The Next Stop: METRO's Podcast Episode 38: Gulfton Circulator Sandra Rodriguez: We’re connecting them to the Clinic on the other side of Hillcroft, to training opportunities in the social service corridor on Hillcroft and High Star, to employment, to education, and just to socialize and shop in our own neighborhood. You know, economic development, economic opportunity, all of these things. Laura Whitley: Opportunity and empowerment in one of Houston’s busiest and most diverse neighborhoods. I’m Laura Whitley. In this edition of the Next Stop, we get a preview of the new Gulfton Circulator and learn how community members, other leaders, and METRO collaborated to bring the new route to the area. [Introduction music plays] Laura Whitley: I’m pleased to welcome Sandra Rodriguez to the Next Stop. She is a longtime Gulfton community resident and actually the President of Gulfton’s Super Neighborhood. Thanks for joining the Next Stop, Sandra. Sandra Rodriguez: Buenas tardes! It is a pleasure to be here with you this afternoon. Thank you. Laura Whitley: We’ve just completed a tour of the new Gulfton Community Circulator. And this is a new bus route that will start in late August that will serve the Gulfton community and certainly the larger community. This is a project that you have been working on for quite a while, Sandra. Sandra Rodriguez: Yes, absolutely! And so, I am extremely excited to have this Gulfton Circulator finally become a reality. We really started off back in 2017 when the Mayor’s Gulfton Complete Communities—you know, the neighborhood was selected as a pilot neighborhood for the Complete Communities Initiative, and so, when we were talking about transportation, I remember growing up when we had a special route that went around Gulfton. And Gulfton has grown tremendously—very densely populated, multicultural, diverse, and I think as we begin to introduce the system, the bus system to our newcomer community, the Circulator would provide that opportunity. Laura Whitley: Let’s talk a little bit about what this means for the community. Gulfton is a very diverse, densely populated community, and there already are some existing bus routes, but there were some connections that were needed. Sandra Rodriguez: Yes. So, what this particular route will do, again, as I mentioned, provide connections to opportunity. You know, a lot of our families don’t have a vehicle, or there is only one vehicle in the household. We have more than one family that resides in one unit, and so, we rely heavily—you know, we travel by foot, you know, pedestrian community. We ride our bicycles, and we utilize public transit. And so, sometimes just missing that connection between the already existing bus routes that we have within Gulfton. We have over maybe 60,000 people that reside in a three-square-mile radius neighborhood. And so, having this connector will connect us. Just riding it right now, I saw that it can connect me to a variety of grocery stores, where before I had to take maybe two bus routes—a longer time, you know, traveling, when I could be spending time on other things with my family instead of, you know, spending time traveling. This one bus route will get me to where I need to get to. Laura Whitley: What does this really mean for, you know, the people of your community? What does not having to change buses just to get to the grocery store or you’re able to get a two-seat ride to the Medical Center or things like that, you know, how does that really impact the lives of the people that you have grown up with? Sandra Rodriguez: So, our community—a lot of community members work in the service industry, or they do construction work, and sometimes they work two to three jobs to provide for their family, right? And so, if they spend less time traveling, you know, then maybe they can find employment at a shorter distance or you know, also the schools. We have a lot of schools within Gulfton. Off the top of my head, I’m thinking about 10 or 15 schools just within Gulfton. And so, this Circulator will provide that connection, you know. And then as we’re building infrastructure around Gulfton, adding some bike lanes and bike infrastructure, then we’ll get more mobility, other mobility options introduced to the Gulfton neighborhood, and safer and walkable streets. Laura Whitley: It sounds like you’re really talking about empowerment and opportunity. Sandra Rodriguez: That’s correct. That’s correct. You know, we’re connecting them to the Clinic on the other side of Hillcroft, to training opportunities in the social service corridor on Hillcroft and High Star, to employment, to education, and just to socialize and shop in our own neighborhood. You know, economic development, economic opportunity, all of these things. Laura Whitley: You’re certainly very entrenched and involved in this community—your community—and there’s many challenges that a community faces. Why did you decide that this really deserved your full attention and