Chron transit reporter Rosanna Ruiz is shaping up so far to be much more diligent and probing than her two most recent predecessors on the beat. METRO isn’t quite used to the local newspaper being anything but a PR outlet for its proclamations, and one official apparently wasn’t too happy with a recent headline. Spokesperson Raequel Roberts also felt the need to write to the Chronicle recently to clarify some matters:
Houston Metro encourages everyone to ride Metro, including Chronicle reporters. (Please see “An inside look at Metro bus commute,” Monday.) To neophytes, riding transit can take some time to master. We have a project under way to straighten out routes that have evolved over the years into zigzag patterns. Any visitor to New York City finds venturing into the subway system a bit daunting, but a day or two of experience leaves many singing the praises of the system. It’s a maturation we often observe with first-time riders to MetroRail.
We are glad the reporter noticed Metro’s buses are clean. We were, however, perplexed by the statement that one must input intersections, not addresses, to use our trip planner. The trip planner works with addresses, as it does with landmarks. We recently added Google Transit to our site as an added form of assistance.
On the matter of fares and our operators: Operators monitor fares to look for abuses of the system, but their primary responsibility is to drive buses safely and adhere to sched
