prepared by Christof Spieler, cspieler@ctchouston.org, Mar 28 2005. Last updated July 19 2005.
Transit shapes cities. METRO is now working on planning and designing the next 20 years' worth of new transit investments. The form of transit system we build and the details of its alignment and design will determine the shape of rail transit in Houston for the forseeable future, and drive the evolution of neighborhoods and the city as a whole.
In November 2003, voters approved a long-range transit plan called METRO Soolutions. In addition to improved bus service, this plan includes 64.8 miles of new light rail lines. This plan was designed to be implemented in two phases, one consisting of lines to be opened before 2012 and another consisting of lines to be opened from 2012 through 2025.
METRO plans to open extensions in pieces, a few miles at a time. This spreads out funding, design, and construction.
Like the Main Street line, all of the extensions will be designed and operated to connect with the bus system. Existing or previously planned transit centers served by the new lines are listed below; additional transit centers will likely be created.
While the light rail / BRT system is not primarily designed for park-and-ride ridership from the suburbs, it will have a number of park-and-ride lots. Likely park-and-ride locations (including transit centers that already have parking) are listed below. There will likely be more. The commuter rail system will likely have parking lots at all suburban stations.
METRO has decided on specific alignments only for three lines - North/Hardy, Southeast, and Uptown/West Loop - though these may change as design continues. All other alignments will be determined in studies. (see below.)
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Four line segments are scheduled to open before 2011. Bond funding for these lines (with the exception of commuter rail and the Uptown / West Loop line) have already been approved by voters. The Main St. line (in black) has been operating since 2004. Recent |
The rest of the METRO Solutions system is scheduled to open by 2025. Bond funding for these lines must still be approved by voters. |
| name | mode | extent | areas served | major bus connections | park-and-ride | miles | stations | complete | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Main St.: operating |
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| Main St. | LRT | Fannin South to UH Downtown | Downtown, Midtown, Museum District, TMC, Reliant Park | Downtown, Wheeler, TMC, Fannin South | Fannin South (I-610) | 7.5 | 16 | 2004 | |
Phase II (modified plan): approved by voters; bonds approved by voters |
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| extension to Intermodal Transit Center | LRT | UH Downtown to Intermodal Transit Center | Hardy Yards redevelopment | Intermodal Transit Center | 0.4 | 1 | 2011 | ||
| North-Hardy (inner section) |
BRT (LRT-ready) |
UH Downtown to Northline Mall | Hardy Yards redevelopment, Near Northside | Northline Mall | Northline Mall (I-45) | 5 | 5 | 2011 | |
| Southeast-Universities-Hobby (inner section) |
BRT (LRT-ready) |
Bagby to Intermodal Transit Center | Downtown, Convention Center, Third Ward, UH, TSU, Palm Center | downtown, UH, Southeast Transit Center | Palm Center, 610/Griggs (I-610) | 6.8 | ? | 2011 | The original plan has a downtown terminus at Bagby, on the west side of downtown. The revised plan terminates the line at the downtown Intermodal Transit Center instead, connecting to the north BRT. |
| Harrisburg (inner section) |
BRT (LRT-ready) |
Dowling to Magnolia Transit Center | Harrisburg Blvd. | Magnolia Transit Center | Magnolia Transit Center | 3.0 | 4 | 2011 | |
| East West line (A.K.A. Westpark) | LRT | UH to South Rice via Wheeler | UH, TSU, Montrose, Greenway Plaza, Gulfton | new Uptown Transit Center | 8.3 | ? | 2011 | ||
| The segment between Wheeler and UH was not included in the original METRO Solutions plan. However, the original plan extended further west than the revised plan, to Hillcroft instead of South Rice. | |||||||||
Phase IIb (modified plan): approved by voters; bonds not yet approved by voters |
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| Uptown - West Loop | BRT (LRT-ready) |
Westpark to Northwest Transit Center | Galleria, Post Oak | Uptown Transit Center, Northwest Transit Center | Northwest Transit Center | 4.4 | 7? | 2011 | |
| The revised METRO Solutions map includes a short northern extension to Eureka Jct. to connect to commuter rail. This extension was not included in the original METRO Solutions plan and is not included in the mileage figure shown. | |||||||||
Phase II commuter rail (modified plan): bond not yet approved by voters |
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| 290 | Commuter Rail | Cypress to Intermodal Transit Center | Cyfair | Intermodal Transit Center | Cypress | 20 | ? | by 2012 | |
| This line was not included in the original METRO Solutions plan. | |||||||||
| US 90A | Commuter Rail | Missouri City to Fannin South | Missouri City, Westbury | Intermodal Transit Center | ? | 8 | ? | by 2012 | |
| This line was included in the original METRO Solutions plan. Its extension through Sugar Land to Rosenburg is not in the METRO service area and would have to be funded by Fort Bend County or the cities it serves. Presumably, this extension would be operated as part of the METRO system. | |||||||||
Phase III: approved by voters; bonds not yet approved by voters |
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| Harrisburg (middle section) |
LRT | Magnolia Transit Center to Gulfgate Mall | Gulfgate Mall | Gulfgate | 3.0 | 5 | 2017 | ||
| Sunnyside (inner section) |
LRT | Southeast Transit Center to Bellfort | Sunnyside | 2.8 | 3 | 2018 | |||
| Inner Katy | LRT | Bagby to Northwest Transit Center | Washington Blvd., The Heights, Eureka Yard redevelopment | 7.4 | 5 | 2019 | |||
| Sunnyside (outer section) |
LRT | Bellfort to Airport Blvd. | 2.2 | 2 | 2021 | ||||
| Harrisburg (outer section) |
LRT | Gulfgate Mall to Telephone Rd. | 0.2 | 0 | 2021 | ||||
| Southeast-Universities-Hobby (outer section) |
LRT | 610/Griggs to Hinman | Telephone Rd., Hobby Airport | Hinman (I-45) | 6.2 | 4 | 2022 | ||
| North-Hardy (outer section) |
LRT | Northline Mall to Greenspoint | Airline Blvd., Greenspoint | Greenspoint | Greenspoint (I-45) | 8.5 | 5 | 2023 | |
| North-Hardy (airport connection) |
LRT | Greenspoint to Intercontinental Airport | Intercontinental Airport | 8.0 | 3 | 2024 | |||
Phase III commuter rail (modified plan): bond not yet approved by voters |
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| Galveston | Commuter Rail | Clear Lake to Intermodal Transit Center | Clear Lake | Intermodal Transit Center | ? | ? | ? | ||
| This line was not included in the original METRO Solutions plan. | |||||||||
METRO plans to use to 50% federal funding and 50% local funding to pay for the lines.
