It started with this.
Just not so fast anymore
The Metropolitan Transit Authority is proposing to cut bus and rail service hours next fiscal year as officials deal with budget pressures.
Metro’s proposed $1.7 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 would mark its first reduction in spending since the COVID-19 pandemic and test whether the agency can preserve core services without weakening its finances or leaving riders to absorb deeper service cuts in the years ahead.
Houston’s transit agency proposes to cut rail service hours by 5% and bus hours by 1.6%. Metro officials said the agency has not yet identified specific route or frequency changes.
The proposal would balance Metro’s operating budget by cutting spending by $40 million and pulling $146 million from the agency’s fund balance. The budget also would reduce spending on longer term projects by $241 million next year.
Metro also plans to restructure its debt to lower its costs over the next four years, extending the repayment period at a higher interest rate.
This would give Metro flexibility in the near term but would mean higher debt costs over time. It also could prompt scrutiny from credit-rating agencies, financial adviser Carlos Allen of PFM told the Metro board on Monday.
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Metro’s proposal also would transfer $228 million in sales tax revenue to local governments in its service area for road repairs, part of the agency’s longstanding, voter-approved “General Mobility Program.”
In addition to those funds, however, the proposal allocates $40 million for additional street improvement projects, most of them within Houston city limits.
Peter Eccles of transit advocacy group Link Houston said that money should instead support transit services.
“With their successful experiment increasing frequency during the World Cup, Metro proved again that increased service leads to higher ridership,” Eccles said. “It’s frustrating to see Metro consider cutting service while diverting another $40 million to road repaving while riders keep asking for more frequent and more reliable service.”
The budget also includes money for new vehicles and improvements intended to make the system more reliable. Metro plans to add 68 buses, 116 MetroLift vehicles, 195 vans and 39 alternative-service vehicles.
Metro projects local bus boardings will increase 2% next year, while Park & Ride boardings are projected to grow 12% and MetroLift trips 2%. The agency also plans to continue funding Community Connector, its on-demand microtransit service, as well as more bus shelters and road repairs along bus routes.
Metro says it projects it will collect less in sales tax revenue over the next few years, which I can believe. And I think we all know who to blame for that. I had complaints about them cut back on making additional road-paving payments – that $40 million could have offset the as-yet unspecified service cuts – and about cutting service when they projected ridership to increase. Well, I wasn’t alone, because after that story hit, Metro backtracked.
The revised budget would raise Metro’s operating budget by $15 million, to $1.015 billion, to cover higher transit and technology costs. To pay for it, Metro would cut $40 million from its five-year capital plan, delaying lower-priority projects such as improvements to its administration building.
Metro also expects to save $7 million through staff reductions and an early-retirement incentive. Most of the 177 eliminated positions are administrative and non-union positions.
“We are taking any reduction in our budget affecting service off the table,” Metro CFO George Fotinos said during a Wednesday budget hearing.
The revision came after transit advocates criticized the agency’s initial proposal, saying it did not reflect riders’ priorities. Advocates also oppose Metro’s plan to allocate $40 million to repaving roads, primarily within Houston city limits.
That spending is in addition to the $228 million the agency will transfer to local governments in its service area for road repairs, part of the agency’s longstanding, voter-approved “General Mobility Program.”
“Riders are clear: They want more service, not less, so we appreciate that Metro’s board urged staff to find a way to keep service intact,” said Robin Holzer, Director of Link Houston. “Nonetheless, Metro is still proposing to divert another $40 million towards asphalt — dollars that could pay for a 6% increase in bus service instead.”
Always glad to see some well-directed complaining get results. Kudos all around. On a side note, in my original post, before the second story came out, I had wondered again about those Community Connectors. How much do they cost again, how many people are riding them, and how many of them are connecting to other Metro services? I was going to say that I hadn’t spotted one of those shuttles in the Heights in many weeks, and then I did on 11th at Studewood on Friday. The universe works in mysterious ways. I still want to know what the obsession with these things is about.