page_title: Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County
section_title: Service types
hierarchical_section_title: Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County / Metro Bus / Service types
caption_attribution_description: English: Houston METRO New Flyer DE41LFR bus 3586 drops off passengers at the last stop of the 402 - QL Bellaire route at the corner of Bellaire @ Ranchester.
context_page_description: The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County is a major public transportation agency based in Houston, Texas, United States. It operates bus, light rail, bus rapid transit, HOV and HOT lanes, and paratransit service in the city as well as most of Harris County. It also operates bus service to two cities in Fort Bend County, and to Conroe in Montgomery County. The Metro headquarters are in the Lee P. Brown Administration Building in Downtown Houston.
context_section_description: Local
  Most Metro buses typically operate on city streets, with the majority of routes serving several of Houston's major employment centers. The routes are grid-like "crosstown" routes that travel from one part of the city to another without entering downtown (many of these run along North-South arterial streets, such as Gessner, Lockwood, Post Oak & Shepherd or East-West arterials like Tidwell, Bellfort, Westheimer and Beechnut). Express routes are local limited stop service, not in the sense of limited stop service on major streets, but more likely run as a regular stop route and simply have no stops along a major freeway and serve major employment areas such as Greenspoint, Westchase, Memorial City, Downtown, Midtown and Sharpstown. Former bus routes that served downtown prior to the opening of METRORail were rerouted to terminate at METRORail stations to eliminate duplicate service and long trips.
  Express
  Some routes like the 102,108,137 provide express service to some of Houston's key destination such as Downtown, Bush IAH, Memorial City, etc. Unlike Park and Ride service they make limited stops on service streets and travel nonstop on Freeway segments. Before several routes upgraded from Limited to Express with Metro's New Bus Network, they were categorized as Limited as they do not make stops along the freeway portions of the route for at least between downtown and other areas. The only remaining true express route was the 170 Missouri City Express until it was also put under the Park & Ride (Commuter) Service.
  Park and Ride (Commuter)
  Metro provides a well known Park and Ride service that serves riders who work downtown, Greenway Plaza, Uptown and The Texas Medical Center and live in outlying residential neighborhoods in the city of Houston, as well as several suburbs, where Park and Ride lots are located. A Park and Ride lot functions much like a transit center, and some Park and Ride lots are served by regular local routes in addition to the dedicated Park and Ride routes. During rush hour, each Park and Ride lot has its own route to reduce overcrowding, leading to multiple routes serving the same freeway. In the Midday, this type of service is combined to a single route serving multiple park and ride lots and designated with a 9 at the end of the route number (example: 219, 259, 229). Most of these routes travel in the HOV lane of a freeway during commute hours; Metro was a national pioneer in this type of service.
  402 Bellaire Quickline
  This service began on June 1, 2009. Quickline is Metro's Signature Service. The Bellaire corridor is the first for the pilot program with the route called the 402 (or QL2) to supplement service along the most heavily used bus route in the system, 2 Bellaire. The Quickline system features upgraded buses, fewer stops, and more modern and comfortable bus stops.
  Note:  The Express and Park and Ride were once under the Commuter Routes umbrella until they gained their own distinctive non-stop service designations in 2004. As of 2010, aside from routes #170, 212, and 261, the routes are organized in corridors, but are now all listed as Park & Ride (Commuter) Service.
caption: Metro Quickline
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