Light Rail Victim Identified

Rice University architecture student identified as victim in light rail accident; METRO investigation continues

A young architecture student from Rice University has been identified as the victim in a tragic METRO accident at Main and Walker on Monday.

Vivian Ziwei Guan took a northbound light rail train to her summer internship at the offices of Ziegler Cooper Architects, which recently relocated to downtown's Bank of America Center on Louisiana. Disembarking at her usual Main Street Square stop, the 20-year-old was fatally struck by a southbound train as she crossed the intersection with her bicycle.

KHOU reports that Guan, a soon-to-be junior, had been preparing to return home to New Zealand before the start of the fall semester on Aug. 26.

“Vivian was very special in the way that she combined such enthusiasm and intelligence in her work and also for the energy that she brought to the school," said Rice architecture dean Sarah Whiting in a statement from the university.

Architect and summer mentor Scott Ziegler, himself a Rice graduate, called her enthusiasm for design "infectious."

“Whenever we placed Vivian on a new assignment, she mastered it with a quick study and was always ready to take on something new . . . The entire office at Ziegler Cooper Architects has Vivian and her family in our prayers.”

A METRO official told CultureMap on Monday that eyewitnesses noted that the train operator was blowing the horn moments before the accident, which closed service between Main Street Station and the University of Houston Downtown for about three hours. There have been unconfirmed reports that Guan was wearing headphones. A full investigation of the intersection and its safety features is ongoing.

"Vivian was one of those rare students who stood out from the rest because of her incredible intuitive talent, intellect and optimism," said Guan's former professor John Casbarian.

"She was an absolute joy to have in studio, always curious and so excited about every challenge ahead. It’s hard now to imagine school without her."

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who needs a raise?

This is the income it takes to be in the top 1 percent in Texas in 2026

Hundred dollar bills, income study, top 1 percent earners in Texas

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The income needed to be ranked among the top 1 percent of earners in Texas has surged over $800,000 in 2026.

In a state where local billionaires are wealthier than they've ever been, high-earning Texans need to make $73,000 more than they did a year ago if they want to be among the top 1 percent of earners, a new report has revealed.

SmartAsset's latest study analyzed income thresholds for the top 1, 5, and 10 percent of earners in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, using 2022 IRS data for individual tax return filers (the most recent year available), adjusted to 2026 dollars.

Texas has the 11th highest income threshold, with residents needing to make a minimum of $817,158 to be considered among the top 1 percent of earners statewide. In 2025, Texans needed to make about $744,000 to be among the top 1 percent.

For comparison, residents living in the nation's capital must make at least $1.16 million to qualify as top 1 percent earners. The District of Columbia led the nation with the highest income threshold to be a top earner.

To be considered among the top 5 percent of earners in Texas, a resident would need to make $312,671. The income threshold to be considered among the top 10 percent is $210,609.

SmartAsset additionally found that 128,130 Texas residents qualified as top 1 percent earners in 2022. Nationally, the report estimated that fewer than 2 million households earn enough to be considered among the top 1 percent of earners nationwide, but 23 million households rank among the top 10 percent.

"In some places, households can enter the top 1 percent at income levels that fall well below the threshold elsewhere, reflecting an uneven landscape of wages and wealth," the report said.

A separate SmartAsset study that tracked the upper and lower thresholds for middle class households found Houston residents need to make anywhere from $42,907 to $128,722 to maintain their middle class status.

The top 10 states with the highest thresholds to be considered in the top 1 percent of earners in the U.S. are:

No. 1 – District of Columbia ($1,156,664)
No. 2 – Connecticut ($1,147,898)
No. 3 – Massachusetts ($1,006,921)
No. 4 – California ($987,325)
No. 5– New Jersey ($969,976)
No. 6 – New York ($959,562)
No. 7 – Florida ($956,449)
No. 8 – Washington ($903,303)
No. 9 – Colorado ($828,772)
No. 10 – Wyoming ($819,014)

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Light Rail Victim Identified

Rice University architecture student identified as victim in light rail accident; METRO investigation continues

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who needs a raise?

This is the income it takes to be in the top 1 percent in Texas in 2026