$4.50 FROM DOWNTOWN TO THE AIRPORT That shuttle service Metro’s been running from Downtown to IAH just got a whole lot cheaper — and added a few stops on the way. The Airport Direct service used to leave from the transit center at 815 Pierce St. with maybe one or 2 passengers a trip and cost $15 one-way ($10 if you could show a valid plane ticket). As of yesterday, the ride now costs $4.50, but stops also at the Main St. Square station and the Four Seasons, Hyatt, and Hilton Americas hotels before heading up the freeway. The transit agency has been losing $1.5 million a year on the every-30-minute service since it was introduced more than 2 years ago. [Houston Chronicle]
Sign up for the Newsletter
Tag: Metro
WORK ON THE NEW LIGHT RAIL LINES Construction crews are back at work on the North and Southeast rail lines and federal funds have been flowing again to Metro, Chris Moran reports. Late last year, the transit agency was able to cancel the notorious $330 million contract with a Spanish railcar vendor that violated federal procurement rules — but it won’t get back the $27 million it already spent: “Last month, the Federal Transit Administration sent the first $50 million of the grant money for use on the North and Southeast lines. Last week, the FTA issued pre-clearance letters Metro needed before it could proceed with more than $12 million worth of projects for which it is relying on federal reimbursements. Ultimately, the FTA will pay about half the cost of the North and Southeast lines.” [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
METRO LIGHT RAIL CONSTRUCTION SLOWS TO A CRAWL More repercussions from Metro’s Spanish-train procurement fiasco and the transit agency’s ensuing budget crisis: This morning CEO George Greanias announced dramatic cutbacks on all new light-rail construction until the future of the project’s federal funding becomes clearer. This year’s expansion budget is being cut by almost 70 percent, but the project is not shutting down completely — because doing so would cost an additional $200 million, Greanias and board chairman Gilbert Garcia said. Left to lope along until the end of the year: Utility work on the North and Southeast Lines, and utility and road work in “select areas” of the East End Line [Hair Balls; previously on Swamplot]
METRO MANAGERS TO RIDE OWN DOG FOOD A new requirement for Metro senior managers: riding public transportation 40 times a month. That’s from George Greanias, the transit agency’s now-official president and CEO — who counts as one of those senior managers. “Some of the same executives will be affected by cutbacks in Metro’s use of car allowances and staff take-home cars, Greanias said. Only employees whose daily duties require using vehicles will receive these benefits; others will simply be reimbursed for Metro-related mileage on their personal cars, Greanias said.” [Houston Politics]
92 EMINENT DOMAIN CASES ON 3 LINES: METRO’S LIGHT RAIL LAND ACQUISITION SCORECARD 
Nick Boulos’s former Shell station on the corner of MLK and Old Spanish Trail “is among 133 pieces of property [Metro] has acquired along the Southeast Corridor, including 27 in which Metro invoked eminent domain. Of those, 21 (including Boulos’) were settled by negotiation. Another 7 remain to be mediated or possibly settled in court. In the East End, METRO has obtained 135 parcels, filed 47 eminent domain cases, and settled 33 by negotiation, leaving 14 for mediation or the courtroom. On the Northside, METRO has acquired 113 total pieces of property, filed 18 eminent domain cases, and settled 16 by negotiation, leaving 2 for mediation or the courtroom.” [Fox 26] Rendering of Southeast Line on MLK between Griggs Rd. and OST: Metro
Those trains from Spain that gave the feds cause to complain yesterday are gonna delay the completion of all three light-rail lines now under construction, Metro announced today. The transit agency backed off its earlier ETA for the North, Southeast, and East End lines, saying that meeting the previously announced October 2013 completion date is no longer feasible. The problem: getting at $900 million in grant money from the Federal Transit Administration, which Metro had been expecting to arrive soon. The FTA is now requiring a promise from the transit agency to rebid the railcar contract before it’ll continue considering the application for the bulk of those funds. Sez Metro: “A delay of up to one year is anticipated.”