Local funding will come from METRO's existing sales tax. No tax increases are proposed. Through 2012, METRO will continue to pay out 25% of its tax revenues to local cities for street projects. As part of the Solutions vote, METRO was authorized to issue bonds for the first 4 extensions (those to be opened by 2012.) These bonds will be paid back with METRO's future tax revenues. To complete the rest of the extensions by 2025, METRO will have to issue bonds for those as well; another oublic vote will be required to approve that.
Federal funding would come from the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts Program. The FTA follows a prescribed process for allocating funding to transit projects based on cost-effectiveness and the financial condition of the agency asking for funding. However, Congree can also allocate "pork barrel" money outside this process or act to prevent the FTA from providing funding for a given project. The latter happened to METRO in May of 2000, when Congressman Tom Delay (R-Sugar Land) added specific language to a congressional transpoartation bill that blocked Houston for receving any federal funding for rail. Thus, even though the FTA had ben set to approve the project, the Main Street line was built with entirely local funding.
According to METRO, the first two light rail lines submitted to the FTA received a low cost-effectiveness rating, making federal funding unlikely.
in 2004, METRO proposed to the FTA that the Main Street line shoudl be counted as a local funding match for the new extensions, allowing METRO to get more federal funds. That has been done elsewhere, notably in Portland. METRO also proposed that the post-2012 extensions count as local funding match for the post-2012 extensions, allowing METRO to start work with 100% federal funds, saving local funds for later. This has not been done before, though some projects have received federal funding of much more than 50%. in February of 2005, FTA rejected this proposal.
As part of the June 2005 plan, Houston mayor Bill White announced an agreement with congressmen Tom Delay and John Culberson under which they will work in Congress to get federal funding for the METRO plan. The Main Street line will also count as matching funds.
Before new light rail lines open, METRO must go through a multi-step, multi-year process of planning, design, and construction. Since METRO is seeking federal funding, this prcess is dictated by the requirements of the Federal Transit Administration. The major steps are:
The schedules shown below are those announced by METRO in 2004. By early 2005, METRO indicated that these schedules had slipped by several years.
| name | extent | AA/DEIS | Locally Preferred Alternative | FTA approval to enter PE | PE/FEIS | Design | Construction | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main St. | Fannin South to UH Downtown | 1998-1999 | 9/1999 | 10/1999 | 2000 | 2000-2002 | 2001-2004 | |
| North-Hardy (inner section) |
UH Downtown to Northline Mall | 2002-2004 | 11/2003 | 4/2005 | 2005-2006 | 2006-2007 | 2006-2008 | |
| Southeast-Universities-Hobby (inner section) |
Bagby to 610/Griggs | 2002-2004 | 11/2003 | 4/2005 | 2005-2006 | 2006-2007 | 2007-2010 | |
| Harrisburg (inner section) |
Dowling to Magnolia Transit Center | 2004-2005 | 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 | 2008-2010 | |||
| Westpark | Wheeler to Hillcroft Transit Center | 2004-2005 | 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 | 2009-2012 | |||
| Uptown - West Loop | Westpark to Northwest Transit Center | 2002-2003 2008-2009 |
11/2003 | 2009-2010 | 2011 | 2012-2014 | ||
| Harrisburg (middle section) |
Magnolia Transit Center to Gulfgate Mall | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | 2014 | 2015-2017 | |||
| Sunnyside (inner section) |
Southeast Transit Center to Bellfort | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | 2015 | 2016-2018 | |||
| Inner Katy | Bagby to Northwest Transit Center | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 | 2016 | 2017-2019 | |||
| Sunnyside (outer section) |
Bellfort to Airport Blvd. | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | 2018 | 2019-2021 | |||
| Harrisburg (outer section) |
Gulfgate Mall to Telephone Rd. | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | 2018 | 2019-2021 | |||
| Southeast-Universities-Hobby (outer section) |
610/Griggs to Hinman | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2019 | 2020-2022 | |||
| North-Hardy (outer section) |
Northline Mall to Greenspoint | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2020 | 2021-2023 | |||
| North-Hardy (airport connection) |
Greenspoint to Intercontinental Airport | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2021 | 2022-2024 |