Northwest Transit Center

Nestled in the crook of the I-610 and I-10 interchange, Houston's Northwest Transit Center serves as a key connection point for park-and-ride and local bus transfers from two of the region's busiest corridors: I-10 and US 290. After more than 30 years, the aging facility needed a transformation to address parking and congestion issues to improve bus and car traffic flow patterns and deliver an overall better user experience.

Houston METRO engaged HNTB to provide planning, final design services and construction phase support for the complex project. The groundbreaking design solution nearly doubled the available bays for local and commuter bus connections, as well as METRO’s first bus rapid transit, Silver Line. The project also included a full-service METRO RideStore, communication and surveillance infrastructure, shared-use bike paths and 195 new parking spaces.

Realizing the need to make the transit accessible to all users, HNTB worked with METRO developing its universal accessibility (UA) program into the project design. For HNTB, this meant incorporating UA elements into all routes from the public streets and ensuring that drop-off and pick-up spots were designed with level access for easy and safe loading and unloading, signage, braille mapping, level crosswalks and fully accessible public restrooms.

With 10 additional bus bays and accessible design elements, the Northwest Transit Center is now the model for METRO's UA program. The transit center currently services METRO's new Silver Line Bus Rapid Transit  line and is ready to accommodate future transit projects, creating better experiences for commuters.