Here’s the link to Mayor White’s proposed 2006 city budget.
And here’s the link to Metro’s FY2004 Annual Report, including Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). You have to skip to Page 16 to begin reading the good stuff. What immediately jumps out is the increase in sales tax revenues and the decrease in fare revenues which Metro attributes to declining bus ridership (strange, how did THAT happen?). Also Metro says the higher sales tax revenues are due to Houston’s economic recovery, but says the accompanying job growth has not been significant enough to have a positive impact on ridership.
Uh huh. That’s because Metro’s transit offerings have become so woefully inadequate that people won’t even consider the public transportation option.
But Metro has given Houston 7.5 miles of downtown light rail. You just have to get yourself downtown to use it.
