A new plan from the city’s transit agency focuses on improving the rider experience and boosting safety, but remains uncommitted to previous plans to build new BRT lines.
Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) unveiled a new plan
focused on reliability, cleanliness, safety, and accessibility that aims to increase ridership and improve the transit experience for users.
The agency’s plan, dubbed METRONow, is a revised version of the city’s prior METRONext plan, explains Dominic Walsh in Houston Public Media. It calls for 350 new buses and the replacement of 100 accessible vehicles, as well as accessibility improvements at bus stops. It includes a $7 million investment in security initiatives such as lighting, fences, and patrols on trains.
The agency previously scrapped bus rapid transit projects, citing cost concerns. Now, some of those projects might move forward under the new plan. However, the agency killed the proposed University Corridor BRT line, which would have linked multiple universities over a 25-mile line. It also demoted a planned BRT line along Interstate 10 to a shared high occupancy vehicle lane.
FULL STORY: Houston transit authority unveils ‘METRONow’ initiative focused on cleanliness, safety and ridership
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