Transit agency prepares to launch 3 new rail lines

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County is gearing up for a busy 2013 as the organization prepares to select a new CEO, put the finishing touches on three new rail lines and work to increase its ridership.

Metro serves the unincorporated portions of Harris County, the city of Houston and 14 smaller cities, providing mass transit such as bus and rail lines and High Occupancy Vehicle lanes to commuters. The organization held a referendum last November to determine whether or not to continue its general mobility fund program, which sets aside 25 percent of Metro's sales tax collections to go toward street improvement projects in its service area.

"The unincorporated area had some of the biggest voter turnout for the referendum," Metro board chairman Gilbert Garcia said.

During the 2003 referendum, 25–50 percent of the majority of the geographical area of Cy-Fair voted in favor of the referendum, while all of Cy-Fair was 75–100 percent in favor of it in 2012, according to data provided by Metro. The referendum continues the general mobility payments through 2025, but it also caps future growth in the GMP portion of the sales tax revenue at 2014 levels until 2025, spitting additional money between Metro and its member entities.

Metro is finalizing the hiring of a ridership consultant during its Jan. 24 meeting, and that individual will be responsible for working with a committee to research transit systems across the world and determine the best ways to increase ridership and meet the needs of the Houston community.

"The board committee is working with senior staff to look at what we can do in the short term and what to do in the longer term to deploy those funds," Garcia said. "This process of reimagining and working with the consultant will last all of 2013."

In addition to the consultant, Metro is putting the final touches on three of its rail lines that are slated to open in 2014. The North Line will extend from downtown to Northline Transit center parallel I-45, the East End Line will also pass through downtown and end at the Magnolia Park Transit Center in Southeast Houston, and the Southeast Line will pass by University of Houston and Texas Southern University.

Although the new lines do not extend into Cy-Fair, everyone in Metro's service area benefits from transit in some way, Garcia said.

"Transit is a good investment in the community, because even if you don't ride rail or use HOV lanes, the key is that other people do, so it displaces cars giving people more freedom on the roads," he said.

The Metro board will also be selecting a new CEO this year, following the resignation of George Greanias in late 2012. The board is planning to interview several professional recruiting firms in mid-February and bring one forward in late February to begin the search for a new leader.

"It's our goal to identify a [CEO] candidate and begin negotiations with them in the late third quarter or early fourth quarter," Garcia said.