Houston METRO is currently drafting a new transit plan for the Houston region, called METROnext and a new round of public meetings is expected in early 2019.

LINK Houston, a recently established transit advocacy group, has released an Equity in Transit Report - which examines Houston area transit needs from the point of view of providing greater transit equity to communities that need better access to opportunities and services. Below are links to the report itself and a PowerPoint presentation.

In summary, the report makes the following recommendations:

1. Improve the frequency of transit, so that every bus that is classified as "frequent" comes at least every 15 minutes all day, every day; that the trains come at least every 15 minutes (even at night); and that no one waits an hour for a bus;

2. Improve the availability of transit for late night and early morning service on 12 routes that connect under resourced neighborhoods to extended-hour destinations, like the airports, the Convention Center, the Galleria/Uptown, higher education institutions, and the Medical Center;
(these specific routes are listed in the report)

3. Improve the reliability of transit so that local buses run 90% on time; and

4. Improve the accessibility of transit so that all stops are reachable regardless of size, age, or ability, prioritizing stops where people have to wait longer.

How Can Houston's Transit be More Equitable:
https://kinder.rice.edu/2018/11/27/how-can-houstons-transit-be-more-equitable

Opening remarks at Report release:
https://linkhouston.org/reports-briefings/equity-in-transit-opening-remarks/

Equity in Transit Report, PowerPoint presentation:
https://linkhouston.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/LINKHouston_EquityinTransit_PPT_ReportSlides.pdf

The full Equity in Transit Report:
https://linkhouston.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/LINKHouston_EquityinTransit2018_Report.pdf

For questions or comments, contact Frank Blake at frankblake@juno.com