Leave work early or late – METRO gives you options!

It’s a service not many knew about, but now that patrons are in the know, they’re definitely getting onboard. We’re talking about METRO’s Midday and Late-Evening service on select Park & Ride routes.

The midday and late-evening service provides riders with flexibility. Whether it’s a doctor’s appointment, catching your kid’s recital, or working late, METRO can accommodate those expected or unexpected trips.

METRO offers midday and late-evening service in six freeway corridors: Eastex, Gulf, Katy, North, Northwest and Southwest Freeways, translating to 7,400 seats on 131 daily trips.

In October of 2008, METRO conducted a survey to find out who knew about these convenient options. The results – 20 percent of those polled did not know that their Park & Ride offered midday service, and 40 percent were not aware of the late-evening service.

A significant number (67 percent) of the 847 surveyed said they would use the services if they were available…unaware that some of the midday and late-evening service routes had been running since the mid 1980s.

To raise awareness METRO rolled out a marketing blitz in November with email blasts to riders, posters at Park & Ride lots, fliers on buses, Web site banners and the good, old-fashioned way of marketing, face-to-face interaction.

METRO’s Community Outreach staff visited 15 of the 28 Park & Rides offering midday and late-evening service.

The blitz worked as seats started to fill up – more than expected between December 2008 and February 2009.

“We wanted to increase awareness and increase ridership. We got that,” said Jim Archer, manager of ridership analysis and service evaluation. “And with the increased ridership comes increased revenue.  Increasing ridership and revenue without increasing out-of-pocket costs means that we’re using the taxpayers’ money wisely.  We’re being more efficient and more effective.”

The follow-up survey revealed that the number of patrons unaware of the midday and late-night services dropped to 6 and 32 percent respectively.

Remember – if your need to cut out of work early or stay late, you have a ride with METRO. To find out if your Park & Ride offers midday or late-evening service, click here.