HOUSTON – Before the pandemic, the idea of METRO’s “Bus Rapid Transit” was the cornerstone of the public transportation agency’s future plans.
But this week, METRO, under new, seemingly more fiscally responsible leadership, shelved plans to build the next leg of the “BRT” line.
The University Line is being shelved after the Silver Line, the proof-of-concept line that opened along North Post Oak, near the Galleria, has failed to attract more than 90% of the riders that were promised.
The boondoggle Silver Line project recently had it’s fancy Silver, train-like, busses stripped from the route, in favor of shorter, less-fancy, white METRO busses, that still ride nearly empty most of the time.
“I think the bus rapid transit in the Galleria was a colossal failure. Yeah, no one rode it, and it and it made the whole area more congested,” Dr. Steven Craig, a University of Houston economist, said Friday.
METRO’s new board chairperson, Elizabeth Gonzalez Brock, installed by Mayor John Whitmire, who has been critical of METRO, said Friday that it did not make sense to continue with expensive projects with low ridership.
Gonzalez Brock stopped short of fully giving-up on the idea of Bus Rapid Transit, but she said that investment of public funds needs to be put into projects that will carry riders.
“I think we need to look at what’s working and what’s not working and also look at other options that might be more successful in terms of ridership,” Brock said.
It leaves a big question mark next to the agency’s future planning.
In 2019, voters approved a $3.5 Billion bond package that would have been used to partially finance new “BRT” lines, lines with fancy bus stops, akin to train stations, dedicated lanes, and nicer busses.
Friday, Brock said that none of the funding had yet been tapped, but that does not mean that it won’t be in the future. The question is: how will it be spent?
“I believe that people in 2019 voted for more mobility, and that’s what we plan to deliver,” Brock Gonzalez told KPRC 2 Investigates via teleconference.