METRO Airport Express, Airport EZ Tag fuel debate
METRO says it will continue its Airport Express bus service despite a KTRK-13/Ted Oberg story this week criticizing the per-passenger cost of the service (caused by low ridership so far).
Count me among those who thinks the city could use affordable airport transportation options besides the ones dominated by Yellow Cab (whose Super Shuttle, readers may recall, was "given" the exclusive IAH shuttle franchise by Richard Vacar, Bill White, and Council, who shamefully put an existing shuttle service out of business). Indeed, perhaps METRO should even consider cutting the cost of the service to boost ridership (which probably won't happen, because Yellow Cab wouldn't like that), or should run small vans instead of more expensive large luxury buses when there are only two passengers. Do we really want to return to the days of the METRO 102 "Express"?
In related airport news this past week, the Chronicle's Chris Moran posted an analysis of the EZ Tag Airport Parking program that was recently killed by Harris County Commissioners Court. The deal negotiated by the Harris County Toll Road Authority never quite lived up to expectations, and will wind up costing taxpayers some $3-3.5 million before it shuts down, according to Moran.
Still, the service was/is a convenient one for travelers, and we'd like to see it return under a deal that allows it to sustain itself. Like Charles Kuffner (who posted most of the story, just in case it rolls to archives or you'd rather click there than Chron.com), we're not sure why this turned into such an expensive fiasco.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/07/10 08:02 PM | Print | Comments (2)
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