Since I first blogged about the arrival of those Evolve Houston microtransit shuttles in the Heights a week or so ago, I have seen one of those shuttles three times. The first time it was in motion and presumably in use, turning from Pecore onto Beauchamp. The other two times it was parked on the street near my house, with the driver inside. I was out for a walk the first time I saw the shuttle sitting there, and since the driver’s window was down, I went over and said hello to him, and asked him if he was waiting for a passenger. He said no, he had been told to park and talk up the shuttles to whoever came by; basically, he and the shuttle were serving as advertisements for the service. I asked if he had given any rides so far that day (it was around lunchtime) and he said no. I thanked him and wished him well and went on my way.
I was driving the second time I saw the parked shuttle, a couple of days later, so I didn’t have the chance to talk to the driver. I assume he was following the same instructions as before but can’t confirm that. The shuttle itself is of course its own advertisement for the service, whether it’s in motion or at rest, but I do wonder how much other publicity Metro has given it and its new expansion of that service. They did tweet and post to Facebook about it, a couple of days before I saw the Chron story and Facebook group post that alerted me, but I didn’t see either of those posts until I went looking for them. I didn’t see anyone share it on their own wall or Twitter feed. Maybe the next email from our civic association will mention it, we’ll see. Metro could have done more to make the people who might use this thing know that it exists, is what I’m saying.
(Update: After drafting this post, I saw another parked shuttle with the driver sitting inside, on Friday in the parking lot of the strip center on Yale between 19th and 20th.)
The social media posts did lead me to Metro’s “community connectors” page, and that led me in turn to more questions about this service. First, the actual area served is smaller than I originally thought, with the south zone being smaller than the north zone, only extending as far west as Yale. The North Zone approaches Shepherd but stops a block east of it, which suggests to me that these shuttles are not safe to drive on a busier and higher-speed road like that. It has a couple of other effects that I’ll get to in a minute.
One of the stated purposes of this microtransit initiative (that no one asked for) is to increase ridership. We don’t know (because Metro won’t tell us) how many people are using these shuttles, but I take that to mean that it will help people get from their homes to Metro’s main services and/or from the bus and light rail lines to other destinations. Solving the “last mile” problem for folks who may need it, in other words. I count seven bus lines that run through “the Heights”, all of which go through or border on those microtransit areas (26, 27, 30, 40, 44, 56, 66) – you’re never more than a half mile away from a bus stop, which sort of limits the usefulness of the shuttles. On the plus side, both the Quitman and Cavalcade light rail stops are included, so that’s good. I suspect those will be popular destinations for riders.
Beyond getting a ride to the light rail stations, where else might a shuttle rider want to go? This is where I struggle to understand Metro’s purpose in deploying this to the Heights. Where would one take this shuttle, given that it’s daytime only (and thus not an option for, say, going to a restaurant with limited parking or the Heights Theater)? You could go to the HEB on Shepherd, if there’s an accessible entrance from the side, but not to the Kroger on Shepherd and 11th or the one on Studemont just south of I-10. You can get to the two post offices and to the Heights hospital on 19th, so that’s something. I’m really not sure where else you’d need to go. What am I missing?
Anyway. I’m tempted to download the app for this thing and then take it to someplace in the North Zone from my house in the South Zone, and compare travel times to riding my bike there. I’ll report back if I do. Have you tried this, or are you tempted to? Where did you/would you take it?
Why would anyone think that the mayor’s appointee is doing something that makes sense? If anything, they are being told by his highness what to do.
This initiative draws money away from fully funding transit and toward a service that marginally addresses first and last mile connections – for people who can already afford their own mode of transportation. Yet one more example of unhinged and irrational decision making from a Mayor who cares very little about people who need better public transportation.
This smells like another flashy, useless red herring for Angry Elmer Fudd to later wave around while screaming “see – nobody uses this!!!” to justify killing more bike and pedestrian protections that are already paid for, installed, and in use.
I think I’ve seen the shuttle you’re referring to – parked on a side street, off another side street, in the shade. I haven’t seen one actually taking anyone anywhere, either at home or downtown. Perhaps if they would circulate and you could just hail one (maybe have an “available” light like a cab??), instead of having to download yet another Metro app (that I couldn’t even find in the Apple app store using any logical search term or linked from either of the two Metro apps I already have, or with fewer than four clicks into the Metro website) it might actually get used. The Heights version would also be much more useful if the boundaries were one block east of Shepherd, one block south of 610, the Red Line, and White Oak Bayou, and if they at least overlapped on 11th if not having all of the Heights in one zone.
FWIW, with a road diet Shepherd might be safe enough for these glorified golf carts to use.
Quitman rail stop in the morning would be nice.
But the service stops at 5pm.
Maps on the METRO site: https://www.ridemetro.org/riding-metro/transit-services/community-connector
@Mollusk, now there’s an idea worth paying for. A downtown circulator, at thr very least. Most cities our size have these and they are quite popular among tourists and locals alike. But no, we can’t have nice things.
The Public used to exist, but they didn’t last very long. When I worked downtown, I often caught one, if not walking, in the tunnels.
https://houston.culturemap.com/news/city-life/06-13-12-houston-free-downtown-trolley-greenlink-only-its-an-air-conditioned-bus-blowing-natural-gas
Dang, did not notice that the AI changed the wording,
Public, such connectors have been used in the past; I’m not sure about the present, as I retired 12 years ago.