82 – Westheimer Bus

Worst route by a wide margin, always late, frequently over crowded, the #47 and #85 are close behind in terms of sheer crapiness. Metro’s new slogan is «You spoke we listened» which basically is a huge lie, they’ve done nothing to correct these issues at all. You spoke, we ignored you, and lied about it.

This route is very convenient and stretches all the way from Hwy 6 to downtown. It’s also one of the slowest most congested routes in the city.
The buses are torn up, passengers are rude and there is always a fowl stench emitting from someone. I’ve been passed by drivers waiting at a stop, harassed by drunks and even had to change busses once because somebody puked all over the place.
The sound inside this is noise pollution. There is a loud blaring speaker belting out a constant loop of «82 Westheimer, Please have your Q card as you enter the bus. Thank you for riding Metro» Then it goes in Spanish and repeats again. I know I’m on the fucking 82, you don’t have to repeat it 30 million times. Between that, the rattling, windows and the loud mouth thugs sitting in back, the noise is unbearable.
The schedules are always fucked up and sometimes you’ll wait 30 minutes for a supposed 10 min interval bus followed by 3 or 4 busses minutes apart.
For the most part this bus gets you were you need to go but if time allows take the 25 instead.

No. Do yourself a favor and take literally any other bus.
It’s bearable in the morning, but it’s hell on earth in the afternoon. Very crowded, people are rude and it smells like alcohol. Every couple of days you’ll see a living freak show who’s mentally deranged in some way or another. People have no concept of personal space and it’s much slower than most other buses.
Oh, and it’s never there on time, and while it’s supposed to take about 15 minutes between different buses showing up, I’ve found myself waiting up to an hour or so for this bus to show up, which is especially unbearable given Houston’s weather.

I ride either the 81 or 82 every morning to work downtown. Get to the stop about 3 minutes before the bus is supposed to come, because the buses are often a little early. No complaints otherwise, they come fairly frequently during peak times and most fellow passengers are quiet /​non disruptive. Houstonians often claim it’s virtually impossible to take public transport in this town, and I must respectfully disagree.

Wow I didn’t know you could review a bus route. Awesome. Man… The 82 was my lifeline prior to me getting my car for my b-​day. This is the most crowded, horrible route of them all. Question, why don’t they run the tandem buses during peak times? Craziness. And there are some very interesting types of people on this route. Stay away from the 82 if possible.

Oh, ⁸¹⁄₈₂. You’re my lifeline right now, due to my pathetic, vehicle-​free state, and we have such a love-​hate relationship. I’m so glad I live steps away from your route, and that my job uptown is right on your line. I feel positive that I’m doing something responsible for the environment by taking mass transit every day, and since I got my Q card in the mail (Go to
and sign up for one – it’s free!) it’s much easier to just scan my card or reload with a $ 10 spot on board the bus instead of having exactly a dollar and a quarter perpetually at the ready. You’ve got really friendly drivers – there’s one in particular that will actually hold the bus for me if I’m trying to make it across Westheimer to hop on in the mornings. And if I’m riding anywhere between downtown and the Galleria, I can get on the 81 or 82, thanks to your route renumbering, which makes the wait for an available bus shorter. That is awesome.
But that’s where the praise ends, and my criticism begins: despite the fact that you run every 10 minutes like clockwork, your buses are normally overcrowded during peak hours. In the mornings it’s not bad, since the Lamar kids get off mid-​route and it allows the rest of us to stretch our legs for the remainder of the trip. In the afternoon, though, the early morning coma has worn off and they’re transformed into chattering animals who crowd around the front of the bus, even when there are seats available, and thereby create a horrifying bottleneck that forces fragile grandmas to have to jostle past them. On Fridays it takes an hour to get from the Galleria to Montrose, which is double the amount of time it usually takes, and about 20 minutes of that is pure Galleria gridlock. And I’m usually sitting next to some guy who has no concept of the term «personal space». Though the rest of the week is usually okay, I’ve never felt stronger public transit induced suicidal ideation than on this bus on Friday afternoons.
You’re a mixed bag, 82. Though I don’t really have a choice to stop riding you, as I’m slowly saving up to become less carless, I think we can coexist just fine for now.

So thanks to the ride on the 82 this morning, I have learned a few life lessons:
1. Always have an umbrella
2. Never ever ever take the Westheimer bus if I miss my other one… just sit and wait for my regular bus the next time it comes
3. Bring an iPod so you don’t have to listen to people brag about how many beers they had BEFORE they got on the bus this morning
4. Don’t assume that just because you get up out of your seat to give it to an elderly lady… that a young kid wont jump in it first
And scene.