Houston: METRO Re-designs Local Bus System

[urbanactivist]

Come August of 2015, the city of Houston and surrounding areas in the region will have an essentially new local bus system. Here's the story via my blog Texas Leftist...

This week, METRO's long-awaited public transit overhaul now leaves the imagination, and becomes reality.

On Wednesday, the METRO Board voted unanimously to approve the System Reimagining plan, a comprehensive re-design of all of the region's local bus routes, and released the organization's soon-to-be new system map. After months of planning, community feedback and a bevy of changes, Board members felt the new map was a best case scenario to serve the Houston region's growing public transit needs.

The new map carries noticeable differences from METRO's original draft plan. Chief among them is the complete absence of Flex Zones... removed after substantial push-back from residents in Northeast Houston. At the same time, plans to dramatically improve and increase services in under-served areas like densely-populated Gulfton will move ahead.

As one Board member pointed out, a vote on Reimagining is a big step forward, but more remain.

"Adopting this map does not end the continuous process of adjusting routes" said Metro Board member Christof Spieler. "As the region changes, we will keep needing to adjust. [The new plan] is a much easier system to expand than the system we have right now. When you start with a simple grid, it's a whole lot easier to extend."...

This marks the most significant changes to Houston's public transit system since the formation of METRO in 1979.

[miketoronto]

This is a step in the right direction, but I still have concerns with it, the main one being:

Some areas of the city are treated as if they do not deserve transit, just based on their built form. This is no way to build an effective transit system, if you are cutting off whole areas of the city, or providing very unattractive service levels.

Great for some people. But for most of Houston, the service will still suck. And that won't change, unless funding is actually provided to build a proper network, as you can only optimize so much.

Also, all the base routes should operate until the same time in the evening. Why do some routes run 18 hours, some 19, and some 20? Pick 20 and go with it. You can never build a proper system, if you do not provide the same level of service to everyone.

[JManc]

^ You forget that METRO is beholden to unfriendly Texas politicians in Austin and Washington who would rather see the budget cut in half.

edit: no the system doesn't suck for most of the area. it's not New York or Chicago but the metro is well covered given the huge land area. there are areas not covered very well...some by their own choosing...looking at you Katy and others due to where ridership is not that high.

[ardecila]

Doesn't seem too dramatically different from the original plan. I wholeheartedly disagree with Miketoronto on this one... Resources should be concentrated in those portions of Houston with the best potential for ridership. That means job centers, commercial corridors, and densely-populated or low-income areas. The Flex Zone concept seems like a recipe for wasteful spending.

Best of all, the core concept of the redesign, the frequent grid, came through unscathed. Large portions of Houston will now have bus service that is equal in frequency and convenience to light rail service, at a tiny fraction of the cost. This is the workhorse of a transit system that allows cities like Chicago, Philly, and LA to post such huge ridership numbers.

[Tcmetro]

I visited Texas recently, and this plan will put Houston METRO at the forefront of transit in Texas (I know that doesn't mean much).

San Antonio has a good network, with a lot of 15-20 minute frequency core lines, and 30-60 min frequency feeders. Most of their bus routes run everyday, but the night service is confusing. After 9pm or so, they transition to a night bus network that runs until 1ish. San Antonio has a very nice downtown, and the amount of conventioneers support many businesses. I think that they have a really good potential for downtown population growth.

Austin can only offer 15 minute service on one local route, and two "BRT" routes, and on weekdays only. Their suburban rail service doesn't operate evenings, except on Fridays and Saturdays, and doesn't offer Saturday morning/midday or Sunday service. They get some bonus points for their 5-days-a-week owl service.

Dallas has a comprehensive light rail network, but their bus system is suffering. Rush hour frequencies are decent (10-30 minutes), but off-peak is horrendous, every 20-60 minutes. I don't think a single bus line provides a 15-minute or better service all day. Service span seems good though, 4 am - 1 am is common among bus and rail routes. It's a shame the suburban rail line to Fort Worth doesn't run on Sundays, because there is no bus connection between the two cities.

Houston can at least provide frequent service city wide, and come April, will have 3 light rail routes. Houston is redeveloping quickly, some neighborhoods west of the core seem to have become very dense with new townhouses and apartments all over the place.

*I'm not including downtown or university shuttles in the high-frequency routes category, because their purpose is limited.

[urbanactivist]

JMan is right. Houston, moreso than any other city in Texas, has faced unprecedented opposition to transit development. If not for Tom Delay, we would probably have a rail system much larger than it is today, because it wouldn't be 20 years behind Dallas.

[miketoronto]

Don't get me wrong. I am glad to see the push for a frequent service grid.
But at the same time, there needs to be more funding and service brought out to everyone. Not just dense corridors.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by urbanactivist

JMan is right. Houston, moreso than any other city in Texas, has faced unprecedented opposition to transit development. If not for Tom Delay, we would probably have a rail system much larger than it is today, because it wouldn't be 20 years behind Dallas.

To some extent, this is a good thing. As I implied in the previous post, I think it might be best for Houston to focus on a light rail network that covers the Inner Loop fairly densely rather than building a ton of radial lines running into the far-flung suburbs near Beltway 8 and beyond. In the Inner Loop, the rail lines can help to foster car-light, continuous, dense urban development. In the suburbs, the stations are just park and rides that are one more tool to fight highway congestion.

Dallas' ridership numbers are embarrassing - the only reason they keep building more rail lines is because it's just one more way to shovel boatloads of money toward big engineering firms and roadbuilders, not because it's a sensible transportation decision.

[fflint]

I certainly give kudos to Houston for thinking holistically. I hope this truly improves and grows transit in the city.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by Tcmetro

Dallas has a comprehensive light rail network, but their bus system is suffering. Rush hour frequencies are decent (10-30 minutes), but off-peak is horrendous, every 20-60 minutes. I don't think a single bus line provides a 15-minute or better service all day. Service span seems good though, 4 am - 1 am is common among bus and rail routes. It's a shame the suburban rail line to Fort Worth doesn't run on Sundays, because there is no bus connection between the two cities.

Houston can at least provide frequent service city wide, and come April, will have 3 light rail routes. Houston is redeveloping quickly, some neighborhoods west of the core seem to have become very dense with new townhouses and apartments all over the place.

Amtrak provides daily train services between downtown Dallas and Fort Worth.

And, western neighborhoods in Houston are doing very well, but without any trains.

Which proves you can have increasing density without train services......

[Ryanrule]

Originally Posted by electricron

Amtrak provides daily train services between downtown Dallas and Fort Worth.

And, western neighborhoods in Houston are doing very well, but without any trains.

Which proves you can have increasing density without train services......

houston doesnt know the meaning of density. actually that applies to most of texas.

[rawocd]

Jarrett Walker's firm was involved with this redesign and has posted some interesting things about it on his professional blog:

http://www.humantransit.org/2015/02/...-approved.html

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

This is a step in the right direction, but I still have concerns with it, the main one being:

Some areas of the city are treated as if they do not deserve transit, just based on their built form. This is no way to build an effective transit system, if you are cutting off whole areas of the city, or providing very unattractive service levels.

Have you ever been to Houston, or even flown over it?

You can never build a proper system, if you do not provide the same level of service to everyone.

I presume that in this land you're imagining, different transit users pay dramatically different fares, to account for the dramatically different costs for the transit agency to serve them? Otherwise, in a place like Houston, you're going to subsidize sprawl, and drown in red ink.