effort? Sandra Rodriguez: I think, in particular, with the Circulator, as our neighborhood continues to grow—you know, a lot of us in our neighborhood and maybe the City, you know, it’s known as the “Ellis Island of Houston.” So, when newcomers arrive, they know to go to Gulfton. And even in their home countries, some people say, “So the first stop is Gulfton.” Right? And so, if we create opportunity here, and hopefully, we can build a more thriving neighborhood. This is my home. I grew up here. I’ve seen all the bad things that have happened in my neighborhood and some of the negative factors that people know Gulfton as—but highlighting all the positivity, people who come and visit. And even—if you don’t live in Gulfton, you come down to our neighborhood, park at the Hillcroft Transit Center, Park and Ride, jump on the 309 Gulfton Circulator, come and visit, and you’ll see the beauty and the uniqueness of our neighborhood. And it reflects Houston, you know? We want to create a welcoming neighborhood for our community members, especially for newcomers who are fleeing countries where there’s war. There’s violence. There’s poverty, and they’re dealing with trauma. So, if we can create environments where, you know, you are welcome here, and here are the opportunities for you to advance and to build a thriving community and a successful life for your family. Laura Whitley: A successful life, indeed. Really beautiful sentiments, and thank you so much for your commitment and effort. We really appreciate you joining the Next Stop, Sandra Rodriguez, President of the Gulfton Super Neighborhood. Thank you so much for joining the Next Stop. Sandra Rodriguez: Thank you so much! Laura Whitley: And we’ll see you on the bus! Sandra Rodriguez: See you then! [Music plays] Laura Whitley: I’m pleased now to introduce Jim Archer, who is the Director of Service Planning at METRO. And Jim, you and your team have really been instrumental in designing this route that’s going to be serving the Gulfton community. Can you tell me a little bit about the route and what’s unique about it? Jim Archer: Well, it’s been a collaborative effort. And one of the neat things about it is this is something that has involved not only the Gulfton Super Neighborhood but stakeholders in the area and METRO staff. And we have been meeting together and discussing options basically over the past two years, which has given both sides a new understanding of what is needed. The Gulfton residents have had a better understanding of transit and what we can do. And we’ve had a better understanding as Service Planners of what the options are and how they can help the community. Laura Whitley: So, can you give me a few highlights of the route. Generally, what does it do, and where does it go? Jim Archer: Certainly. The route will start at the Hillcroft Transit Center. It will go then down and around to the Westpark/Lower Uptown Transit Center, and along the way, it will serve Glenmont, which is a street we do not serve now, but we did serve prior to New Bus Network. It will then travel south to the Bellaire Transit Center and from the Bellaire Transit Center go across on Bellaire, turn north on Tarnef. In that area, it’s going to serve a large number of schools. Then it will turn north and go through a high concentration of social service areas, particularly BakerRipley and some other services along High Star, then back up Hillcroft to the Hillcroft Park and Ride. Laura Whitley: One of the things I noticed when we went on the ride today was that this route, although it’s called a Circulator, it’s being served with a full-size 40-foot bus. And there’s a reason for that. Jim Archer: Yes, that is correct. Gulfton is one of the densest areas of population in the City of Houston. And so, normally, in an area where we would talk about a Circulator, we would use a smaller bus that would generally hold only twelve people. But one of the things that we have observed about this community is that, again, because it’s a dense population, and there are large concentrations of families, when people ride, it’s not necessarily individuals as much as it could be families—so, a father and mother with three children—and so you’re going to need more seats. So, there was a conscious decision that rather than use a smaller bus, we would use a 40-foot bus to get started so that that way the community had the maximum opportunity for travel. Laura Whitley: Now you shared the major locations of where the Circulator will go around, but at those, particularly Transit Centers, it also provides connection to many other places. Can you tell me a little bit about that and what it means in terms of, you know, like how many buses someone might need to take, for example, to go to the Medical Center? Jim Archer: Absolutely! And thank you for the question because there is great connectivity on this route. At the Bellaire Transit Center, they can take either the 2 Bellaire or the 402 Bellaire Quickline for a