Metro Magazine, November 2020

16 METRO MAGAZINE COM NOVEMBER 2020 TRANSIT OUTSTANDING AGENCIES There are plenty of outstanding transit agencies around the nation and even the world but there are only three to receive the honor officially from APTA in 2020 METRO spoke to this years winners to find out what makes them an Outstanding Public Transportation System and found that success for these three agencies begins with the role they play in the communities they serve RIDERSHIP OF 20 MILLION OR MORE Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County METRO Houston Houstons Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County METRO not only exceled during the last year but has won APTAs prestigious Outstanding Public Transportation System award for agencies providing 20 million or more passenger trips annually twice in the last five years and three times overall Being named Outstanding Public Transportation of the Year by APTA is an incredible honor METRO officials say Receiving this award twice in five years is a testament to the leadership and support of the METRO Board of Directors and the tireless efforts of the Authoritys employees Over the last few years METRO employees accomplished some incredible milestones including carrying a record breaking number of people to Super Bowl LI events working around the clock to ensure customers from the Houston area other parts of the state and country and from around the world were delivered safely to their destinations METRO also broke ridership records transporting fans to the Astros World Series victory parade Aside from being reliable day to day and during special events WHAT IT TAKES TO BE AN OUTSTANDING TRANSIT SYSTEMMETRO has also stepped up during times of crisis including the current pandemic as well as during natural disasters In 2018 METRO was the recipient of an APTA Gold Award and called a model for emergency response for its proactive response to Hurricane Harvey in 2017 The storm considered one of the costliest tropical cyclones in U S history made landfall on the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of more than 130 mph In a five day period Harvey produced more than 50 inches of rain in the Houston area flooding more than 300000 structures and causing 126 billion in damage More than 60000 rescues occurred in Harris County alone During the crisis METROs exemplary preparedness and adherence to its Emergency Management Plan helped the agency serve as a valued community and emergency response partner Examples of METROs bus safety and security efforts before during and after Hurricane Harvey included moving 120 buses to higher ground before the storm saving 76 million worth of assets transporting more than 15000 displaced residents to emergency shelters aiding police and firefighters by deploying bus operators to drive higher profile school buses as first responders rescued drivers from floodwaters providing transportation to grocery stores and pharmacies and communicating with the public around the clock generating a total of 17 news releases 842 Twitter posts 257 Facebook posts and 104 service alerts DEVELOPING FOR THE FUTURE In 2017 METRO embarked on the development of a transformative long range transportation plan to provide 500 miles of travel improvements across the Houston region with the 20 year 75 billion METRONext program Major goals of the plan include sysThis years APTA award winners not only provide reliable service day to day but are also important partners in the communities they serve By Alex Roman and Sadiah Thompson