Activists charge that METRO is creating ‘transportation deserts’ By Robert Stanton on assignment for Houston Business Connections
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s Houston METRO rolls forward with plans to revamp public transportation in the city, some community leaders are fighting to save traditional bus routes in inner-city neighborhoods. Reimagine Houston Transit, an 18-month-long project spearheaded by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, seeks to transform transit as
system-reimagining/ Results of a Reimagine Houston Transit study are expected to be released this month. (August) Not everyone, however, is gung-ho about METRO’s plans. Houston businessman Paul Magaziner said that minority communities are getting the short end as METRO focuses its efforts on light rail, its Park and Ride program, and its signature bus program along Bellaire Boulevard and the future Uptown area. “What they are not into,” he said, “is providing the historic current local bus
PAUL MAGAZINER Houstonians know it. Key to the change is a proposed reworked bus routing system that will increase coverage of the Houston area while boosting ridership by 20 percent over the next two years (once the new system is implemented), according to the Citizens’ Transportation Coalition. - http://www.ctchouston.org/wordpress/METRO-transit-
routes. They’re going to be eliminating them. In 2012, METRO eliminated seven routes, and now they’ll be eliminating more. “They want to remove bus routes in black neighborhoods and on the East Side, and in effect they are creating transportation deserts,” Magaziner said. “It’s going to be a terrible impact.”
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METRO spokeswoman Carolina Mendoza said that bus routes “are streamlined and made more understandable by reducing excessive turns and keeping the service on major streets. “Some individuals may have to walk a short block or two to access the new network, but frequency of service is generally better, and weekend service is dramatically improved over existing levels,” she stated in an email. “The proposed new network more than doubles the number of people who are within a 1/2 mile of frequent service,” she stated. “And still, 93% of existing riders system-wide will continue to be able to access the new bus network at the same bus stop they do today. Both the Southeast and East End communities “will be seeing new rail lines open with significantly improved frequency and span of service, seven days-a-week,” she added. Tracy Stephens, a retired supervisor at the Houston Public Works and Engineering Department, said that physically impaired Houstonians are being adversely affected by METRO’s decisions. Stephens said that a federal Title 6 complaint has been filed against METRO, alleging the agency has not provided enough covered shelters for wheelchair bound Houstonians and those who use scooters to get STEPHENS around. “At a majority of bus shelters, a person on a wheelchair