The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (stylized as METRO) is a major public transportation agency based in Houston, Texas, United States. It operates bus, light rail, bus rapid transit, HOV and HOT lanes, and paratransit service (under the name METROLift) in the city as well as most of Harris County. It also operates bus service to two cities in Fort Bend County, and to Conroe in Montgomery County. The Metro headquarters are in the Lee P. Brown Administration Building in Downtown Houston. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . History The Texas State Legislature authorized the creation of local transit authorities in 1973. In 1978, Houston-area voters created Metro and approved a one-cent sales tax to support its operations. Metro opened for business in January 1979, taking over the bus service owned by the City of Houston known as HouTran. HouTran was plagued by outdated equipment, infrequent service and a route structure which failed to account for Houston's rapid population growth. Metro's service area encompasses and also serves portions of an eight-county region with its vanpool service; the agency employs about 3,800 people. Executive leadership Tom Lambert is the current President and CEO of the agency. Lambert was formally appointed in February 2014, although he had been operating as the agency's interim CEO since the beginning of 2013. Lambert, a Houston native with a political science degree from Southwest Texas State University and master's in public administration from the University of Houston, joined Metro as a security investigator in 1979. He was named agency police chief in 1982, ultimately overseeing close to 100 officers, then moved into higher ranks of management. The Metro Board has nine members – five are appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by Houston City Council, two are appointed by Harris County Commissioners Court, and two are appointed by the 14 mayors of Metro's smaller city members. Metro Bus Metro has an expansive and heavily used bus system. Local bus service usually runs on city streets, stopping at every other corner along its entire route. Metro's bus service is the most used bus system in Texas and the Southwest. Metro's bus service also includes the HOV/Park and Ride system. Park and Ride stations are placed alongside the freeways and used heavily during peak times. Prior to the construction of Metrorail, Metro consisted of the largest all-bus