Several bus routes will expand in the Cy-Fair area if a proposal to redevelop the bus system is approved by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County board later this year.

The proposal is part of the transit authority's three-pronged approach to revamp the system in an effort to better connect people with employment centers and other major hubs of activity around Metro's service area, which includes unincorporated Harris County, the city of Houston and 14 smaller cities in Harris County.

"This started with the realization that the current local bus network doesn't do its job very well," Metro board member Christof Spieler said during a May stakeholder meeting. "We set out on this process to really think about what the best local bus network we could build would look like."

First and foremost, the proposal came from the community asking Metro for changes and updates to the bus system, said Kurt Luhrsen, vice president of planning for Metro.

"In 2011, we held 36 meetings across the community asking what people wanted Metro to be and what services they wanted," he said. "People typically ask for rail lines, commuter rail or new transit centers, but that's not what we heard. We heard overwhelmingly that people want the local bus system to run better."

Metro also wanted to address its decline in ridership during the past decade along with making sure the bus and new light rail systems work well together, Luhrsen said.

"This is a five-year transit plan that focuses on improving the bus system," project manager Geoff Carleton said. "It's intended on using Metro's existing resources in a way that best serves the region and the riders."

Offering new routes

In northwest Harris County, Metro's existing bus service Route 86 runs along FM 1960 as far west as Hwy. 249 in the Willowbrook area. More than 3,300 people rode the weekday route in April, according to Metro.

The new proposal calls for adding a bus line that travels west on Hwy. 290, north along Jones Road and west on FM 1960 where it eventually connects to the existing Route 86.

The proposed bus routes will give Cy-Fair residents more options in traveling into downtown Houston and connecting with Metro's light rail lines along with more local access—one of the proposed routes will connect with Lone Star College–University Park and businesses in the Willowbrook area.

"We have a number of routes in that northwest grid, but they haven't connected well in the past," Luhrsen said. "We have a lot of gaps and are trying to bring them together. It wasn't easy to connect [in that area] because a lot of routes didn't intersect or run on Saturday or the evenings. This will allow people to get to more places quicker, and it will better tie-in hubs of activity."

The proposed network will make the bus service a seven-day-a-week network, offering more comprehensive service.

"We don't run 10 to 15 percent of our local weekday routes on Saturday at all, and what we do run is significantly less," Luhrsen said. "We are trying to have a base level of service that's the same at noon on Thursday and noon on Sunday so people can use transit to make more trips and have the freedom to choose."

The expanded service would also run through part of the city of Jersey Village, which is not one of Metro's member cities. Luhrsen said Metro can run bus routes through the city on public streets, but whether there will be bus stops in Jersey Village is still under consideration.

Gathering community feedback

Throughout June and July, there are 16 public meetings scheduled around the community to gather input from riders on the proposed changes to the bus service. One of the closest meetings to Cy-Fair will take place from 6–8 p.m. July 9 at White Oak Conference Center, 7603 Antoine Drive.

"We'll also do transit center and community workshops where we'll set up tables and ask customers what we need to tweak," Luhrsen said. "We have a huge service area of 1,200 square miles, so we don't presume to know every single neighborhood as well as the people who live there."

Luhrsen said staff hopes to brief the board in August on feedback from the public with a vote tentatively scheduled for the September board meeting. If the proposal is approved, there would be a nine-month implementation process to update every schedule, training and education materials and every piece of information tied to the route changes. The changes to the routes could take affect by next June.

"This process started with what we heard from customers about making the local bus system faster and relevant and easier to understand," Luhrsen said. "We're interested in getting feedback on what they liked and what they want to see [improved] to make it better."

For a full list of public meetings, or to provide input on the proposed changes online, visit www.transitsystemreimagining.com.