one-seat transfer to the Texas Medical Center. They can also transfer at the Westpark/Lower Uptown Transit Center into Uptown, and so, you’ve also got opportunities to go to Westchase through the 2 on the Western side. And then at the Hillcroft, you also have opportunities with the 151 to go directly to Downtown, and then the 152 and 153 connect at Wheeler. So, this provides a tremendous amount of opportunity for people to get throughout the Houston area with these simple connections. Laura Whitley: And I know you touched on this a bit earlier, but the community has really been engaged in this process from the beginning. Jim Archer: Yes. The community has been very helpful and working with us on this particular project. They have done yeoman’s work in terms of allowing us the opportunity to explain options, to develop options, and then to come back and have some real good opportunity for discussion. [Sound of a bus passing by] Laura Whitley: Not just a bus route. A Transit Center. Jim Archer: That’s right. It is a bus coming through, and of course, the 309 Gulfton Circulator will be coming through in about a month. Laura Whitley: There is a lot of excitement about this route—even from the transit planners. Jim Archer: Yes, there is. Again, with the density of population and with the opportunity for so many attractors-generators, be it BakerRipley, be it schools, be it a fiesta. There are places that people want to go, and this service is going to allow them to go there and to go there inexpensively. Again, our base fare is $1.25, which is one of the lowest-based fares in the country. So, this is a really good opportunity for people within the community to make these connections and get where they want to go. Laura Whitley: And particularly, when you talk also about the base fare—I mean, if you think about the empowerment that having access to public transportation provides someone without the burden of having to maintain those vehicle costs and all that goes with it. It can really be life-changing and provide a lot of opportunity. Jim Archer: Absolutely. And again, Gulfton is an area that is primarily low-income and also heavily minority. So, we have some opportunities here to reach out. We’re going to be doing some creative, multilingual marketing because we’ll be reaching out to a market where English is the minority language. And that’s a little different for us, so it’s a good opportunity. Laura Whitley: And when it comes to the other things that are to come on along this route in coming years and months, there will be additional improvements—bus stops and things like that. Jim Archer: Absolutely! And part of the reason for today’s field trip was to be able to show the community the locations that we had proposed for putting in bus stops, and based on our feedback, I think we chose the right locations. But while we were on the field test, we got a lot of additional information about things that would be nice to have and that the community would really value as well. So, it gives us a chance to go back to the office and say, “Okay, we may not be able to get all these things in by August, and in fact, most of them will not come in by August, but we can begin to plan and think about what we can do for the future to continue to support this community.” Laura Whitley: So, when exactly will the route begin, and what will the hours be? Jim Archer: The route will begin on Sunday, August 22, and it will run from 6 o’clock in the morning until 9 o’clock in the evening, and it runs on a 30-minute headway, which means that we’ll have a bus scheduled every 30 minutes going both directions. Laura Whitley: Seven days a week? Jim Archer: Seven days a week. Laura Whitley: Alright, thank you so much. Jim Archer, Director of Service Planning at METRO, thanks for joining the Next Stop. Jim Archer: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Laura Whitley: To check out the Gulfton Circulator schedule or to plan your next trip anywhere in the service area, download the METRO Trip app or visit www.ridemetro.org. [Music plays] Laura Whitley: That’s all for this edition of the Next Stop. I’m Laura Whitley. If you’d like to check out more episodes, you can find them on our website or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, or Google Play. And, if you could please do us a favor and leave a rating or a review, it’ll help us out a lot. Until next time, drive less, do more with METRO. [Music plays] Laura Whitley: To check out the Gulfton Circulator schedule or to plan your next trip anywhere in the service area, download the METRO Trip app or visit www.ridemetro.org. That’s all for this edition of the Next Stop. I’m Laura Whitley. If you’d like to check out more episodes, you can find them on our website or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, or Google Play. And, if you could please do us a favor and leave a rating or a review, it’ll help us out a lot. Until next time, drive less, do more with METRO.