- Metro: Completion of 3 light-rail lines pushed back up to a year [River Oaks Examiner]
- Clarification Regarding Rail Construction Schedule [Metro]
- Previously on Swamplot: Feds To Metro: Back off the Spanish Trains and We’ll Fund Your North and Southeast Lines
Drawing of future Southeast Corridor light rail line on MLK near Madalyn Ln.: Metro
FEDS TO METRO: BACK OFF THE SPANISH TRAINS AND WE’LL FUND YOUR NORTH AND SOUTHEAST LINES Calling the results of its 4-month-long investigation “both alarming and disturbing,” the Federal Transit Administration scolded Houston’s transit agency for systematically trying to bypass federal rules in the signing of 2 light-rail-vehicle contracts with a Spanish manufacturer. But the violations won’t derail funding for the light rail lines — as long as Metro’s new management team promises to rebid the contract and follow federal “Buy America” rules. A letter from FTA administrator Peter Rogoff said Houston commuters shouldn’t be punished for Metro’s violations: “The Administration still believes that the North and Southeast Corridor projects have merit and we stand behind our Fiscal Year 2011 budget request of $150 million for the two projects.†[FTA]
METRO’S NEXT REAL ESTATE DEAL 
A tidbit from interim president and CEO George Greanias’s presentation to Metro’s new board yesterday: 2 entire floors of the transportation agency’s headquarters building just north of the Pierce Elevated at 1900 Main St. Downtown have been sitting vacant. For how long? That isn’t clear; the building was completed in 2005. Greanias’s suggestion: the floors “could be leased or occupied by Metro services now housed in other locations.” [Houston Chronicle; Hair Balls] Photo: Wikimedia Commons
LIGHT RAIL CONSTRUCTION SLOWDOWN Metro officials say they’re still confident that the $800 million federal grant necessary to complete the North and Southeast lines is forthcoming, but the transportation agency has already begun slowing the pace of construction in response to a $49 million budget shortfall: “So far, officials said, the work that has been put off has been minimal on the North line, which is expected to run from north Houston to the Texas Medical Center and Reliant Park. Metro has delayed road reconstruction work on Fulton Street and has put off awarding a contract for the expansion and construction of a rail facility on Fannin at the south end of the line near Reliant Park and the 610 Loop. Those delays could just mark the beginning, Metro’s Acting President and CEO George Greanias said.†[Houston Chronicle, previously on Swamplot]
METRO’S CASH CRUNCH Metro’s unrestricted cash investment portfolio is now down to $76 million, but the transportation agency is carrying a grand total of $190 million in short-term debt, reports the Examiner Newspapers’ Michael Reed. A separate pool of money has already been committed to construction of several new light-rail lines, but the liquidity problems may still affect Metro’s ability to obtain federal funding for some of the lines: “As a condition of receiving funding as part the Federal Transit Authority’s New Starts program, which includes the already-under-construction North and Southeast lines, an applicant must receive at least a ‘medium’ accumulated rating based on five categories. One of the categories, ‘current operating financial condition’ requires a liquidity ratio (cash, accounts receivable and nonrestricted investment portfolio vs. current liabilities) of at least 1-to-1 to avoid receiving a ‘low’ rating for that category. Based on the June 2010 unaudited report, Metro’s rating for 2009 appeared to be about 0.79-to-1, having fallen from 1.55-to-1 in 2007 to 1.03-to-1 in 2008, according to Metro financial reports for those years.” [River Oaks Examiner] Update, 1:40 pm: Metro’s board just announced the agency will have a $49 million budget shortfall this year.
