Houston transit officials on Monday said on-demand microtransit would expand to provide rides in the Heights.
Metro, with the city of Houston and Evolve Houston, expanded the Community Connector service, which has been serving downtown Houston, Second Ward and Third Ward through a program offering free rides.
Microtransit is part of the MetroNow Plan, which officials say could improve mobility by using small vehicles designed for short distances. Board Chair Elizabeth Gonzalez Brock said in February that MetroNow had $10 million to expand microtransit services.
The microtransit shuttle can provide seating for up to five people, and riders can reserve three seats.
The Heights service will operate Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Rides are requested within the designated zone by using the Ride Circuit app.
See here, here, and here for the background. Among many other things, I’m very curious as to how they define “the Heights” for these purposes. Depending on how strict your construction is, that could be a pretty significant portion of the upper west Inner Loop quadrant. I’m also curious as to why we were next on the list, since in other contexts (like sidewalks and bike paths), Mayor Whitmire has carped about how the Heights and Montrose have been over-prioritized by previous administrations. And yet here we are getting this thing none of us asked for or knew was coming. Funny how that works.
Someone who has already used it is Chron deputy opinion editor and Heights neighbor Raj Mankad, who shares his experience.
That was how I intended to use the Community Connector shuttle: to get me to the Quitman light rail stop where I’d continue my morning commute. Unfortunately, the app gave Davenport bad directions, and we took an unintentional tour of the Near Northside. (Later, Casey Brown, Evolve’s executive director, told me he would get the first-day glitch fixed.)
But we got there. I enjoyed the ride. And assuming that they work out the glitches, I’ll use it again.
What about all of you who don’t live in the Heights, Third Ward, Second Ward or Downtown? Will the service come to your neighborhood any time soon?
That depends on the cost per rider.
One of the most expensive parts is paying the driver. And obviously, a driver of a full-sized bus or train can move a lot more passengers than the driver of an itsy-bitsy vehicle that carries a maximum of five people.
The subsidy per ride for the microtransit pilot in Los Angeles was a whopping $43 per ride according to reporting by the Los Angeles Times in 2023, and two years later, the costs there remain high. Yes, all public transit is subsidized by tax dollars, but that’s boggling.
Metro does not include microtransit in its monthly ridership reports, so it’s hard to compare its costs. Casey Brown, the head of Evolve, told me that in Houston “we’ve consistently achieved a cost per passenger of under $10 for several months” in one zone, though the average across the pilot program is higher. He said Evolve keeps costs down in part by using smaller vehicles and tighter coverage zones than other cities. As ridership and efficiency go up, he says the subsidy per rider drops.
The total number of microtransit rides from June 19, 2023, until the end of this April was a little over 44,000. To put that in perspective, almost every single METRO bus line carries more riders each year than the entire microtransit program — even those buses you see midday with hardly anyone in the seats.
[…]
Piloting microtransit now could prepare Houston for the upheaval ahead. Instead of letting tech companies dictate the future, jamming up our roads with robotaxis, the public can take some control and shape what kind of city we want.
But here’s the problem: Even if we manage to get microtransit right, those darling shuttles won’t be enough. Remember how microtransit is supposed to close the gaps with full-sized transit? To supplement it, not substitute for it?
To put it plainly, Houston’s main system isn’t good enough. Even if every neighborhood were magically served by its own fleet of irresistible fun-size transit, those little shuttles wouldn’t have the big system they need to feed into. It’d be like having great capillaries but clogged arteries.
We need more dedicated lanes for people who share vehicles, whether that’s shuttles, buses or trains. That includes HOV lanes. We need Metro to un-cancel its plans for the University Line, especially the crucial east-west section of the bus rapid transit connection. We need to move more people, fast, pleasantly and cost-effectively.
Don’t forget the Inner Katy Line, which would also serve the Heights. Assuming that whatever they’re doing to I-10 hasn’t permanently killed this possibility. And hey, you know what else fills in the gaps for the larger transit system, at a much lower cost? Bike lanes and good sidewalks. I’m just saying.
Be that as it may, here we are again at the total lack of numbers with this service. Maybe someday we’ll find out how many people have actually used this service, in its various locations, and thus maybe get some idea of the value it provides. Heck, even knowing how many people have downloaded the app and how many of them have ever reserved a ride would be nice. Until then, I’ll be on Microtransit Watch, to see how often I personally encounter one of these things. I’ll do my best to take a picture the first time I do, and post it here. I’m sure you’re full of anticipation.
UPDATE: Via the Weird Sh*t in the Heights (Houston) Facebook group, I learn the following:
The heights has two areas. North of 11th and south of 11th. East to 45 and west to shepherd. South to I-10 and north to 610. Within each box the ride is direct. If you go outside the box then you have to put in a transfer. So if you live on the 1500 block of harvard and want to go to the heights theater there’s no transfer. But if you live on the 1500 block of harvard and want to go to Donovan Park at 7th/Heights then you will need to transfer at 11th. It’s mainly for short trips if you don’t want to have the hassle of transfers.
The definition of “the Heights” as I-10 to 610 and Shepherd to I-45 makes sense. Dividing it into north of 11th and south of 11th and requiring a transfer to get from one side to the other is a bit ridiculous, and means there are at least two of these bespoke shuttles in the greater neighborhood during its hours of operation. A few people in the comments have spotted them around. I’m still looking.