Harris County Transit's Busiest Route Is In Pasadena

[editor]

Pasadena Bus Ridership Nearly Quadruples

On Pace to Become Largest Route in Harris County Transit System

Harris County Transit recorded 2,558 passenger boardings the month of October on its tenth month of service to Pasadena and LaPorte residents. While October is normally a peak month in transit, November figures were only slightly lower with 2,482 boardings.

These numbers reflect enormous growth from the 661 passenger boardings recorded in January, the first month of service.

San Jacinto College students are making up the bulk of the increase. With the start of school in September students have shown consistent ridership nearing 1,000 per month.

These early Pasadana/LaPorte numbers compare quite favorably to those of the Baytown route in its infancy. The first year of the Baytown route, which started in August of 2008 passenger boardings grew to a high of 2,135 in June of 2009. Today, Baytown is averaging 4,000 passenger boardings per month.

"While it's hard to make apples to apples comparisons between cities like Pasadena/LaPorte and the City of Baytown; total route miles in each community is about 35 miles. But Pasadena is a larger city and for that reason alone could be on pace to produce the largest number of bus riders in our system," said Ken Fickes, Director of Harris County Transit.

While the service began with a federal Hurricane Recovery grant, it's continuation in 2011 depended on matching grants from the City's of Pasadena, LaPorte, Pasadena Second Century Development Corporation and San Jacinto College.

The Pasadena/LaPorte route service will turn a year old January 4, 2011.

[LTAWACS]

This is good news. I checked their site and could not find a map of their routes in pasadena. Ugh.

[RedScare]

This is good news. I checked their site and could not find a map of their routes in pasadena. Ugh.

That's because this is not a METRO service. Pasadena is not in the METRO service area. The Pasadena bus service is provided by Harris County Transit, a completely separate entity than METRO.

[JLWM8609]

That's because this is not a METRO service. Pasadena is not in the METRO service area. The Pasadena bus service is provided by Harris County Transit, a completely separate entity than METRO.

The service in question is not a METRO service, but I think Pasadena is now part of the METRO service area. This map shows route 244 servicing the Pasadena P&R alongside Harris County Transit's Route 4.

http://ridemetro.org/SchedulesMaps/Pdfs/METRO-System-Map.pdf

[editor]

You are correct, this is not Metro; it's Harris County Transit. I saw "Transit" and assumed Metro. I've changed the thread title.

[LTAWACS]

So there is more than 1 public bus system in the houston metro? I had no idea.

[TheNiche]

So there is more than 1 public bus system in the houston metro? I had no idea.

There's also Island Transit, The Woodlands Express, the Fort Bend Transit Authority, and some privately-operated commuter bus service that operates out of Conroe.

[kylejack]

Perhaps it is a good route for Harris County Transit because Metro is so sparse in the area. I always found it strange that the Metro routes seem to dodge Pasadena, largely, but maybe this other service is why.

[gnu]

Perhaps it is a good route for Harris County Transit because Metro is so sparse in the area. I always found it strange that the Metro routes seem to dodge Pasadena, largely, but maybe this other service is why.

They dodge Pasadena because Pasadena is not in Metro.

You have to pay to play.

[LTAWACS]

It's not clear to me where on the map the two agencies' routes converge. This would be a good thing for those who use both and need to get around.

[TheNiche]

It's not clear to me where on the map the two agencies' routes converge. This would be a good thing for those who use both and need to get around.

METRO provides park & ride services to both Pasadena and Baytown.

[LTAWACS]

Baytown? Really? Wow.

I did not expect anything such as this from those goons.