METRO’s downtown station procurement fiasco was the big story around Thanksgiving, but the METRO board made another significant decision in November that didn’t attract as much attention.
Board member Christof Spieler, who is ramrodding NEW METRO’s “re-imagining” of itself, pushed through a change in policy, so that NEW METRO (which has long devoted roughly 50% of resources to ridership, and 50% of resources to coverage) will shift to devoting roughly 80% of resources to ridership, and only 20% of resources to coverage.
The move will almost certainly hurt poorer, transit-dependent areas of Harris County — effectively creating Transit Deserts.*
The proposed changes received some coverage from the Chronicle. The change itself was picked up by KUHF, Guidry News, and Houtopian advocates of the change (among others).
We have yet to see any source identify what is driving what will likely be significant cuts in service to transit-dependent areas, which is the fact that METRO is financially strapped, thanks to years of poor management and years of a light-rail build-out that has been MUCH more expensive than what was promised in the 2003 referendum (and less extensive).
Speaking of broken referendum promises, the 2003 referendum also promised a 50% increase in bus service.
Instead, proponents of that referendum made promises METRO hasn’t kept, not unlike the President’s “if you like your insurance you can keep it” snow job.
Hence the need for Christof Spieler, whose lack of budgeting acumen was on display early in the downtown station procurement failure, to “re-imagine” service cuts.
The Houtopian “re-imagining” sounds much better than admitting voters were misled on promised improvements to bus service.
* We first heard the phrase “transit desert” used by local METRO watchdog Paul Magaziner. Since local media frequently obsess (almost nonsensically) about “food deserts,” we’re surprised they are not interested in this related concept.
I omitted a couple of items to keep the post short, but these are worth noting here:
1) Spieler/NEW METRO were floating a 75/25 proposal to the Chron as recently 3 September 2013 (link in the main post). At some point, it became 80/20.
2) METRO staff estimates the changes will boost ridership by 20% in just two years.
I’d also like to add that certainly it is not hard to “re-imagine” METRO’s bus-service routing, and how to make routes more efficient.
Indeed, that’s something that ought to be done with some regularity, and was driven home to me recently when I saw one of the buses that travels down Richmond in near west Houston make a stop for riders at one end of a strip center, go not that far down the road to the other end of the strip center, and make another stop for riders.
Examining routes to improve efficiencies, however, and purposely creating transit deserts as a matter of policy are two different matters. It’s not clear that Spieler should be leading the charge on either, however.
“Squeeler’s New Metro 1.1 million dollar study using hand chosen Stakeholders / with a Portland Oregon consultant to help get the new ridership percentage vote on the worst All time Metro Board ever, agreed that Houston Transit walkers would walk up to 1/2 mile to get to Transit.
Worldwide including the good ol USA, 1/4 mile is the accepted norm.
The hand chosen, non transit riding Stakeholders, thought 1/2 mile was ok, which allows the Metro outliers to eliminate historic bus routes Forcing the transit dependent to walk further If the want to use Christoff Spieler’s New Metro.
Metro REFUSES to give us 2 hours, This Month, in a Metro committee meeting, using their Power Points vs. actually gathered real data, to dispel their walk ability theories. (Which cost tax payers 1.1 million to get, in Their new “polluted” study)
We’re also going to be asking other “sticky” questions of Metro. Metro doesn’t want this on their web cast, archived site. ( I don’t blame them- it would be an all time Ugly)
A transit desert is being created, with one METRO Power Point, showing 40 percent of bus routes needing to be eliminated, from N , NE, E, and SE portions of Houston east of Main Street.
Why is this being done??
Out of financial necessity,created by bad Metro board decisions.
For instance, spending 585 million, 100 percent in local tax dollars, building the Harrisburg Rail alignment whose total Annual Bus Revenue is less than 750,000.00
Morons. Metro is dead broke through 2018. Dead broke!
We wanted to shove 10 instances of Board Stupidity policies, at the Board this month.
We were given three (3) minutes by Chief Lambert in a phone call yesterday
No thanks, Mr. new Transparent Metro.
Two more things about New Metro: cowards! And rail spelled backwards is Liar…
If just one of our elected officials – city, county, or federal – had the GUTS to speak the truth about Metro’s inability to perform to minimum standards, we would not have to worry that they would ” rail ” over us without any consequences. Indeed, the community is often surprised by the self-proclaimed watchers of the hen house becoming part of the hen house. . . It could be the political equivalent of The Stockholm Syndrome.