Uh oh, Silver: Houston's first bus rapid transit line carries only fraction of ridership Metro predicted

There are few places as bustling in Houston as the corner of Westheimer and Post Oak, as cars and trucks — many carrying only the driver — whiz through the intersection. A big, gray bus slices through the crowd on a chilly mid-morning, alone in its own lane, southbound toward Williams Tower and its next station serving The Galleria. No one gets on or off, as scores of cars and trucks zip by. Another southbound bus approaches a few minutes later. No one gets on or off, but dozens of cars and trucks stop and go. The future of Houston transportation is not moving many people, even as traffic rebounds to pre-pandemic levels and ridership returns to many Metropolitan Transit Authority lines.

The Silver Line, billed as a viable alternative to light rail using its own lanes and stations along Post Oak through the heart of Uptown, carried fewer riders in January than 40 of Metro’s bus routes. The line, which comes every 12 minutes and avoids Galleria-area congestion, is a vital route for those using it, but carrying less than 10 percent of the riders it was built for on opening day. “Every bus that goes by, it’s empty,” said Mike Riley, 61, who lives and works in Uptown. “After all that work, you see maybe three people waiting for a bus.” Despite stark use of the Silver Line — Houston’s first bus rapid transit project — transit officials are not pushing the panic button, on Post Oak or any of the other 75 miles of bus rapid transit planned in the region. “These are 50-year projects,” Metro CEO Tom Lambert said, acknowledging the line has lower-than-projected ridership but has faced near-constant headwinds since opening in August 2020.