Current Status
Ongoing
Activity In 2022
49% of Houstonians live within a half-mile of high-frequency public transportation*. The total number of high frequency bus stops have not increased between 2021 and 2022, but construction is likely to begin in late 2023 on a MetroRapid line servicing 7.6 miles on the I-10 West between the Northwest Transit Center and the Convention District area. Project Development is also set to be completed in 2023 for a 25.3 mile dedicated bus line servicing local universities.
Beyond 2022
Increase the share of Houstonians living within a half-mile of high-frequency public transportation by 16% each decade to reach the 2050 goal by expanding transportation services and building more transit-oriented housing development. Several projects are in development under the broader umbrella of the METRONext Moving Forward plan that includes plans for dedicated express bus lanes, bus stop improvements, and accessibility improvements.
Related Initiatives
- METRORAPID INNER KATY CORRIDOR PROJECT
- METRORAPID UNIVERSITY CORRIDOR
- METRONext Moving Forward Plan
- City of Houston Transit Oriented Development Standards
- METRO Transit Oriented Development Study
- METRO Joint Development Guidelines, Policies, and Procedures
Related Targets
How Important is Having High-Frequency Transit Nearby?
The Houston metropolitan area is projected to grow to 11 million residents by mid-century. The region’s sustainability will greatly depend on more compact and connected development patterns that allow future Houstonians to use public transportation and the emerging multimodal transportation networks throughout the region to get around and lead lower carbon lifestyles. In 2022, approximately 49% of Houstonians live within a half-mile of high-frequency public transportation and more work lies ahead to continue expanding transportation networks to where more people live and building more housing options near existing and planned transit infrastructure. Various efforts are ongoing, including the implementation of METRONext and land use reforms that could facilitate more Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in the years ahead.
High-Frequency Public Transit in Houston
*Calculations were updated to represent City of Houston limits. Effectively no changes were found between 2019 and 2021 counts determined by population changes derived from the ACS (2019, 2021). Please see the following table to note the change in methodology.
| Buffer Extent | Year for the population values | Population in Buffer | Houston Population | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excluding areas of the buffer outside of the City of Houston boundaries | 2019 | 1,127,456 | 2,310,432 | 48.80% |
| Excluding areas of the buffer outside of the City of Houston boundaries | 2021 | 1,127,180 | 2,293,288 | 49.15% |
| Including areas of the buffer outside of the City of Houston boundaries | 2019 | 1,265,525 | 2,310,432 | 54.77% |
| Including areas of the buffer outside of the City of Houston boundaries | 2021 | 1,262,628 | 2,293,288 | 55.06% |
- 2022 Data Source
- Kinder Tabulation of population by METRO high frequency routes