| METRORail | |
|---|---|
| Background | |
| Locale | Houston, Texas |
| Transit type | Light Rail |
| Number of lines | 1 |
| Number of stations | 16 |
| Daily ridership | 35,000 |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | January 1, 2004 |
| Operator(s) | Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas |
| Technical | |
| System length | 7.5 mi (12.1 km) |
METRO's light rail service is known as METRO Rail. As stated above, Frank Wilson was formerly president before resigning in May 2010, in large part due to criminal allegations of shredding public documents. Longtime local politician George Greanias was appointed interim president, as appointed by Mayor Annise Parker.
METRO offers a trip planner on its web site that provides information for public transit in the region it serves. It is multi-modal, combining schedule information for buses and rail. Riders enter their intended origin and destination, along with optional time, date, and other information, and the trip planner displays itineraries showing the stops, departure and arrival times, and times to get from the origin to the destination.
Today, the average daily weekday ridership is 34,600. Notable records in ridership have occurred on the following dates:
- February 1, 2004: 64,005 passengers rode METRO during Super Bowl XXXVIII
- February 23, 2004: 54,193 passenger boardings were recorded, the highest weekday at the time
- February 27, 2007: 56,388 passengers were recorded the day of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
On November 9, 2007, METRO surpassed its 40 million boardings mark, something it did not expect to happen until 2020.
Read more about this topic: Metropolitan Transit Authority Of Harris County