
METRO Houston, in partnership with Aldine ISD, is providing students with a real-world design challenge.
Students in grades 9-12 have been given the opportunity to redesign the Greenspoint METRO Transit Center. Teams from across Aldine will be submitting their design proposals to a panel of reviewers for a chance to earn a spot as one of the top eight teams. Each of the top eight teams will present their design ideas to a panel of experts at Metro’s headquarters downtown.
A group of Aldine High School students in Patrice Craft’s Architecture Design II class are involved in this year’s partnership and had the opportunity to meet with members of the construction and planning department from METRO Houston.
This year’s challenge will be using urban design concepts to re-imagine the Greenspoint Transit Center. Mike Martinez, Public Affairs Director for METRO, provided the students with METRO’s System Map and explained how the bus routes are color-coded based on service frequency. The service frequency for the red route is every 10 – 15 minutes, the blue route is every 20 – 30 minutes and the green route is every 60 minutes. Understanding how the bus routes work will help the students understand the customer’s needs. This knowledge will help the students design their projects with the needs of the customers at the forefront.
Brandie Lockett, Urban Designer for METRO, shared her passion for urban design with the students and discussed how urban design could play into the role of the METRO Transit Center at Greenspoint.