Train Travelers Bypass Parking Woes

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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/2791961

Sept. 12, 2004, 11:11PM

Train travelers bypass parking woes

Rail speeds patrons to Reliant as drivers struggle to make kickoff

By LUCAS WALL

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

More than 5,000 football fans crammed MetroRail trains Sunday in the first NFL regular season test of the Main Street line.

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Riders, several on board for the first time, had mostly favorable reviews of the new way to get to Houston Texans contests. Metro said about 5,100 took the rail to Reliant Park, 7 percent of the 70,255 people who had tickets to the game.

The passenger count Sunday, while higher than the Metropolitan Transit Authority's initial projection of 4,500, was down 19 percent from ridership of 6,262 to the preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys last month.

Richard Zook of River Oaks had a $20 Red Lot parking permit that came with the tickets he bought. But he decided to park instead at his downtown office tower Sunday and hop on the light rail with his 8-year-old son, John, and a friend of his son instead.

"It saves time and trouble by taking the train," Zook said. "I've parked at the stadium in the past and getting in there can be a nightmare."

That was the experience several fans who drove to the game Sunday reported as they arrived late in the first quarter.

"It took us an hour to circle around and park