Houston Metro may reduce service on Silver Line rapid transit along Post Oak beginning in June

By Dug Begley | Houston Chronicle (TNS)

Houston's first bus rapid transit line won't be so rapid anymore, according to a new plan under consideration by Metropolitan Transit Authority officials.

Buses along the Silver Line route, between the Lower Uptown Westpark Transit Center south of The Galleria and Northwest Transit Center near Interstate 10 and Loop 610, could go from running every 12 minutes to every 20 minutes, Metro officials said.

The reasons for less frequent service are the result of "lower than anticipated" use of the line and the better use of some of those buses in other places, said Jim Archer, director of service planning and scheduling for Metro.

Moving to a 20-minute frequency places the rapid line between Metro's frequent core routes, which can come every 10-to-15 minutes at peak times, and the lesser-used community routes that come every 20 or 30 minutes.

Any change, subject to approval by the Metro board in April, would not take effect until June 2.

Since its debut in August 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the line has carried only a fraction of the ridership officials envisioned for the route. On a typical January work day, the line carried an average of 1,033 riders, according to Metro ridership data.

Critics of the line said well before its opening it would under-perform and have said since its lackluster numbers became clear that it — and future major projects — should be reconsidered.

Asked if reducing service was an indication the line was floundering, Metro spokeswoman Tracy Jackson argued the decision to change service showed Metro "is adaptable" to the needs of post-pandemic Houston transit users.

Archer said by reducing frequency of the buses along the Silver Line, they can remove buses from operating the line and dedicate those newer, 60-foot articulated buses to heavily-used routes. That shift, meanwhile, gives Metro a handful of its common 40-foot buses to deploy elsewhere, he said.

Metro Interim CEO Tom Jasien said officials will consider how best to use some of the rapid buses, which will need to be rebranded to eliminate confusion should they operate on other routes. Metro has its own ability to put new logos on its buses, or to remove the "METRORapid" logo on the buses.

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