Bus Stops!

[ricco67]

Oct. 4, 2004, 6:55AM

BUS STOP

Galleria trolley canceled because of low ridership

2004 Copyright Houston Chronicle

The trolley that circulated through the Galleria area stopped running last week.

ADVERTISEMENT

Uptown Houston, which contracted with the Metropolitan Transit Authority for the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekday trolley bus, said it decided to eliminate the service because ridership failed to meet projected goals.

"Low ridership has been attributed to excessively long and inconsistent wait times, which could have been remedied by adding additional shuttle vehicles," according to a statement from the neighborhood improvement district. However, "no additional Metro vehicles were available."

Metro's decision to eliminate three bus routes in the area effective later this month was also cited as a factor.

The transit authority's free downtown trolleys also have experienced low ridership lately and will see several changes Oct. 24, including fewer hours of service and implementation of a 50-cent fare.

Free shuttle buses offered for Greek Festival this week

Metro is offering free shuttle buses to the Greek Festival, which takes place Thursday to Sunday at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 3511 Yoakum in Montrose.

Buses will depart about every 15 minutes from the Lamar High School parking lot, 3325 Westheimer. Shuttle hours are 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday.

[ssullivan]

I'm not surprised. I hardly ever saw anyone using the lunchtime trolley there and there's no point having it if people don't ride it.

I wonder how much longer the downtown trolleys will stick around with the 50 cent fare and cuts in service. The last few times I've ridden the downtown trolleys I was just about the only person on the bus.

[DaTrain]

I rode the trolleys a few times ever since they debuted DT in 1999. Over the years and monhts, ridership declined, so the hours declined as well. I remember the trolleys operating all the way until 1 AM - seven hours after downtown goes dead from the 9-5; they also operated on weekends including Sundays. Later on, Sunday service was all cut, Saturday service was cut down to the Route N Trolley which operated Nights only, and overall service scaled back to 6 AM to 7 PM hours weekdays.

I suppose the reason for the 50 cent trolley fare is because they are so underused. They sure are unable to compete with METRORail because of the free ride passes between UH and DTC. Not to mention how hot and humid it is -- they'd rather walk the tunnel system instead of waiting at the bus stop for a trolley, which runs TEN TO FIFTEEN MINUTES!