BACKING OFF THAT EXCLUSIVE Metro’s new board voted today to revise the notable exclusive 3-year contract the previous regime had signed last December with real-estate consultants McDade Smith Gould Johnson Mason + Co. The arrangement would have awarded the commercial brokerage firm up to $6.25 million in commissions on land transactions related to the construction of 5 new light-rail lines, as well as additional consulting fees. At the time of the signing, 2 of the 7 employees in Metro’s real-estate division were McDade Smith brokers. Michael Reed reports: “The new agreement with McDade Smith will be for one year and will utilize the firm only for selected properties that require their professional expertise. More work will also be done within Metro, it was indicated.†Update, 6 pm: More details on the new contract in this later story from Reed. [River Oaks Examiner; previously on Swamplot]
THE METRO LAND COMMISSION DEAL Real estate brokerage firm McDade Smith Gould Johnston Mason + Co. is slated to earn as much as $7 million in consulting fees and commissions from land transactions related to the construction of 5 new rail lines, the West University Examiner‘s Michael Reed reports. Last year’s hiring of Kristen M. McDade as associate vice president of real estate services means 2 out of Metro’s 7 real estate division employees are also McDade Smith brokers. The 3-year deal approved by the outgoing Metro board last December outlines that payments are to be made “even though the land to be used has already been predetermined by the route and could be taken through eminent domain, if need be,” Reed explains: “As stated in the contract, ‘Consultant (McDade Smith) shall receive commissions on every transaction closed by Metro, including but not limited to all right of way acquisitions, calculated on the basis of 6 percent of the “sales price.‒ Metro, however, receives a credit of rebate equal to 40 percent of that payment, according to the contract. Since, legally, a buyer — in this case, Metro — cannot force a seller to pay commissions to a broker, Metro’s true price for land acquisition for five lines, including the University route, would likely be bumped up by $6.25 million in buyer paid commissions as well.” [West University Examiner]
PEARLAND FINDS ITS PARK AND RIDE SPOT Metro will build a Park & Ride lot on 12 vacant acres at the gateway to the Southfork subdivision, at the southwest corner of Highway 288 and Airline-Ft. Bend Rd. (otherwise known as County Road 59): The board also authorized staff members to execute a design-build contract with the unidentified property owner that ‘will allow them to build the complex in accordance with Metro’s specifications and do it quicker,’ [Pearland assistant city manager Jon] Branson said. The facility will be a base for commuter shuttle buses between the Pearland area and Houston, including the Texas Medical Center. It is expected to provide much-needed traffic relief for residents who live in or near Shadow Creek Ranch and Pearland Town Center, [Metro vice president Kimberly] Slaughter said. The Texas 288 corridor averages about 96,000 vehicle trips a year, Branson said. When the shuttle facility opens this fall, it will have parking to accommodate 750 vehicles. Another 750 parking spaces will be added later, Branson said.” [Ultimate Pearland]
Here’s a little handy graphic from Mayor Parker’s Metro transition task force, identifying what the team considers “major unresolved design issues” in the planned East End, Southeast, University, and Uptown light-rail lines. Attempts to resolve all 6 of them appear to be “bogged down” at the Metro staff level, according to the task force committee. Each problem might delay construction or increase cost, and each has already been “actively discussed” for at least a year.
What are they?
- the Downtown alignments of the East End Line and Southeast Line on Capital and Rusk streets as they cross the Main Street Line;
- how the East End and Southeast Lines and car traffic will flow around the proposed Dynamo Stadium site in East Downtown;
- how grade separation will work with a freight-rail crossing on the East End Line on Harrisburg near Hughes St.;
- details of the Southeast and University Lines near the University of Houston along Scott St.;
- how the University Line will cross and interact with Main Street Line at the Wheeler station in Midtown; and
- the design of the Uptown Line north of San Felipe, along the 610 West Loop.
Oh, and then there’s this little bit about finding the money to build it all:
METRO’S FREE RIDE Suggesting that the transportation agency is “too concerned with the bottom line” — and not focused enough on the riders who depend on it to get around town — Mayor Parker proposes lowering fares on all Metro bus and rail rides. Or (why not?) dropping them altogether: “While acknowledging that Metro would have to cope with the loss of fare revenues — $66 million in 2009, about 20 percent of its expenses — she said it is a discussion the agency needs to have. . . . Metro says its operating ratio — the share of its costs covered by fare collections — has increased from 17 percent in 2005 to an estimated 21 percent this year, still well below the national average of 33 percent. Eliminating fares, of course, would make cost-benefit analysis meaningless, since every route would be fully subsidized. But allowing passengers to ride for free might attract enough riders to reduce congestion for drivers and produce other benefits, Parker said. ‘I don’t really care so much what they collect at the fare box,’ the mayor said. ‘I’m not going to tell them to do this, but I am personally interested in exploring — unless we’re leveraging those dollars in some ways for other kinds of matches — dropping the fares to get more people on board.'” [Houston Chronicle]