METRO Introduces Swiftline
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 4:01 PM
Starting next Monday, commuters who travel between the Texas Medical Center and the Southeast Transit Center will have a faster way to get there.
It's called TMC Swiftline, METRO's newest express service.
The 426 TMC Swiftline will have five stops between the two transit centers, shaving 18 stops that are on the regular local 26 Outerloop/27 Interloop.
It will be eight minutes faster - or 25 percent faster - than the local bus traveling between those two transit centers.
"This is a connection between two of our busiest transit centers, Southeast Transit Center and TMC Transit Center. We feel there could be some early rider demand between the Southeast Transit Center and the Texas Medical Center, which is such a major employer," said Pat Porzillo, project manager of Swiftline and associate vice president of commuter rail. "This is basically a pilot project to see if we can be successful on the early implementation of this portion, which will eventually become a Quickline."
"We see the overall Quickline project between the Texas Medical Center and the Palm Center connecting our Southeast light-rail line and Main Street line as being a great route for connectivity," said Porzillo.
TMC Swiftline will come with new hybrid Orion buses equipped with bicycle racks and security cameras. The 426 Swiftline buses and stations will also be branded with a Swiftline logo.
The TMC Swiftline will operate during peak hours from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.
It will have the following five stops: TMC Transit Center, MD Anderson, Ringness, St. Dominic/Grand (TMC administration building), and SE Transit Center.
We'll conduct a survey the last week of September to see how satisfied customers are. But in the meantime, hop on the TMC Swiftline, try it out - and let us know on this blog what you think.