The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) has a new long-term plan – METRONext – to improve or add about 500 miles of transit in the Houston region without any new tax. In the November 5, 2019 referendum, METRO is seeking to borrow up to $3.5 billion, repayable by future METRO revenue.
LINK Houston’s Equity in Transit: 2018 Report identified four high-demand areas where local transit is especially important for access to work, school, health care, etc. The report also calls for frequent, reliable, extended, and accessible transit service.
METRONext addresses frequency through the new Bus Rapid Transit, Bus Operations Optimized System Treatments (BOOST), and rail extensions. The long-range plan addresses reliability through BOOST and accessibility with planned improvements to make the 9,000 bus stops accessible. There is no plan to extend service hours on bus or lightrail.
For more information, take a look at our newly developed document that summarizes in more detail how METRONext relates to our recommendations to improve local transit.