This is from the latest edition of the Woodland Heights Civic Association newsletter, which I got in my inbox late on Friday.
METRO recently announced a new micro-transit service (in partnership with the City of Houston and Evolve Houston) to provide an all-electric METRO Community Connector to the Heights.
In a recent article in The Leader, METRO Chair Elizabeth Gonzalez Brock notes, “This new service is already transforming transit and people’s lives by providing direct access to buses and trains and ultimately meets essential needs like attending wellness appointments or getting to the grocery store.”
The service is supposed to bridge the gap between ‘the first and last mile’ of a rider’s trip, where transit access is challenging. With the addition of the North and South Heights Zones the service is now available in five neighborhoods. The other service areas included in this program include the Downtown, Second Ward, and Third Ward Zones.
On its website, METRO touts climate-friendly, electric vehicles with seating up to five passengers that travel within a designated zone. To schedule the service, would-be riders must download the Ride Circuit app and request their ride. In the Heights area, two routes are available, which intersect with each other: Heights North and Heights South.
The Heights North route is loosely bound by 12th Street on the south, Alexandria on the west, 25th and Link on the North, and Cordell Street on the west side. On the east, it is bounded by Walton to Calvacade under 45 to Fulton and the METRO Red Line off to Link Road and Cavalcade, then back to Cordell Street.
The Heights South route is loosely bound on the South by White Oak, on the west by Yale, on the North by 12th Street, on the east by North Main to Beauchamp, and then back to White Oak to Quitman, which will take you to the Red Line that intersects with North Main.
The service is available to specific neighborhoods, and METRO states these routes are in response to the community’s need for convenient access to public transit. The service is supposed to bridge the gap between ‘the first and last mile’ of a riders trip where transit access is challenging.
Climate-friendly, electric vehicles that can seat up to 5 passengers operate within a defined zone. A rider wishing to use the service must download the Ride Circuit app to request a ride anywhere in your designated coverage area. In the general Heights area, there are two routes available for Heights residents, Heights North and Heights South.
Metro’s Community Connector service is available through a partnership with the City of Houston and Evolve Houston.
We asked Evolve Houston a few questions we’d heard from neighbors regarding their service, Evan Hargrove, Senior Program Manager for Evolve Houston responded.
1. When the Woodland Heights neighborhood was built as one of Houston’s first suburbs, the streetcar line ran along Houston Avenue, ending at Bayland. Is there a reason why the dividing line in the South Heights route is on Beauchamp Avenue instead of Houston Avenue?
“Yes, our top priority is safety for both passengers and drivers. We intentionally avoided streets in close proximity to highways or feeder roads, which is why Houston Avenue, bordering the freeway, was excluded from this first version of the zone.
That said, the zone is flexible and not permanent. We continuously evaluate pick-up and drop-off data and adjust the zone as needed. If we see consistent feedback or usage trends near Houston Avenue that improve access to METRO Rail and bus stops, we’ll absolutely consider updating the boundaries.
2. Your FAQs mention that users can request rides within the designated area. Can users request specific pick-up and drop-off points, like from their home to their office? Or does it have to be a METRO stop or transit point?
“Yes, you can request pick-up and drop-off at any location within the service zone. For example, if you live near Jeni’s Ice Cream on 19th Street and want to go to the public library on Heights Boulevard, you can use the shuttle to get there directly.
While the entire zone is available for travel, please note that trips going to or from METRO Rail and bus stops may have reduced wait times due to our routing priorities.”
3. Is there an option for people who don’t have access to the Ride Circuit app? Or is the service only available through the app?
“The service is currently app-based, but if someone doesn’t have the Ride Circuit app, another person (such as a family member or caregiver) can book the ride on their behalf.
4. What led to the expansion into the Heights area, and are additional expansions planned?
“The Community Connector is a pilot program designed to test and learn from various service zones. Each area serves a different community with unique needs—Heights is very different from Downtown, Third Ward, or Second Ward, and that’s intentional. Expanding to the Heights allows us to gather insights, understand usage patterns, and evaluate demand. As we collect data and receive community feedback (which is incredibly valuable), we can improve the service and explore additional zones. If you or others have suggestions or feedback, please feel free to reach us at communityconnector@evolvehouston.org – we truly welcome and appreciate it.”
See here and here for the background. At least we know Metro has made some attempt to communicate about this service to at least part of the area it’s now serving. I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I have reacted as strongly as I have to this news is 1) I don’t think the Heights is the right place to be testing this out, whatever the vision of it is, because we’re a wealthy neighborhood that is mostly residential and is very well served by existing transit, and 2) I remain mad that such a small and limited new service is what this Metro board has decided to roll out to us rather than the much larger and more ambitious projects that we the voters approved in 2019 that would move a whole lot more people around and serve a much larger portion of Harris County. I can’t escape the feeling that this little shuttle, which is not allowed to drive on main roads because it’s not safe for it to do so, is intended as a low-end substitute for Uber and Lyft. That’s not what public transit is supposed to be for. We deserve so much better.
(Note: Since the publication of the previous post, I’ve seen the microtransit shuttle parked in the neighborhood, with the driver inside or leaning up against the vehicle outside, two more times. I have not seen it in motion since the first time I saw it.)