Texas Transit Association

The Rosenberg/Richmond area could be a hub for transit services in Fort Bend County, said officials with Fort Bend Transit Monday night.

Transit possibilities discussed at hearing
By STEPHEN PALKOT, Fort Bend Herald-Coaster
March 30, 2004

“It has a fairly large population, with a fairly high population density, it’s one of the major communities in the county, it’s one of the oldest communities in the county and it does have a higher percentage of people that need jobs that don’t have automobiles,” said Rick Beverlin, a consultant with the Goodman Corporation.

Fort Bend Transit consists of consultants hired by Fort Bend County and the Houston-Galveston Area Council to examine transportation alternatives in the county. Monday night, the group gave the first of several presentations, to be held throughout the county, to look at transit proposals within the county and receive feedback.

Beverlin and Alan Rodenstein, president of A&R Consulting, spoke from the George Memorial Library in Richmond Monday night to a crowd of about 30 individuals.

Beverlin said his group looks to enhance existing services in Fort Bend County while researching a 20-year transportation plan and finding the capital for projects.

Existing services in Fort Bend County include the TREK Express bus that takes riders from the University of Houston Sugar Land campus and the AMC movie theater parking lot in Sugar Land to the the Greenway Plaza in Houston and back.

Also, the county makes use of several social service-related transportation programs such as the Mental Health and Mental Retardation shuttle programs. Beverlin said he would like to see a streamlining of the social service transportation providers by having them coordinate services and share buses.

In previous meetings held in fall 2003, Beverlin said some of the greatest concerns to residents were access to the Medical Center in Houston, access to commercial airports and jobs, the continuation of and expansion of current services and smooth transition for transit between county, among other concerns.

Beverlin presented a number of charts showing, city by city, some of the major destinations for Fort Bend commuters. In Missouri City, the Medical Center ranked as the number one transit destination, and Sugar Land residents traveled to the Central Business District of Houston the most, followed by the Galleria area.

The Rosenberg area, said Beverlin, saw a small number of trips outside the city, as the city contains a higher population of un- and underemployed residents and a lower percentage of residents with vehicles than other cities. The Energy Corridor, along I-10 beyond the Beltway, proved the number one destination, though, for those that did commute from Rosenberg, while the Medical Center followed, and the Galleria came in at third.

In Richmond, the Energy Corridor proved the number one destination.

Beverlin said transit services could affect the economic development and employment numbers for the Rosenberg/Richmond area.

Looking at specific proposals, Beverlin discussed dial-ride services, which often require an individual reserve the service at least 24 hours in advance. However, such demand-response services can cost around $18 per rider, making such services “well designed for the a county like Fort Bend County” but “not inexpensive.”

Other proposals include job-access reverse commute, meaning a transportation system that would take riders to “non-traditional” routes such between smaller cities or suburbs. Proposals discussed would connect areas such as the Arcola/Fresno area, Missouri City, Kendleton/Beasley and Rosenberg/Richmond to one-another.

Beverlin also discussed the possibility of a shuttle or van service to a proposed express park-and-ride in Arcola at FM 521 and Highway 6 and the upcoming park-and-ride in Rosenberg at the Fairgrounds.

An internal fixed route circulator, said Rodenstein, could be a possibility for the Richmond/Rosenberg area, with shuttles running every 45 minutes throughout the area. Rodenstein said this service should cost far less than the demand-response type of services. Beverlin said he would like to see about obtaining H-GAC funding for for such as venture as a pilot project, which would give such a proposal a three-year period of funding.

Also discussed were the possibility of shuttles to travel between cities to shopping areas, or shopping shuttles, that would cover Rosenberg/Richmond and other cities and subsidized taxi services, where the rider would only pay a portion of the fare, for cities including Richmond/Rosenberg.

In the long term, Beverlin said the group would like to research fixed routes in areas where the population and density justifies the need, including Rosenberg and Sugar Land.

Beverlin said he would also like to see a transit center for maintenance and operations of transit services on U.S. 59 and Highway 36, or possibly in Missouri City and Sugar Land.

Light rail or commuter rail proposals, which so far call for such a system to run along the Union Pacific railroad tracks from Rosenberg into Houston, depend on reaching agreements between cities and Union Pacific and other entities, said Beverlin. He called the project “medium to long range” and said it has a “high price tag.”

Beverlin, after the meeting, said he looks to reach beyond the well-populated cities such as Sugar Land and examine transportation possibilities in smaller areas such as Needville.

“One thing we tried to focus on is having something for everyone in the county,” he said.

Upcoming meetings are as follows: Tuesday at the Needville Fire Department, 3321 Richmond St. in Needville (979-793-4253); Thursday at the Bob Lutts Fulshear/Simonton Branch Library, 8100 FM 359 South in Fulshear (281-346-1432); Monday, April 5 at the Sugar Land Community Center, 226 Matlage Way in Sugar Land (281-275-2885); and Tuesday, April 6 at the Missouri City Branch Library, 1530 Texas Parkway in Missouri City (281-499-4100).

For additional information, call 713-313-7283 or visit web site www.fortbendtransit.com.