Metro’s customer service representatives have been out in force, armed with big colorful maps showing Houston’s new bus network. They’ve been answering lots of questions at the busy Texas Medical Center transit hub. Stephanie Lewis arrived on a bus from Missouri City, on the way to her job at Baylor College of Medicine. She says some of her co-workers ride even longer routes, but she hopes they’ll see a big improvement. “Because there will be some buses coming directly into the Medical Center, where before they probably had three or four legs to their route,” says Lewis. Metro rolled out its new bus routes early Sunday, and CEO Tom Lambert calls it a learning process. He says one thing they’re focused on right now is making sure people can get through on their telephone helpline. “We’re taking a little time, a longer time, making sure we’re walking people through, so we have seen some hiccups on the calls coming in there,” says Lambert. “But we think as that progresses, we’re going to see better calls and better information, and people not needing as much detail.” 
Transit officials say the goal of the new bus network is to boost ridership. They hope to do that with more direct routes and more frequent service. Metro is also offering free rides through Saturday.
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