The pilot service will depart from Sawdust Park and Ride with multiple stops in the Energy Corridor off I-10. The round-trip park and ride tickets are $13 and must be purchased in advance through The Woodlands Express Mobile Ticketing app or a Park and Ride terminal, according to the township. The service will be offered Mondays through Fridays, and a map of the schedule and routes is available on The Woodlands Township website.
In January, township officials said they hoped to have the details of the service worked out by the end of this year. Funding for the program is provided by through a Congestion Management and Air Quality grant from the Houston-Galveston Area Council, which makes up 80% of the needed funds. The township and the Energy Corridor District will share funding for the remaining 20%, according to a news release from the township. Calculations made by the township in 2020 indicated this would amount to an annual average of about $74,000.
“The Woodlands Township is happy to partner with The Energy Corridor District to offer this new service for our riders,” said Ruthanne Haut, deputy director of community services for the township. “We hope that this expanded service will be of great value to our residents and local riders who work in the Energy Corridor, and we look forward to feedback about their experience.”
The need for the service became apparent after 2017, when Shell relocated from downtown Houston to the Energy Corridor and when CB&I was acquired by McDermott in 2018, according to discussions at township meetings in 2020. The changes affected about 400 The Woodlands-area employees, officials said at the time.
