[Tom Lambert] It is a perfect example of how agencies
working together can look at truly multimodal options of how
we're serving the mobility needs of this region.

[Laura Whitley] The Greater Houston area is introduced to
Bus Rapid Transit with the launch of the METRORapid Silver
Line. I'm Laura Whitley. In this episode of The Next Stop we
get the details on this new route, learn what makes it
different from METRO's other services, and why this is just
the beginning of this transformative transit option for the
region.

[Music]
[Male] The Next Stop.
[Female] The Next Stop.
[Male] The Next Stop.
[Male] METRO's Podcast.
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[Laura Whitley] Mr. Tom Lambert METRO's President and CEO
joins us now to discuss this service. Tom, thank you for
joining us today.

[Tom Lambert] Well, Laura thanks for having me.

[Laura Whitley] After years of planning and studying this
technology Bus Rapid Transit known as METRORapid is now
operating. Tom, this is really an exciting moment for our
region.

[Tom Lambert] Laura, it really is this is an opportunity
with this five-mile route to show what METRORapid is all
about. It's basically operates very similar to a rail system
but it's a bus based system. But the buses are really
designed to look at another travel option in the region and
how we can integrate Bus Rapid Transit into our broader
transportation network. It's really a true resource for us
to look to the future and how we can continue to look at
different options of transporting people throughout the
region.

[Laura Whitley] Absolutely, it's kind of like a lab study,
but right there you get to touch it and feel it and work
with it.

[Tom Lambert] It's our opportunity really to test. It's a
very unique service for METRO.

[Laura Whitley] Now let's take a closer look at METRORapid,
and what really makes it unique from the other transit
services that METRO offers.

[Tom Lambert] Well, I had an opportunity last week to go out
and take a ride, and this has been after the operators have
gone through about five weeks of training. It's a very, very
comfortable experience. It's a bus, but again it operates
like a rail system, very low floor boarding, very smooth,
very open environment that you can see on board the buses.
That bus operates like a rail system. As you come up to the
platform, very level boarding, 100% accessibility like all
the rail platforms and from a vehicle standpoint a 100%
accessibility with all of our vehicles on the METRO fleet.
It's a very, very slick design, it operates in very
dedicated lanes separating it from traffic lanes. The buses
can talk to the traffic signals, so the traffic signals
literally move through so you get a real smooth, comfortable
ride. Again the bus, if you look at the interior of the bus,
it's very an open concept where people with bicycles can
board with their bikes. It is so, so rail like feeling that
it makes you feel like you're actually on a rail system, but
it is a bus based system as well.

[Laura Whitley] Right, because the doors to the bus when you
get on METRORapid they open similar to how the light rail
vehicles open --

[Crosstalk]
[Tom Lambert] They open like rail, and the doors are wider
than a traditional bus is. It's very ease of loading and
unloading on the vehicle, so it operates very, very similar
to a rail system. Even on the platform you get rail
announcements or rail like announcements of when the next
bus is going to arrive. It's got all the features of
enhanced lighting and all the things you would see in a rail
system are also now on this METRORapid service.
[Laura Whitley] It offers wonderful accessibility.
[Tom Lambert] 100% accessible, very smooth level boarding,
easy for people, whether they're able bodied or disabled to
board those vehicles and we're very proud of that.

[Laura Whitley] Let's talk a little more about the specifics
of this route. Where does the silver line go exactly?

[Tom Lambert] Well, it really connects two significant
transit centers, the Northwest Transit Center, which is at
Interstate 10 and 610 to the north. You then go over an
elevated bus lane that the Texas Department of
Transportation built. You then come down on Post Oak
Boulevard that Uptown built as a part of this project and
redesigned that entire corridor. It then connects to the
southern in with the Uptown West Park, Lower Uptown Transit
Center. You connect from one transit center to the north to
the new transit center to the south, but it also connects
those suburban park and rides that serve the northwest
corridor as well as the southwest corridor coming to that
area. We think it's a tremendous opportunity, not only to
connect the two transit centers, but also the local routes
and the park and ride routes that will also be served by
those two transit centers as well.

[Laura Whitley] There's about -- there's 10 stops in all.
Let's talk about the frequency.

[Tom Lambert] 10 stops along the corridor along the five-
mile corridor. The service run about every 10 minutes during
the day. It runs from 5:00 in the morning till midnight
seven days a week. But the most important things that
connects to that broader transportation network, there are
several bus routes that will connect to it and then also
several local and park and ride that will connect to that
service as well.

[Laura Whitley] In terms of it being accessible as far as
for different types of riders, folks that are in the Uptown
area but also those who are commuting from other areas.

[Tom Lambert] Yeah, it really connects, again, the 10 stops
connected to the transit centers to serve the Uptown
Galleria area, but you can also go to destinations from
there to Downtown the Medical Center. Not only will it
connect to the local routes, the park and ride routes, but
as you get Downtown, you connect to the rail system as well.
It really connects to the entire transportation network and
we're very pleased with that.

[Laura Whitley] This project and now the service was the
result of a partnership.

[Tom Lambert] This is probably one of the better examples of
public-private partnerships and public-public partnerships
in our region. The project was built by the Uptown
Management District. They got a grant from the Federal
Transit Administration to help fund this project, as well as
funding that they provided to support the project. It's
supported by the City of Houston and their work in the
Uptown area, the right of way corridor that was also
leveraged off of that. Houston Galveston Area Council
approved for funding to help fund this project. As I
mentioned, the Federal Transit Administration also provided
funding for this. Then METRO agreed to buy the buses and to
operate the service, and so it is a perfect example of how
agencies working together can look at truly multimodal
options of how we're serving the mobility needs of this
region. This is a good model to look at and we hope to build
off of in the future as well.

