When Brian Moeller, 37, moved to Houston in 2013 from Denver, following his wife by about six months, the first thing he did was find a job.

"We had an apartment in Katy close to her work, my job was in Westchase," Moeller said. "Easy enough, I'll take the bus."

Except it wasn't easy enough. At the time the commute to his job overseeing computer systems for a title management company would have required his wife to drop him off at a park ride, where he would ride into Uptown, then take two buses to work.

"I couldn't believe, living there, no buses could get me to my job — which isn't in the middle of nowhere. It's in an office park. A big one."

It is the Brian Moellers that local officials have in mind as they plot major expansions of commuter bus service, in some cases far outside the current Metro service area, in anticipation of soaring population growth. The Houston-area is expected to grow from 6.7 million people to more than 10 million over the next two decades.

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Many of those commuter plans would leverage what Houston already has plenty of: freeways.

In the future, those freeways likely will offer two-way mass transit lanes loaded with commuter buses connecting more than a dozen major job and entertainment centers.

"It is really taking our park and ride system and turning it into something larger," said Bob Eury, president of the Houston Downtown Management District.

The management district outlined a proposal it called Metro MAX in its Plan Downtown, a 20-year vision of transforming downtown by reducing automobile trips and increasing park-like space.

The district's proposal is just one of several ideas for commuter bus options coming from a variety of fronts. A Houston-Galveston Area Council high-capacity transit task force, for example, is assessing possibilities for major transit options, though many of those discussions focus on rail connections that would take years to develop.

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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is not waiting, even as it prepares its own long-range regional transit plan.

No specific proposals are fully developed, officials said, and any would be contingent on finding money. Metro already is spending more than $110 million over the next five years to replace its existing commuter buses, $10.3 million for improvements along U.S. 290 to the HOT lane system buses use, and about $1.5 million in improvements to the West Bellfort and El Dorado park and ride locations.

More service, if pursued, would require additional money for capital expenses, such as the buses, as well as added operational costs, including the salaries of bus operators and more maintenance expenses.

Following a presentation by Eury earlier this month, Metro's board tasked staff with assessing where commuter bus service could be enhanced sooner rather than later.

"We have the infrastructure on (Interstate) 10," Metro board member Lisa Castaneda said, referring to the Katy Managed Lanes along the freeway. "Can't we do this today?"

Park and ride routes connecting lots near I-10 to downtown are among Metro's most successful. Average daily ridership has surged at the Grand Parkway park and ride, following the construction of a new garage, even as many other routes have seen decreased ridership as oil and gas jobs relocated around the region.

Houston already has the third-largest commuter bus system in the country, in terms of ridership, trailing only Seattle and New York.

In addition to Metro, Woodlands officials operate The Woodlands Express from the township to downtown Houston. Fort Bend Transit also runs commuter buses to Uptown, Greenway Plaza and the Texas Medical Center, with access from the medical center to downtown via Metro's Red Line light rail. Both report increased demand and interest in the services, as many workers wake up to longer freeway travel times.

In some cases, officials said big buses may be more in style with Houston's needs. Metro typically uses low-floor buses for regular routes where people frequently get on and off. The buses used for park and ride routes usually are long-distance buses, akin to those used by Greyhound for intercity travel, with storage below the seats, allowing passengers to sit higher off the road to reduce noise.

Seats on commuter buses also are intended to be more comfortable, for longer periods of sitting.

Where any bus beats rail in Houston, however, is its use of the region's well-developed local street, freeway and HOT lane system.

"Any rail system we build will not stop at the corner of McKinney and Main," said Metro board member Christof Spieler. "We are talking about a service that is better than commuter rail."

Those benefits, however, only occur if the buses move freely and predictably. High occupancy lanes in both directions make those bus trips far quicker than sitting in stop-and-go traffic on crowded freeways.

In Houston's urban core, only the Katy Managed Lanes along I-10 currently operate with high-occupancy lanes in both directions, accessible around the clock. Along other routes, carpool lanes — also open to toll-paying solo drivers — operate inbound to downtown in the mornings, close at midday and reopen outbound for evening commutes.

"The whole discussion of bi-directional HOV lanes is critical," said Metro CEO Tom Lambert.

Talk of bi-directional lanes on U.S. 290, however, has come in fits and starts. When construction began to widen 38 miles of the freeway, TxDOT and the Harris County Toll Road Authority planned for high-occupancy lanes in both directions. In 2014 when TxDOT and HCTRA revised their agreement, TxDOT pressed ahead with a single, reversible HOT lane.

Since then, Metro has worked with TxDOT but has no final agreement that changes the road to bi-directional use. TxDOT also is considering an alterative that would make the fast lane in both directions an HOV lane for certain periods of the day.

Without two-way lanes, commuter bus service in the area around U.S. 290 would be impacted by buses making slower return trips to the suburbs.

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The lack of traction in securing bi-directional access worries some officials.

"I feel like we are letting some of it slip through our fingers," Casteneda said.

To lure riders, however, transit officials and supporters must show suburban elected officials and residents how better bus service benefits them.

"If the residents who live here can understand the benefits of this, I think our leaders are very smart and will hear that message," said Alan Clark, manager of transportation and air quality programs for the Houston-Galveston Area Council.

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Without at least the early steps of a more robust system of commuter buses that connect people to various places — not largely focused on downtown — transit and transportation officials said the region's traffic and economic progress will slow.

Metro Chairwoman Carrin Patman pointed to Houston's omission from Amazon's list of finalists for its second headquarters as an example. Patman said she believes a lack of transit investment played a role in the decision.

Spieler agreed.

"If we don't provide that infrastructure, we strangle that growth," he said.