I've ridden the metro rail almost every weekday for the last year and a half and love it. There are so many things wonderful about this system that I must use list form:
Metro Rail is...
1) Clean, both for the environment and, in general, inside the cars too.
2) Convenient, no driving required! Just grab a seat and read on your way to your destination
3) Consistent, if you miss the train during a week day, another train will be along in 6 minutes
4) Cheap - $2 a day round trip beats driving or paying for parking, whether your work downtown or in the Medical center, parking both places is expensive
5) a great way to get to entertainment - you can find all sorts of places within walking distance of the metro rail: the zoo, science museum, museum of fine art, Rice University, Theater District, Downtown, Reliant Stadium.
The downsides:
1) While there are a lot of places on the rail line, the rail doesn't cover much ground. If you want to go elsewhere in Houston you have to either just drive there yourself or take a bus to where you need to go
3) Really only useful if you either live on the rail line or use the park and ride.
2) If the train breaks down, hope for a swift death, they usually don't have enough buses to spare in order to get you to your destination. Granted, the train hardly ever breaks down, I've been on it only once where it was a huge mess and a handful of times when drivers were stupid and caused the train to be delayed for about 30 minutes.
Now there are some odd people on the train, people with horrible B.O., people who you would swear just broke out of a mental institution, but they are mostly harmless. Just ignore them and choose another seat or, if you feel brave, chat them up to see what crazy stories you can tell your friends about. I've talked to some amazing people on the train, and yes, some not so amazing, but you find people on both ends of the spectrum just about everywhere. Besides, most of the people who ride the train are Medical Center and Downtown workers.
As a side note I'd say the most memorable moment I've had riding the train is getting hit on by a guy singing "My Humps" by Fergy. I wasn't amused, but it took the top spot for most memorable from the guy who looks almost exactly like Bill Murray getting harassed because someone though he actually was Bill Murray. read more