[Laura Whitley] You mentioned the Texas Department of
Transportation as well earlier built--

[Crosstalk]
[Tom Lambert] Yeah like I mentioned the Texas Department of
Transportation, we really want to compliment them, they
built the elevated bus lane as a part of this project. It's
really been Uptown, the City of Houston, the Texas
Department of Transportation, Houston Galveston Area
Council, Federal Transit Administration, and Houston METRO,
all working together to make this project come to reality.

[Laura Whitley] As we look towards the future and that type
of partnership that can be successful and maybe needed, you
touched on this a bit in the beginning. This is really the
first of many miles of METRORapid that is planned for the
future.

[Tom Lambert] Well, as you know, Laura, we're very pleased
back in November 2019 about 70% of the voters in the region
approved the METRONext plan. In that plan there are 75 miles
of Bus Rapid Transit. The METRORapid silver line gives us an
opportunity to really demonstrate to the community what that
technology is all about and what that service is all about.
We're excited now to not only begin to learn the experiences
and show the quality of BRT as part of the METRORapid silver
line, but will now continue to work on the next steps. As an
example, Inner Katy BRT, we're already beginning to go out
to get an engineering firm that will work with us and our
partners at TxDOT of how we can build that Inner Katy BRT
and move that project along.
We are very fortunate Houston Galveston Areas Council has
given us money to build that project so we'll move in that
along. Then as we work with the city, the county, TxDOT, and
others, the North Houston Highway Improvement Project also
looks at how we would connect with Bus Rapid Transit from
Downtown to Bush Intercontinental Airport as part of that
project. We're excited about taking steps that get us BRT
along the North Freeway corridor as well.

[Laura Whitley] Those dedicated lanes are really a key part
of these projects.

[Tom Lambert] Dedicated lanes are reliability of service,
you make sure when you -- you're going to get there when you
say you're going to be there. You really make sure the
service is very reliable, dependable and gets people where
they need to go. We think that's a real positive for our
region in how we can move people smoothly and quickly
through the region.

[Laura Whitley] Now, this is obviously an exciting time, and
we certainly look forward to seeing how future plans of this
investment transform the region. Of course, this launch does
come at a time that's unprecedented with the pandemic and
safety precautions that have already been implemented across
METRO's transit network to help prevent and slow the spread
of COVID-19 are also being used with METRORapid.

[Tom Lambert] Well, it's true. Everything we're doing is
making sure that safety is our number one priority, and the
things we've done on the local system, the things we've done
on the commuter park and ride system, the things we've done
on our METROLift service, the things we've done on our METRO
Rail service, we will apply to the METRORapid silver line.
Making sure that folks understand that all operators and all
employees are required to wear masks or face coverings,
unless it's impractical for them to do so because of a
medical condition. Making sure that we follow social
distancing and we really identified seats to separate people
to maintain social distancing. Make sure that they follow
personal hygiene so we put hand sanitizers on all the
vehicles. We protected the operators and separated them from
the customers, so to making sure that these operators are
also protected when they're providing the essential services
that we're providing to the community.
Cleaning and disinfecting, we have really stepped up more of
that opportunity every day on all of our vehicles, all of
our platforms, all of our park and ride at transit centers
to make sure we're maintaining cleanliness throughout the
system. We're making sure that our customers really
experience this new transit option in an environment that
they feel very safe and very comfortable in using. We think
that's very critical. The one thing that we've clearly
recognized from this pandemic is that transit is essential
to a community. We need to make sure that we follow our
commitment that that experience is one of safety. One that
shows we're really following all the public health
guidelines in the community. That's something we've done
from day one and will continue to do with not only this

service, but all the services we provide to our community.
[Laura Whitley] Absolutely, and it's really remarkable when
you do see these services or see these practices come into
play. It's been very quick pivot and change, or really a
continuation I guess, of the safety practices but to adapt
and put into play these new policies.

[Tom Lambert] Well, that's one of the things that really --
and I want to compliment the METRO team and the METRO staff.
They've been very creative. They've been able to adapt. We'
ve never experienced anything like this pandemic at all, and
so their ability to be flexible, their ability to be
adaptable, their ability to accomplish things very quickly
to make sure that the customers feel very comfortable in
using our service. We're still carrying over 100,000 riders
a day. It's not just our customers, but we're making sure
we're taking care of our colleagues that operate the service
every day. The one thing we have seen is transit is
essential, transit is a lifeblood as part of the quality of
life and the community. I'm very proud of the METRO team for
what they've done to make sure we can continue to operate
and provide essential trips for people in this community.

[Laura Whitley] Now those trips will also be on METRORapid
silver line.

[Tom Lambert] They will be very smooth and very good on
METRORapid silver line.

[Laura Whitley] Well, thank you so much for joining us Mr.
Tom Lambert, METRO's President and CEO. We appreciate you
joining The Next Stop.

[Tom Lambert] Thanks Laura, I appreciate it.
[Music]

[Laura Whitley] That's all for this edition of The Next
Stop. To learn more about METRORapid visit our website at
www.ridemetro.org and while you're there please check out
our other episodes, or you could subscribe and never miss an
episode. You can find us on Apple Podcast, SoundCloud,
Google Play and Spotify. While you're on one of those apps
if you could please give us a rating or review that will help
us out a lot. Thanks for listening. I'm Laura Whitley. Until
next time, drive less do more with METRO.

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