METRO’s support of an on-demand microtransit service comes as the agency is scaling back its bigger bus projects.
A Houston City Council member is questioning Harris County METRO’s decision to invest in an on-demand microtransit service as the agency cuts funding to a proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) line, report Dominic Anthony Walsh and Colleen DeGuzman for Houston Public Media.
According to Council member Letitia Plummer, “(Microtransit) is not helping the larger footprint of mobility that the City of Houston needs, so I'm going to look at that a little closer ... Can we use the money in a different way to serve more people?”
The article notes that METRO has walked back its plans for BRT in favor of microtransit, which the agency says helps people solve the first/last mile problem and complements traditional transit. However, critics of microtransit agree with Plummer that microtransit can sap resources from already strained transit agencies and can’t cost-effectively provide services at a large scale.
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