Sugar Land Downtown Commute Terrible - why can't we get Express Bus? (Houston: sales)

[Htown2013]

The commute from Sugar Land to downtown has become unbearable as of late. Residents in the Woodlands and Katy get direct commuter bus express routes. West Belfort P&R sucks and takes just as long and is so inconvenient that it's easier to drive.

I wish there were a better commuting option between Sugar Land and downtown.

Had this happened, I would be 100% onboard and take it every day:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hou...te-5981462.php

[SugLandDAd]

I agree, a Fort Bend County Express bus that ran to downtown would be great. I rode the FBC Express bus to the galleria area for a while and enjoyed it. When I took a new job downtown, I switched to a Metro Star Van Pool, which was better than driving, since we could use the carpool lanes. I had to drive every now and then, but it was better than driving on my own each day.

https://www.ridemetro.org/Pages/StarVanpool.aspx

[chris_ut]

Move to Houston?

[Jamaraa]

Instead of whining about the commute you should move to Houston

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by Jamaraa

Instead of whining about the commute you should move to Houston

Appreciate the kindness and concern shown. Let's all pay $800k++ and private school tuition to move to Houston or $800k++ to move to Memorial. Sure all hardworking families in Sugar Land can easily afford that.

My point was that Katy and the Woodlands have much better commute options into downtown, despite being further away. I am guessing there are A LOT of people like me in Sugar Land, Missouri City, and Richmond/Rosenberg who would gladly take a Sugar Land based park and ride if it were direct from Sugar Land and have decent parking options (West Bellfort SUCKS) that currently drive themselves since West Bellfort sucks so much. Having this option would take A LOT more cars off the road.

Fort Bend County is growing - better commute options to downtown from Sugar Land and places that pass through Sugar Land are needed for more tolerable commutes as the region grows.

[gwarnecke]

I agree 100% - Sugar Land would be an excellent candidate for a P+R station, given its proximity to four major employment centers which are already served by well-used P+R buses from other suburbs (The Galleria, Greenway Plaza, the Med Center, and Downtown).

Have you checked into Metro Star? If you don't mind driving occasionally and have a critical mass of commuters who live near you and are heading to downtown, this might actually be more convenient than a P+R bus would be.

[WRM20]

Sugar Land voted to stay out of Metro, so any commute options are on the City or County.

[chris_ut]

You don’t have to spend $800k unless you want a huge house zoned to the best public schools with no private needed.

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by WRM20

Sugar Land voted to stay out of Metro, so any commute options are on the City or County.

What's stopping from joining METRO now? There is clearly demand for the West Belfort and Westwood P&R created by SLers. SL is starting to become undesirable with the lack of commute options to stay competitive with Katy and The Woodlands, despite being close to DT Houston and closest to Galleria/Uptown and Greenway.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

What's stopping from joining METRO now? There is clearly demand for the West Belfort and Westwood P&R created by SLers. SL is starting to become undesirable with the lack of commute options to stay competitive with Katy and The Woodlands, despite being close to DT Houston and closest to Galleria/Uptown and Greenway.

Sugar Land is not going to give up half of its sales tax revenue to give to Metro. The sales tax in Sugar land is 6.25% State, 2% Sugar Land. They can't raise the rate above 8.25%. In the Metro service area, Metro gets 1% of the sales tax.