METRO Launches Workshops on Future Transit
Wednesday, May 04, 2011 3:16 PM
METRO President & CEO George Greanias greeted a packed board room yesterday afternoon, launching the agency's series of community workshops on METRO Vision - the plan for our regional transit needs that will take us up to the year 2040. 
Greanias called yesterday's meeting a try-out performance for the 24 workshops across the city which will start May 10. Click here to view the archived meeting (runs 55 minutes).
Greanias said we would tweak the materials - poster boards, maps, PowerPoint presentation - but not our basic approach, which is to listen to the community and use that input to shape future transit plans.
"This is no easy task. We're way behind the curve," he said. "But I happen to know that...when this community finally decides to do something, it generally does a very good job of it. And I believe that METRO is more than up to the task of meeting the needs of the community."
Greanias then introduced "the star of the try-out performance," Kimberly Slaughter, senior vice president of service design & development.
Slaughter explained the challenges of population growth, job growth and designing a transit system to connect people and jobs. At the community workshops - to be conducted in neighborhoods from Third Ward to Missouri City to Katy - there will be mini RideStores offering the full services of the RideStore , including Q® Fare Card distribution. There will also be a laptop connected to an interactive map where people can draw the routes they want and submit their instant map with a click.
In addition, there will also be a children's coloring corner, so families can bring their kids and keep an eye on them while they draw. We'll supply paper and crayons.
All the meetings will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
"I'd like you to join us and help us build a successful, long-range plan for the future, " said Slaughter. "It's a collective vision of everyone in the community."
So what multi-modal forms of transit do you want? Improved bus service, bus rapid transit, streetcars, light rail, commuter rail? Please come to one of our meetings and share your thoughts.
Click here for a list of the public workshops.