Tag Archives: Christof Spieler

Houston, Houston Politics

Houston METRO Approves FINAL Reimagining Map

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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.”

Besides basic route adjustments, much work remains to be done to get the project off of the ground.  METRO is now faced with the daunting task of launching a massive education campaign about the new routes and new connections that they hope riders will utilize.

METRO’s target for implementation of the new routes is August of 2015, though no firm date was decided as part of this week’s resolution.

So what can riders expect from this new system?  Here are some initial thoughts…

1) Expect more buses and more transfers.  Many of the new routes will be shorter and more direct, which means the bus should run faster.  But it also decreases the likelihood of one bus hitting lots of diverse locations.

2) Wait time per bus should decrease. The goal of Reimagining is to have a system where riders don’t have to spend all day waiting on the bus.  Other cities have managed to achieve this with many of the changes METRO outlines in this plan, so hopefully that will be the net result for Houston as well.

3) Easier, faster access to popular destinations.  The new bus routes will not only provide faster service, but open a wide variety of places reachable by public transit.  With direct, frequent connections between areas like Montrose and the Heights or the Galleria and Northwest mall, riders will have more options for commerce, entertainment, education and employment.

 

After this week, Houston’s bus system will literally never be the same.  But hopefully those changes will be of great benefit to a growing city and region.  Check out the interactive map, a side-by-side comparison of the old and new route maps, and full details of the new routes for yourself. Share your impressions in the comments below.

Houston On The Go has more thoughts on this momentous occasion.

 

Reimagined

The new METRO local bus network, via the System Reimagining page.

 

Houston, Houston Politics

Houston METRO “Approves” System Reimagining Plan

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In a 4 hour meeting that became heated and personal at times, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County took another major step towards the agency’s System Reimagining plan.

With State Representative Borris Miles, and other elected officials and community leaders present, the plan was approved pending a 60-day intensive study with further recommendations to come back before the board in November.  Basically, METRO is now fully committed to System Reimagining, but has not yet finalized the new routes.

“In reality we will not lock any of this in until March”, board member Christof Spieler said.  “We are required to hold full hearings [on the Reimagining Plan] once schedules have been written, and to allow the public to look at those schedules before this moves forward.”

Before the vote, testimony was given with citizens speaking both for and against the new plan.  Joetta Stevenson, a member with Fifth Ward Super Neighborhood Civic Club, had some very specific concerns.  “System Reimagining is going negatively impact 19 percent of Seniors in the Fifth Ward community. You cannot single out minority and poor areas for less service.”  She noted that residents like herself will lose direct coverage routes to centers like LBJ Hospital and Ben Taub. She also had some issues with the new Flex Zone plans, preferring to keep fixed route service in her area.

In response, Spieler pointed out that the new plans will actually help a large number of Houston’s poor residents by expanding services in under-represented, high-density areas.

“The areas that benefit the most from the this plan are minority and low-income areas.  If you look at population density, [Gulfton] is by far the largest concentration of low-income residents in the area, and they have been dramatically under-served by our system for decades.”

Thus the decision behind METRO’s approval today… move forward with Reimagining, but keep making adjustments to the routes.

Houston has the distinction of being the both one of the nation’s largest and most sparsely populated cities.  In recent years, the city has experienced rapid densification in certain areas, but it’s still a long way off from the density of cities like New York, Chicago, or even Los Angeles.  It’s these challenges that have caused the need for System Reimagining, and also the reasons that residents are so worried about the changes.  It’s important that the region move forward and find ways to improve the transit system, so for that residents should be glad for METRO’s step this week.  Change is rarely easy, but as long as the agency and community continue to dialogue, Houston and Harris County will get the transit they need for the 21st Century.

As Board members made clear, this week’s vote is not the final say for the ambitious Reimagining project. But it does make clear that the days are numbered for the area’s current system. Even with difficulty, change can be a good thing.