TX: Mayor Whitmire, Metro leaders unveil plan to tackle crime, boost Houston transit ridership

Houston officials formally announced a new initiative Monday aimed at improving safety, cleanliness, and ridership for the city's public transportation system.

The initiative, called MetroNow, comes as officials say public confidence in Houston's public transportation is low. The initiative is also in lockstep with Mayor John Whitmire's greater initiative to improve public safety and curb homelessness in the city.

"As a Houstonian, I can remember when transit stations, bus stops were so much more friendly," Whitmire said. "So we're going to address a user-friendly Metro."

MetroNow includes service enhancements such as adding 350 new buses, replacing 100 MetroLift paratransit vehicles, expanding the Metro curb2curb program, and investing in Metro's microtransit on-demand service, which provides free rides within designated zones.

Metro's latest initiative comes months after the agency shelved plans for the 25.3-mile University Corridor bus rapid transit project and other initiatives in the voter approved MetroNext program. With MetroNext and MetroNow having some similar plans, such as the $200 million Inner Katy BRT project, it's encouraging for advocates that voter approved plans are moving forward.

"The main themes that Metro talked about — safe, clean, reliable, accessible — are the fundamentals of a good transit system," said LINK Houston's Director of Policy and Planning Peter Eccles. "It's encouraging overall, but of course, the devil's going to be in the details."

Eccles said he would like to see more specifics about how the resources laid out in MetroNow will be sent to achieve its initiatives, and hopes there is a comprehensive, rider-centric approach to make Metro safer, cleaner, more reliable and accessible.

Focusing on safety and sanitation

Board Chair Elizabeth Gonzales Brock said one of MetroNow's top priorities is safety, which led to the hiring of new police chief Ban Tien.

"We understand that when you do not feel safe, you will not ride Metro," Brock said. "So we appointed a new police chief, Chief Tien, to develop a workforce deployment strategy and to ensure that we address our officer shortage. This means that we will have a police presence on our buses and trains... We will take back our buses and our shelters and our transit system from the homeless and get back to our intended mission."

In addition to hiring more officers, Metro intends to devote $7 million for security resources and coordinate with local law enforcement to grow its security presence on trains and buses, the agency announced.

The agency will also add text capabilities to its police department's phone line, utilize drone technology, and allocate $2.7 million to replace security cameras, improve lighting, and install security fencing at the Northline and Wheeler transit centers.

Metro plans on dedicating $2.4 million to increase the daily cleaning frequency on buses and trains, and will institute spot checks to remove litter on trains at the end of each line. They will also purchase eight street sweepers and eight vacuum trucks to clean areas where Metro buses run, the agency announced.

Expanded microtransit

Brock said one of the most exciting initiatives of MetroNow is the $10 million expansion of its microtransit services.

Currently, the agency's "Community Connector" program allows residents in designated zones — such as Third Ward, Second Ward, and Downtown — to request free, on-demand rides.

"This is quickly becoming one of our more popular services," Brock said. The service requests a small, electric, microtransit shuttle that can accommodate up to five passengers. Riders can request up to three seats when booking a shuttle.

Eccles said that microtransit helps meet riders where they are and can fill in the gaps for fixed-route services. "But at the end of the day, microtransit is just not a particularly efficient way of moving lots of people," he added.

Service and accessibility improvements

Metro announced it intends to increase the frequency of daily bus-stop cleaning and implement a 24-hour rapid response team to address sanitation problems at bus stops. They also intend to add beautification efforts such as trees, plants and vegetation at stops and facilities.

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