Urban Design

The look, feel and function of public spaces like parks, plazas and bus stops play an important role in shaping quality of life in our region. Urban design helps inform how we can make these spaces feel safe, comfortable, convenient and enjoyable for you.

Urban design is a people-first approach. That's why METRO continually engages with communities to create a shared vision as we build innovative new transit surroundings and improve existing ones. Our goals are to enhance your experience, connect you to opportunities, reflect our region’s unique character and diversity, and support sustainable growth.

See our urban design resources below to learn more.

Animation showing various METRO transit services traveling through an urban landscape

Overview

When it comes to transit, urban design provides many opportunities for constructing and transforming facilities into iconic spaces.

Urban design rendering of a METRO Park & Ride facility with a garage

Principles

Four key principles drive and influence urban design and planning decisions for Park & Ride lots and other transit surroundings.

Urban design rendering of an elevated METRO light rail facility

Perspectives

Three levels of geographic perspective are taken into account during the planning and design process for transit surroundings.

Urban design rendering of a METRO bus at a bus stop along a city street.

Outcomes

Two key outcomes are considered when creating the look, feel and function of public transit spaces and facilities like bus stops and shelters.

Arts in Transit Program

Part of our commitment to urban design is the METRO Arts in Transit program. It brings character into transit spaces with imagery that reflects community identity and our region's unique character and diversity. Examples include murals that appear in various METRO transit spaces as shown below.

Mural of boy playing a guitar painted on the stairs at Burnett Transit Center - 1450 North Main St. in Houston.

This photo highlights a mural within the stairs at Burnett Transit Center, located at 1450 North Main St. It was painted by Ukranian street artist Alex Maksiov who has won numerous international awards.

Additional murals near Burnett Transit Center were painted by New Mexico native Noé Barnett. They appear along the retaining walls and under the elevated METRORail tracks along North Main Street and further down from Burnett Transit Center near the intersection of North Main Street and Naylor Street. Check out those murals by clicking or tapping on the button below.

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Mural of three women along the outer wall of the Kashmere bus operating facility at 5700 Eastex Freeway in Houston

At METRO's Kashmere bus operating facility (5700 Eastex Fwy.), students from nearby Kashmere High School created multiple murals inspired by their school mascot as well as the student body.

Artists included Ace Phoenix Art, BeyondGrasp, BRIKS:., Cease One, Jeremy Biggers (aka Stem & Thorn), Kill Joy, Malcolm Byers, Zú, Floyd Mendoza, Vapor / Poet, Pilot, JC Rivera, Atomik, anat ronen and Ibarra Color.

Check out the murals by clicking or tapping on the button below.

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Artist Robin Munro (aka Dread) painting a mural on a column under the elevated METRORail train near Roosevelt Elementary School at 6700 Fulton St. in Houston

Pictured in the photo is Robin Munro (aka Dread). He painted murals on vertical columns under the elevated METRORail train tracks near Roosevelt Elementary on Fulton Street.

The location is about a five minute walk from the Melbourne / North Lindale Red Line station, just east of Interstate 45 and just north of Interstate 610.

Check out the murals by clicking or tapping on the button below.

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Resources

The METRO urban design manual provides actionable recommendations for every element of a transit project, while the programming catalog illustrates some of our key objectives. You can easily flip through either document below using the right and left-hand arrows. There's also a toolbar below each document which allows you to zoom in, view it in full screen, download it as a PDF and more. Both documents are best viewed on a desktop computer.

Urban design rendering of METRO bus stop and shelter along city street highlighting amenities such as comfortable seating, bike connectivity, civic and art partnerships, clear sightlines and more.

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Customer Experience. METRO is committed to a multimodal customer experience that accounts for pedestrian, bicycle, and transit vehicles to promote accessibility, flexibility, choice, mobility and connectivity.

Urban design rendering of METRORapid bus rapid transit platform along city street highlighting amenities such as real-time arrival information, multi-lingual information, civic art, universal accessibility and more.

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Diverse Communities. METRO is committed to reflecting the ethnic, cultural and demographic diversity of the greater Houston region through urban planning and design that celebrates and enhances our communities.

Urban design rendering of METRO Park & Ride facility highlighting amenities such as stormwater infiltration, evaporative cooling, electric bus charging, bike connectivity and more.

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Environmental Resilience. Urban design and planning solutions are influenced by the region's unique environmental features including soil conditions, weather, climate and native vegetation.

Urban design rendering of multimodal METRO transit facility highlighting amenities such as weather protection, wayfinding signage, flexible community space and more.

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Sustainable Development. METRO is committed to promoting more sustainable patterns of development through joint partnership opportunities that will help influence the overall urban design of our transit facilities.