Park and ride (Houston: transfer, living in, zip codes)

[Anuday]

Hubby & I are relocating back to TX. We will possibly be living in the 77084 or 77065 zip code with commute to 77073 zip code (airtex dr) How can I check to see if park and ride is even an option?

[Supermac34]

METRO - Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Houston, Texas

[Watchful]

Trickier for most people is not where you live...it's where you work.

There are lots of park&ride options for going to work in a central location - but if your workplace is also located in an outer location (as yours apparently is) it becomes a nightmare timewise.

I did a Mapquest search from "77084" to 100 E Airtex (just picking an address) and it shows as 26 miles/33 minutes. Maybe add another 15-20 minutes for rush hour.

A search from "77065" to 100 E Airtex shows 16 miles/22 minutes.

If you were to catch a park & ride at the Northwest Park & Ride (close to the 77084 area) at 7 a.m., you would be downtown in a speedy 27 minutes at 7:27. But here is where the problem comes in.

There actually happens to be a Park & Ride close to Airtex (the Kuykendahl Park & Ride). Miraculously it has a pretty good outbound schedule so you could catch one at like 7:35 and make it to the Kuykendahl Park & Ride by 8:05. If there were a dropoff stop within a quick walk of your work it would be by pure luck. Otherwise you might have a pretty good little hike (in a non-pedestrian-friendly zone) or else someone would have to come pick you up - or I suppose you could have one car in the first lot and one in the second lot.

My point - and I do have one - most park & rides are designed to get you from "way out" to "way in" - occasionally they work in reverse - but rarely from "way out" to "way out".

I do see one crosstown bus that might be able to get you there in one ride - no transfer - depending on where on Airtex you were working, and where you chose to live. It is the 86 bus that begins near Hewlett Packard on Hwy 249
and then goes east on 1960 and comes close to Airtex.

[Anuday]

Thanks for the tips. I previously tried plugging in hypothetical addresses in both zip codes to the 77073 zip on that site a few nights back and became thoroughly frustrated!

Watchful -Thanks for the braek down; really needed that! I will have to look into the bus route otherwise we will need to find a place near the beltway.

I really don't want to put my hubby nor myself in commute nightmare.

[Watchful]

Originally Posted by Anuday

Thanks for the tips. I previously tried plugging in hypothetical addresses in both zip codes to the 77073 zip on that site a few nights back and became thoroughly frustrated!

Watchful -Thanks for the braek down; really needed that! I will have to look into the bus route otherwise we will need to find a place near the beltway.

I really don't want to put my hubby nor myself in commute nightmare.

It looks like the 86 bus route runs on Ella @ Airtex (west of I-45) - if workplace is near there it might be a pretty easy commute. If workplace is east of I-45 it might be a tough hike. You really just have to scope it out. Good luck!