HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — You may want to consider a new way to get to Bush Intercontinental Airport for your next flight. METRO offers a nonstop bus route between downtown Houston and the curb at Terminal C, and it’s called the METRO 500 IAH Downtown Direct.
Downtown Houston to Bush Airport
The bus route departs every 30 minutes between 5:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. from a covered bus stop inside the GRB North Transit Center at the corner of Avenida and Rusk.
The ride will cost you $4.50 each way, but you can pay via cash, METRO Q Card, or purchase a Park and Ride Zone 4 ticket in the METRO Q app. Once on board the bus, there is Wi-Fi, electric outlets for charging, overhead storage, and a luggage bay underneath.
ABC13 took the bus to the airport with METRO Chair Elizabeth Gonzalez Brock to discuss plans for this route, which launched in April as part of preparations for the World Cup.
“We wanted to make sure that we captured people who are coming from other cities to get to George R. Brown, and we figured that was the best way to start with increasing our ridership,” Brock said. “For example, we have people who say, ‘Well, my mom won’t take me to the airport, but she’ll take me to the George R. Brown,’ and so they get dropped off. And it’s an easier way for them to get to the airport. And particularly when the airport is under construction, it becomes very difficult to understand what changes are happening in real time.”
If you’re leaving the airport, there is signage inside the baggage claim to direct you to the stop that takes you back to downtown.
What if you don’t live near downtown?
This may not be for everyone, and many passengers will still find it more convenient to drive to Bush Airport.
ABC13 spoke with one airport employee who was trying it, but he thought it might take him a little too long to get all the way home from the downtown bus stop. Eyewitness News also spoke with passenger Nadiya Joseph, who thought it was a convenient and good way to save money.
“I did not want to pay $60 or $70 in Uber fees, so I just — I saw this online, so I decided it was probably the cheaper option, and it was very convenient as well,” Joseph said. “It was a quick ride, both going and coming back.”
METRO suggests using their other services, like the rail nearby or a Community Connector to reach the bus stop, if convenient.
The agency plans on continuing this service even after the World Cup and already has plans for a route from downtown to Hobby Airport in January. It is also considering a route from the Galleria area directly to the airport.
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