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A biker rides as a METRO bus passes in East Downtown in Houston, Saturday, April 26, 2025.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
The Metropolitan Transit Authority<\/a> is proposing to cut bus and rail service hours next fiscal year as officials deal with budget pressures.\u00a0<\/p>\n Metro\u2019s proposed $1.7 billion budget for the fiscal year<\/a> that starts Oct. 1 would mark its first reduction in spending since the COVID-19 pandemic and test whether the agency can preserve core services without weakening its finances or leaving riders to absorb deeper service cuts in the years ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n Metro:\u00a0What Houston drivers should know about highway ramp meters. Do they help with traffic?<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Houston\u2019s transit agency proposes to cut rail service hours by 5% and bus hours by 1.6%. Metro officials said the agency has not yet identified specific route or frequency changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n The proposal would balance Metro\u2019s operating budget by cutting spending by $40 million and pulling $146 million from the agency\u2019s fund balance. The budget also would reduce spending on longer term projects by $241 million next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Metro also plans to restructure its debt to lower its costs over the next four years, extending the repayment period at a higher interest rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n This would give Metro flexibility in the near term but would mean higher debt costs over time. It also could prompt scrutiny from credit-rating agencies, financial adviser Carlos Allen of PFM told the Metro board on Monday.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Harris County:\u00a0Harris County officials propose a $3.1B budget as costs for law enforcement and healthcare rise<\/a><\/p>\n Metro said in a statement that its projected five-year cash flow has declined by $1 billion over the last year because of \u201cexternal financial pressures\u201d and that the restructuring is a response to that \u201cfinancial shock \u2013 not a symptom of structural or systemic fiscal strain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Metro\u2019s financial pressure stems in part from a downward shift in the amount of sales tax revenue the agency expects to collect in the coming years. A year ago, Metro projected it would collect $20 million more in sales taxes than it now expects to this budget year. The agency also has dropped the amount it expects to collect in the coming fiscal year by $43 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n Metro officials cast the proposed cuts as part of a broader effort to protect essential services. A Metro spokesperson said traffic patterns are constantly changing and that \u201cfine-tuning service is a routine practice.\u201d Metro staff on Monday also said they would continue reviewing lower-ridership services for possible \u201coptimization\u201d next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI want to assure everyone that our priority is to protect the essential services that our community relies on the most,\u201d Metro board member Terry Morales said at the hearing.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Metro board member Roberto Trevino said Monday that he will vote against the budget because of what he described as a lack of transparency about Metro\u2019s financial problems and the assumptions behind the proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trevino also questioned how Metro officials could cast the budget as protecting core services\u00a0 while also projecting fewer bus and rail service hours.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we hear that there is no cut to services but the dollars allocated to that go down, what\u2019s actually being cut?\u201d Trevino said. \u201cThat\u2019s some of the clarity we need to get.\u201d<\/p>\n