, reports David Crossley, president of Houston Tomorrow.

This comes despite City of Houston support for the measure (Mayor Annise Parker recently called for the expansion of the Uptown TIRZ and the implementation of the BRT plan), as well as endorsements from the Greater Houston Partnership's transit committee, the Transportation Advisory Group and Houston Tomorrow.

Alan Clark, the Houston-Galveston Area Council's director of transportation planning, apparently advised the committee against including the Uptown BRT project in the current TIP due to uncertainties in TxDOT's portion of the proposed project.

While Crossley calls the Uptown BRT line "an awesome project that's critical to west side commuters," Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale recently wrote an op-ed diatribe against the plan. Several concerned community members reached out to CultureMap, taking similar issue with the plan.

Houston City Council is set to discuss the TIRZ expansion during Wednesday's meeting, and the H-GAC committee's selections will go to the Transportation Policy Council for approval on Friday.