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The Houston City Council recently signed a consent agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO), enabling the agency to begin construction on the METRO Solutions Phase 2 program.

The agency soon will break ground on the first of the program’s five light-rail lines. METRO Solutions Phase 2 calls for building 30 miles of light-rail lines in the North, East End, Southeast, Uptown and University corridors, as well as adding commuter rail, and bus and bus rapid transit service.

The $2 billion program will be funded through a quarter-cent sales tax set aside for transit projects in Harris County. In 2003, voters approved issuing up to $640 million in bonds to help finance the program.