TX: Houston transit advocates petition Metro to fix Red Line delays downtown.

Transportation advocates presented a petition with over 650 signatures to Metro board members Thursday morning, demanding that the agency fully fix travel delays on the popular Red Line in downtown Houston.

Transit advocacy group Link Houston and other speakers raised concerns with the board about the light rail line's slower speed and its now-frequent stops at red lights at some downtown intersections along Main Street.

"We're now in the fifth week of unnecessary delays on the Red Line since signal preemption was deactivated on Main Street," said Peter Eccles, director of policy and planning for Link Houston. "As you can imagine, your customers are understandably frustrated by all of this."

Link Houston and Metro officials say travel times have improved, but transit advocates are pushing for board members to reinstate signal priority to the entire Red Line. The light rail system uses "traffic signal priority," which allows MetroRail to change traffic signals to green, enabling trains to move through intersections more efficiently.

"Cutting signal priority increases travel time and undermines all the marketing you've done to promote reliability," Houston resident Oscar Orias told board members.

Emails between Houston Public Works and HDR Engineering Group, obtained by the Houston Business Journal, showed that travel times on the Red Line in downtown and Midtown had doubled, contradicting a claim by Metro Board Chair Elizabeth Gonzalez Brock that delays were a minute or two. The Journal also reported on a city staff email indicating that Metro had requested the signal adjustments.

Metro board members said at Thursday's meeting that they are working through the issues as the agency develops a traffic management plan to improve public transit. Metro Interim CEO and President Thomas Jasien said the agency and the city are synchronizing a network of traffic signals that hasn't been addressed in 20 years to improve traffic flow.

"There are some great benefits, including benefits for our bus passengers," he said. "It has had an impact. There was a challenge on how that interfaced with the Red Line."

Last month, Metro said the agency was also preparing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the Texas Department of Transportation's Interstate 45 realignment and reconstruction project.

What do residents say about the Red Line?

Metro's Red Line is 13 miles long and one of the nation's most traveled lines, according to the city of Houston's website. The Red Line's ridership for September averaged over 33,000 boardings on weekdays, over 16,000 boardings on Saturdays and over 15,000 boardings on Sundays.

Alex Crosier, who moved to Houston, said the Red Line was a major factor in his decision to choose an apartment near the route.

"When I was considering moving to Houston, everyone warned me about two things — the heat and the traffic. When I heard that, I realized I could avoid both by taking the train to work," he said.

However, Crosier said his usual travel time between Midtown and downtown has doubled. On one occasion, he had to wait fifteen minutes at his stop and was forced to take an Uber, which made him late to a work meeting.

Sebastian Lecourt, a Midtown commuter, said the Red Line is the best transit service in Houston. He described it as offering frequent, reliable trips right through the heart of the city, connecting to major employment centers and recreational areas.

However, Lecourt said removing the rail's signal priority has made a ten-minute trip through downtown "irregular and sometimes up to twenty minutes."

"Please don't undermine something that has already worked very well for the city for 20 years and that tens of thousands of Houstonians rely on," he said.

Isaac Metcalf said the stops are so frequent that he was able to catch up with the Red Line train on a scooter after missing it downtown. He called the line "the backbone of the Metro system" and was essential to keeping downtown and the Texas Medical Center accessible.

"Please do more to get this ludicrous change completely reversed immediately," Metcalf said.

What is Metro doing about the delays?

Metro officials agreed that some progress has been made with the traffic signal priority and delays were reduced, but not yet eliminated.

Jasien, Metro's interim CEO and president, explained that the Red Line delays were a result of a downtown traffic-retiming project, a joint collaboration with the city's Public Works Department. Metro officials noted the last retiming was done in 2020 during the pandemic, when traffic in the downtown area was low.

"There is no question we will get our system back and restored," he said.

Shri Reddy, Metro's executive vice president for planning, engineering and construction, added that the project is to improve traffic coordination and flow of all transit options in Houston — vehicles, buses, pedestrians and light rail.

He said Metro will continue working with the city's traffic engineers and the Public Works Department. The agency is basing its timing work on current, post-pandemic levels, which are far busier than they were five years ago.

The downtown intersections ran on 90-second cycles, Reddy said. The new system shortened the time to 80 seconds, allowing a faster rotation through the traffic signals.

"This is the first big retiming for the entire downtown grid. So, it's not just along the Red Line — it's the entire grid. This involves every signal in downtown," he said.

Recent timing adjustments helped reduce the number of extra stops on the Red Line, Reddy said. Metro officials and engineers have been riding the Red Line to compare the rider experience with operational data. Metro is also re-training its operators with the updated timing system, which is being refined to handle large and special events.

Officials say their goal is to improve traffic flow in both directions and pedestrian safety, but they acknowledged that it disrupted the Red Line from moving smoothly through intersections.

"We absolutely hear you. We're working diligently with our staff, with operations, with the city to figure this out in the next couple of months," Reddy said.

Brock, the Metro board chair, also acknowledged the public transit riders' frustrations, noting that the Red Line is one of Metro's most valuable assets.

"The Red Line is our crown jewel of Metro," she said. "We appreciate the patience as we work through these issues."

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