Montgomery County and Harris County commissioners each voted on requests Dec. 19 from the Gulf Coast Rail District regarding the addition of a full voting board seat for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, as Fort Bend County and the city of Houston officials await their next meetings to take votes on the same issue that could potentially move forward high-speed rail projects in the region.

The context

The Gulf Coast Rail District is a cooperative between Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Montgomery and Waller counties alongside the city of Houston to consider potential high-speed railroad projects in the Greater Houston area. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County—also known as METRO—serves in a nonvoting capacity on the GCRD.

The GCRD is part of a larger cooperative formed in 2022 called the Houston Area Rail Transformation project with a goal of “producing a collaborative and programmatic approach to leverage public and private funding opportunities for railroad projects in the region,” according to their website. The GCRD is a member of the HART alongside:
  • Union Pacific Railroad
  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway
  • Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Company
  • Port Terminal Railroad Association
  • METRO
  • Houston-Galveston Area Council
  • Texas Department of Transportation
  • Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway
What they’re saying

METRO, Galveston County and Waller County officials voted to approve the resolutions to add METRO as a member in early December. Montgomery County commissioners voted unanimously against the resolution Dec. 19, the same day Harris County commissioners voted unanimously for the resolution.


“I am adamantly opposed to this as it will give an imbalance in the ability to keep certain things that we as a board, and across the board with our other counties around the area, know will give [the GCRD] an edge to be able to move forward on [rail projects] that we just cannot allow,” Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said.

“These are just a few updates we’re making to the concurrent ordinance. Anytime there’s a change to the rail district’s ordinance, we have to come back to the member entities. This allows us the opportunity to explore projects that are related to advanced technologies, possibly bus rapid transit. We didn’t have that ability before,” GCRD Executive Director Katherine Parker said.

“METRO needed time to get approval of their board and to negotiate the fee structure for their membership. That puts a representative from METRO as a voting member of the Gulf Coast Rail District, which before they were just an observer,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said.

“I wouldn’t really consider bus rapid transit as advanced transportation technology. I just didn’t understand the timing of this,” Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said.
<


Also of note

With Harris County commissioners voting in favor, they approved the following amendments:
  • Adding METRO as a full voting member
  • Including Senate Bill 1990 legislation to allow the GCRD to include transportation technologies and bus rapid transit
  • Updating the name of the Galveston Transit District to the Gulf Coast Transit District as an ex-officio
  • Adding a designated appointee to the Port of Houston board position; only the chair can be the designated appointee
When this item was originally brought to the attention of Harris County Commissioners Court in 2022, a no-vote was made to amend the language of the ordinance. Updates were made so METRO could make changes, which were approved in November.

Zooming in

Under the latest Texas Transportation Code signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on Nov. 14, governing bodies like the GCRD can exercise powers as intermunicipal commuter rail districts that can make decisions related to:
  • Commuter rail facilities
  • Other types of passenger rail services
  • Intercity rail services
The GCRD will be governed by 15 directors who will be appointed according to the following structure:
  • Positions 1, 2 and 3: Harris County Commissioners Court will appoint three directors.
  • Positions 4, 5 and 6: The city of Houston mayor will appoint three directors.
  • Position 7: One director will be appointed by Harris County Commissioners Court and the Houston mayor.
  • Position 8: One director will be appointed by the mayors of all municipalities in Harris County except the Houston mayor.
  • Position 9: This will be the chair of the Port of Houston or a designee.
  • Position 10: The Fort Bend County judge will appoint one director.
  • Position 11: Fort Bend County mayors will appoint one director.
  • Position 12: The Waller County judge will appoint one director.
  • Position 13: The Galveston County judge will appoint one director.
  • Position 14: The Montgomery County judge will appoint one director.
  • Position 15: This will be a METRO board member
According to the GCRD ordinance, no board actions related to the location of new rail lines can be made within any of the cities, counties or municipalities without the approval from the director representing the city, county or municipality.


Any of the counties may withdraw from the GCRD for any reason, and the district may also be dissolved in accordance with the Texas Transportation Code.

Stay tuned

Fort Bend County will likely not discuss the resolution until after Jan. 1.

According to GCRD Chair Carol Abel Lewis, the city of Houston will be the final entity to discuss the resolution during a future Houston City Council meeting and then package the resolutions to formally adopt the change in board structure.