There’s an important public meeting coming up on Tuesday, June 30 about transit in Gulfton. Here’s what you need to know.
Where: Baker Ripley Gulfton Sharpstown Campus – 6500 Rookin St. Houston, TX 77074
What Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
If you need accommodations: Please call 713-739-4018 or email METROPublicAffairs@RideMETRO.org to request language assistance or other accommodations at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting, free of charge.
This meeting will cover many different topics – some of which have been in the works for almost a decade, including:
- The Gulfton Bus Rapid Transit project, or BRT. METRO is proposing to build a new transit line in Gulfton that would run buses in dedicated lanes along parts of Chimney Rock, Gulfton Street, and Hillcroft. You may remember this project from the METRONext Plan, passed by 68% of voters in 2019. The Gulfton BRT is a key piece of the METRONext network, connecting the densest and most transit-dependent neighborhood in Houston to the rest of the transit system.
- METRO is also proposing a new “curb2curb” zone in Gulfton. Curb2curb is a microtransit service – unlike fixed route lines like local bus, which run along the same route and pick people up at designated stops, curb2curb provides service to and from any point in a given zone. The Curb2curb service would eventually replace the existing Gulfton Circulator bus routes.
- Lastly, this meeting will be co-hosted by Harris County Precinct 4 and include updates on some of the projects they have planned in Gulfton, including a project called “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.”
So, why is this meeting happening now, what’s changed, and what do you need to know to participate in this meeting?
The community is certainly overdue for an update on all of the projects coming to Gulfton. A big driver for the timeline is that METRO is applying for a federal grant to fund the Gulfton BRT project in August, and needs to complete public engagement before they submit the application.
It’s exciting that METRO is moving forward with the Gulfton BRT project. However, it’s important to keep in mind that a few things have changed.
- First of all, the route for the Gulfton BRT service has changed. Previously, the Gulfton BRT was planned to connect to the Silver Line, the existing Bus Rapid Transit line from the Galleria to the Northwest Transit Center. Running these two as a single line would provide a north/south route connecting to key METRO routes and, critically, would be completely separated from general traffic, allowing buses to run quickly and predictably. Now, the Gulfton BRT is proposed to run north to the Galleria, and then east on Westheimer to Downtown in mixed traffic. For the majority of this new route, buses would be competing with cars. It will be very difficult to run this service with the same level of reliability.
- Next, the street design for the Gulfton BRT has also changed. Previously on Gulfton Street, buses would get one dedicated lane in each direction, and cars would get another – now, cars will get two lanes in each direction, and buses will share a single lane and alternate directions. This street will be much wider than it needs to be, meaning more concrete, fewer trees, and more heat.
- Now let’s talk about the curb2curb and the existing circulator routes. Microtransit like curb2curb can be a useful tool, but in dense neighborhoods like Gulfton, it can be difficult to keep up with demand. At a certain point, it is more efficient to carry more people with fewer vehicles on fixed route buses. And the current Gulfton Circulator routes are relatively high performers among METRO’s blue routes, with average boardings per hour around 15 passengers.
So as you attend the meeting next week, keep these things in mind!
