Not all transportation leaders hop aboard
Metro board to set course for $7.5B plan, but three members have yet to ride public transit
In approving a $3.5 billion bond referendum last week, voters tasked Metro officials with executing the massive regional transit plan they promised.
Now, as the agency plans to use the bond money toward $7.5 billion in projects it hopes to build over the next 20 years, riders have said it is critical leaders know what sort of improvements need to be built. The best way to do that, some say, is for board members to experience it.
“Let them go get groceries on the bus and tell me how they’d make it work better,” Mary
McQueen, 56, said recently as she waited for a Route 40 bus south of downtown.
Some of the people plotting transit’s next steps as members of the Metropolitan Transit Authority board, however, have not routinely used it, according to their agency-issued Q cards.
A Houston Chronicle review of their cards shows three Metro board members did not ride a single bus or train between Jan. 1, 2018, and Aug. 31, 2019. Other members were mixed, with some taking a handful of trips while others with different commuting locations and habits hop aboard frequently.
That is likely to change for some of them.
“I think it is extremely important to get out there,” said Teresa Morales, one of three Metro board members who did not register a transit trip since she joined the board 15 months ago.
Though she said she has checked out the rail lately, she plans to visit more routes.
“I have it on my list to ride the bus service,” she said, noting she grew up riding Metro as a native of the East Side. “(As a board member) you need to experience what people are facing.”
For many, transit can be a long trip. Morales said a colleague relayed his maid’s trip to her recently, which involved a lengthy ride along U.S. 290 and into West University Place that can take hours.
“The things I hear the most are the travel distance it takes and the time,” she said.
Other board members have heard similar complaints, and agree riding is an important part of their role overseeing transit. Sanjay Ramabhadran, who is among the board members with the most recorded trips, said it is an important determinant — but not the only one — board members should use to make some of the upcoming decisions about which improvements to make sooner rather than later.
“We all bring different strengths to the board,” Ramabhadran said. “Some of them might be riding the system, some of that might be financial or engineering.”
Ramabhadran is an engineer, along with fellow board member Lisa Castañeda, who is deputy director of the Harris County Toll Road Authority. Morales is an executive at Amegy Bank. Board Chairwoman Carrin Patman is a lawyer. Others, such as Troi Taylor, Don Elder and Bob Fry, have backgrounds owning or consulting with various businesses. Lex Frieden is an expert in disability rights, medicine and training. Jim Robinson was Harris County’s chief property appraiser for more than two decades.
Crucial to understanding the system, Ramabhadran said, is seeing it like riders do.
“I think anytime you do a scripted ride, you do not really experience the system,” he said, referring to trips in which the board rides en masse to an event or to open a new service.
Here is what the Chronicle found in its review:
Carrin Patman
Appointed by Sylvester Turner early in his mayoral term as chairwoman of the board, Patman’s ridership reflects a preference for rail. Of her 77 total uses of her Q card, 44 started on the rail, with about a third of those beginning at the Downtown Transit Center right outside the doors of Metro headquarters.
Her local bus use is confined to a handful of fact-finding trips, such as a July 11, 2018, trip along the Route 85 Washington bus to the 44 Acres Homes.
Jim Robinson
An appointee by Harris County, Robinson often works in the county administration building downtown, something that gives him great access to the Red Line light rail. Forty of the 146 taps of his Q card originate at the southbound Preston Station. Among current Metro board members, Robinson has used light rail and local buses the most during the time period.
Robinson has pushed for Metro to improve or add to key shuttle routes, both of which he uses frequently. He hopped the Route 311 Bayou City Event shuttle that served the county’s delinquent property auction 11 times over the 2018-19 period, while he used the courthouse shuttle for jurors five times.
Sanjay Ramabhadran
Robinson beats Ramabhadran in terms of overall use, though the latter has the greatest variety among board members in what lines he uses and when. He consistently will take off from the downtown transit center — 53 of his swipes are there — and head north and south along the Red Line and transfer to buses or trains. Often he makes a return trip.
Among current board members, he is the only one to ride six different bus routes.
Lex Frieden
A nationally recognized disability researcher and advocate, Frieden primarily takes MetroLift when he uses public transit, which is not reflected on his Q card. As a motorized wheelchair user, scheduled trips via MetroLift are common for Frieden, who has been instrumental in pushing Metro to make improvements to sidewalks and streets to increase accessibility for current and future transit riders.
Only two of Frieden’s trips on public transit took place on a bus, both along the Route 4 Beechnut line. The other 18 uses of his card were along the Red Line, typically to or from the Texas Medical Center where he works.
Troi Taylor
The son of a bus driver, Taylor is unique in that he rides the bus nearly as much as the rail. Most Metro board members lean heavily to the trains. Taylor hopped on rail 20 times, while swiping his Q card 17 times on local buses and once on an express bus.
Taylor got particular use out of the system’s busiest bus line, the Route 82 Westheimer bus. Fifteen of the 38 swipes of his Q card came from the Westheimer bus. His use also varies around the year, with five of his trips happening on Oct. 4, 2018.
Lisa Castañeda
The deputy director of the Harris County Toll Road Authority is big on buses that use the HOT lanes. Among all other current members, there were four trips along park and ride or express routes. Castañeda logged 13.
Her 28 remaining swipes were all along the light rail, typically coming or going from a park and ride trip, or from the downtown transit center.
Don Elder
The former Katy mayor, appointed to Metro by the smaller cities that share two appointments, never has boarded a bus or train, according to this agency-issued Q card. Among board members, however, Elder is the only one who lives outside the bounds of local bus service. The only buses serving Katy are park and ride buses.
Terry Morales
Appointed by Turner in July 2018, Morales never has used her Metro-issued Q card, but she grew up riding the system. Though not reflected on her card, she said she has taken the train to special events, including the recent World Series. She said she did not have her Metro-issued card for that trip because she took a smaller bag than usual to the game.
Bob Fry
Selected by the smaller cities in June, the former West University Place mayor has not taken a free ride yet, making the grand total for both multicity appointees zero.
Within the time period, Metro had two other board members, who since have departed.
Cindy Siegel
Prior to leaving the board to run for Congress in April, Siegel swiped her Q card twice. She traveled north from the downtown transit center on May 17, 2018, around 11 a.m. and headed southbound about three hours later.
Christof Spieler
A near-daily rider of transit, Spieler was a longtime member of the board and architect of the 2015 redesign of the system — a system he still uses more than any other board member before or after him in recent years. Spieler, who often travels for work and recreation, has written a book examining transit offerings in various metro areas and is active on social media, detailing the trains and buses he takes around the world.
Spieler’s 766 Q card swipes exceeds the current board’s cumulative total by 70 percent. Because members enjoy an unlimited Q card even after they leave the board, Spieler may be the only member to save significant money from a lifetime of free rides.