Metro’s new local bus system remains a work in progress, but officials already are looking ahead to potential changes to the commuter bus system.

“We need to take the park and ride system and look at it as the next phase of overall mobility,” Metropolitan Transit Agency CEO Tom Lambert told board members Monday, during a lengthy discussion of adjusting routes and unfixed issues with bus service.

Redesigned local bus service was unveiled in August, but park and ride service has remained largely unchanged since the 1980s. Lambert said.

“Patterns of work have changed,” Metro board member Diann Lewter said, citing a growing trend in so-called "reverse commuting" from homes in Houston’s core to jobs in the suburbs.

The local bus network changes were debated and analyzed for roughly two years. Similarly, officials said, changes to park and ride service would come only after extensive research and community discussions.

“What should this look like if we were not captive to history?” board member Christof Spieler said.

Spieler led the push to revamp local bus service, and on Monday he agreed that park and ride service now needs to react to the ridership changes, as well as build on the changes.

“We still haven’t ramped up any meaningful marketing to attract new riders,” Spieler said.

Though Metro has said the system is a huge success, citing an increase in total ridership and better connectivity seven days a week, critics continue to question the agency.

Paul Magaziner, a frequent Metro critic, last week told a city of Houston committee that oversees transportation that the bus service changes have hurt low-income and minority communities.

Metro and others dispute Magaziner’s assessment, though they continue considering improvements to some isolated problems. Hundreds of the 2,000 or so daily riders of the 151 Westpark Express bus have sought more convenient timing and connections, for example.

The route experienced changes in January aimed at relieving overcrowding at the Hillcroft Transit Center and security concerns at the Wheeler Transit Center.

A committee discussion of those changes prompted the park and ride discussion.