Link: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/houston-metro-homeless-20189041.php

By Faith Bugenhagen,Trending News ReporterFeb 26, 2025 

 Houston's Metropolitan Transit Authority announced it will provide $10 million to Houston Mayor John Whitmire's homeless initiative to assist him in "reclaiming" public spaces from the city's unhoused population.  

"I think you're going to start to notice a change immediately. I think the problem right now is a lack of funding, and the city has had a lack of funding," Gonzalez Brock said. "They have a deficit, and we're going [to] try to help with that and accelerate the process." 

Last November, Whitmire announced a plan to tackle homelessness by "getting [unhoused people] off the street" and "reclaiming our public spaces" that would require $70 million. 

The Houston Housing Department claims that a substantial amount of the funding for Whitmire's initiative has been secured over the next two years despite the city's projected budget deficit of more than $300 million. 

A spokesperson from the Housing Department said the funds METRO will provide will establish "front doors" or key access points of immediate support for those in need, such as housing interventions, resource hubs and stacked supportive services. Additionally, the money will go to sustain the maintenance and safety of Houston's streets, transit spaces, and parks when homeless encampments are decommissioned. The spokesperson did not provide further details.

"What we're doing is contributing to the Mayor's homeless initiative because they are the professionals that are going [to] be responsible for handling and coming up with a strategy to deal with the homeless while we can get back to our mission of transporting people," Gonzalez Brock said. 

METRO's assistance with Whitmire's homelessness plan comes amid a change to the transit system's flagship from "METRONext" to "METRONow." Under the name transition, the transportation agency is recommitting to reliability, cleanliness, safety and accessibility. 

METRONow includes a series of investments: $7 million to increase public safety on the transit system, $2.4 million to improve cleanliness and funds to bring on 350 new buses, replace 100 vehicles that serve riders with disabilities and add Uber-like micro transit options. The rebranding will also implement elements to help increase the ability of people in wheelchairs to access bus stops.

 Under METRONow, the transit system announced a $200 million "traffic relief plan" along the Inner Katy portion of I-10 and a $300 million "revitalization effort" in Gulfton, among its key initiatives.