03/10/2026
🚌 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬.
Your Woodlands Express fare is going from $15 to $17 on April 1. This is the second $2 increase in two years, and it means your fare has jumped almost 31% overall (from $13 to $17).
The Township says they need the money to "cover increasing operational costs."
But I pulled the federal transit filings, the Township's own consultant report, and the board meeting records. The numbers tell a very different story.
𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭:
🔹 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. The Township paid Goodman Corporation to conduct a Transit Study in 2024. That study recommended raising fares to $16.50 in 2026, and only "if deemed necessary based on ridership and revenue." Ridership is at record highs. They raised it to $17 anyway. Fifty cents more per trip than their own hired expert said was justified.
🔹 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 $𝟐𝟒.𝟑 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬. Twenty-five brand-new commuter buses, 100% federally funded. Zero local dollars. The Township's own Director of Transportation, Ruthanne Haut, told the Board this will "help lower the annual cost of the express service." If the new buses lower annual costs, why are riders being asked to pay higher fares? That deserves a clear explanation..
🔹 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐈𝐗 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬. Federal transit data shows The Woodlands Express fare revenue grew over 140% from 2021 to 2023, while operating expenses grew about 35% in the same period, based on the Township’s own filings to the Federal Transit Administration.
🔹 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐞. Ridership was up 14% last year. January 2026 was up 22% over the year before. More riders at the existing $15 fare already meant a surge in revenue. The fare increase is on top of that.
🔹 𝟔𝟕 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫. First Class Transportation (owned by Australian conglomerate Kelsian Group) receives roughly $4.2 million a year, about 67% of total operating expenses, to run the buses. The Township just gave them a brand-new 5-year contract in September 2024. How much does that contract cost? They haven't told you.
🔹 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 $𝟔𝟐+ 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬. Operating reserves: ~$33.8 million. Capital reserves: ~$28.7 million. They funded 97% of capital projects from reserves last year. But commuter bus riders are being told to pay more.
𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠?
The Township has not published a single line-item breakdown showing:
- How much the new fleet saves them annually
- How much the new First Class Transportation contract costs
- Where the surplus fare revenue goes when collections outpace expenses
These are your tax dollars. Your fares. Your commute.
The Board members who voted unanimously for this increase: Chairman Brad Bailey, Vice Chair Craig Eissler, Secretary Linda Nelson, Treasurer Richard Franks, Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (who chairs the transit oversight committee), Dr. Ann K. Snyder, and Cindy Heiser.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨:
📝 Submit a public comment to the Township Board
📧 Email the Board of Directors at [email protected]
🗓️ Attend the next Board meeting and ask these questions
Most riders will never see these numbers. Let’s make sure the Board knows that some of us have looked closely.
𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴: 𝘍𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘈𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦 (𝘕𝘛𝘋 𝘐𝘋 60134), 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 2024 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 (𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘱), 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘉𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴.
