First time in Houston

When I came to Houston at the first time I heard a lot of complaints about traffic congestion. Initially, I did not notice that. However, one day, in the evening I went out of my home, I could not get access to the university on time due to congestion in the highway. I have discovered that there are peak hours of traffic congestion associated with the work time. Nevertheless, this is not the main cause of the problem! In fact, I know in the field of urban planning (my study), that there are many reasons for traffic congestion related with the rate of vehicle ownership, transport alternatives, efficiency of the transport system, and distribution of commercial activities within the city. Yes! we can develop logical solutions contribute to reducing traffic congestion in Houston. However, we must first determine the main reasons for this congestion. There is public transport system in Houston, but I have no information whether this system covers the entire city and important areas or not. Unfortunately, I have no information whether a lot of people prefer to use alternatives transport rater than vehicle such as walking, bike, motorcycle..What about the effectiveness of these alternatives? Oh, I have no data about the rate of car ownership, and the distribution of commercial activities within the city. I will be also need to statistical data on the peak times of the traffic congestion and the way of distributed in the main roads. I will start from now!