khousti-ga -
You asked about developing a market approach for the dynamics of
trucking traffic into Houston, with respect to where the truckers stay
when they decide to sleep overnight. This, in order to develop price
sensitivity for this market niche.
To obtain new-business type information for a geographic area in which
an existing network of contacts does not exist, requires a four-prong
structured legwork approach. While never sure which area will prove
the most beneficial, taken together they will provide needed
information. Contacts should be made with:
- Local Government at all levels: city, county (Harris), and local
Boards (Metropolitan Transit)
- Local Business Organizations such as Chambers of Commerce
- Local same-industry Businesses, and
- Local Information Repositories such as libraries and universities
Searching Google with keywords Houston Texas, and Chambers, obtain
numerous sources. The following is an example of a few of them and
their potential for the information you seek.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
City of Houston ( http://www.cityofhouston.gov/ ) contains many
leads, some of which are:
- Services: Bids/RFPs/Downloads, current projects often provide
valuable information;
- About Houston: Economy & Trade
- Elected Officials: City Departments
- Other Information Resources: Greater Houston Partnership, more on
this below; Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO); Houston-Galveston
Area Council (HGAC), more on this below
LOCAL BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS
The Houston-Galveston Area Council: the voluntary association of
counties, cities, independent school districts, and soil and water
conservation districts in the Gulf Coast State Planning Region of
Texas. H-GAC serves almost 150 local governments, and its region
includes about 4 million people in an area of about 12,500 sq. miles (
http://www.hgac.cog.tx.us/ )
Looking at their site, we find they have a Transportation Department
that might very well have the demographics for which you are looking:
- The H-GAC Transportation Department has been designated by the
Governor of Texas as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for
transportation planning for the Houston-Galveston Transportation
Management Area (TMA). As the MPO, H-GAC is responsible for ensuring
the successful regional coordination and integration of federal, state
and local transportation planning efforts taking place within the
region, as well as developing programs and plans for the urbanized
areas of the Houston-Galveston TMA (
http://www.hgac.cog.tx.us/intro/introtrans.html and
http://www.hgac.cog.tx.us/transportation/ ).
A review of their TDM Pilot Projects and Support Services, finds this
project includes: Commuter and Transit Services Pilot Program
Technical Support. This project also might have demographics that you
seek. ( http://www.hgac.cog.tx.us/transportation/rfps.html )
They also provide links to a variety of local entities, including:
Commute Solutions; Houston Real Time Traffic, Port of Houston
Authority; Texas Dept of Transportation (TxDOT); TxDOT Houston
District; Institute of Transportation Engineers; Texas Transportation
Institute, and; Transportation Research Board (
http://www.hgac.cog.tx.us/transportation/links.html ).
The Greater Houston Partnership website also shows promise (
http://www.houston.org/ ).
They provide links to dozens of other Houston area business
organizations ( http://www.houston-texas-online.com/htochambers.html
).
LOCAL SAME-INDUSTRY BUSINESSES
A search of The Greater Houston Partnership membership roles,
Transportation, Travel and Warehousing, lists 74 members, including:
Alliance Worldwide; Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation;
Con-Tra-Mar (Houston Container & Trailer Marrying Co.); Greater
Houston Transportation Co.; Moran-Gulf Shipping Agencies; Trans
Atlantic Corporation; Transera International Logistics, Inc., and;
Transoceanic Shipping Co. (
http://harlingen.intelemart.com/usa/texas/ghp/GHPMemberList.cfm )
LOCAL INFORMATION REPOSITORIES
Include: Houston Baptist University; Houston Public Library; Rice
University; Texas Southern University; Texas Woman's University;
University of Houston, and; University of St. Thomas (
http://www.ci.houston.tx.us/abouthouston/education.html ).
A call to the reference librarian at local libraries can uncover a
treasure trove of information, including the fact that a local project
concerning traffic flow was underway - this actually happened to me.
The information amassed by local college post-graduate degree
candidates is sometime amazing.
There is much legwork to do. But using this approach, coupled with a
little imagination will work for you, as it has for me.
Good Luck!
Regards, walts-ga |
