now boarding

New METRO plan lays groundwork for light rail system to Hobby Airport

A light rail ride could be coming to Hobby.

Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau

Transportation to and from the airport can be a headache, requiring time, patience, and focus. But METRO has big goals to make it easy with light rail to Hobby Airport.

When ABC13 asked airline passenger Leigh Pugh about the possibility of light rail to Hobby, she liked that it might be not only easy but less expensive than a rideshare or other options.

"Parking your vehicle at the airport for long periods of time can be pretty expensive," Pugh said. "And it would open up options if you don't have to do that as much."

METRO Board Chair Sanjay Ramabhadran talked to Eyewitness News about the current concept for METRORail to Hobby Airport. "Rail connectivity to Hobby and BRT [Bus Rapid Transit] connectivity to George Bush Intercontinental are priorities for the agency, absolutely," Ramabhadran said.

The general alignments include extending the Purple Line, which travels through the Third Ward, and the Green Line, which runs through the East End until they meet to travel to Hobby Airport.

However, just a one-minute walk from the end of the Purple Line at Palm Center is a potential roadblock to that plan. There are the intersections of Griggs, Long, and Mykawa, and two railroad tracks.

It's a busy intersection with long waits behind the trains. METRO is working to join at least a portion of the recently launched SH-35 expansion project, a bridge that would allow vehicle traffic. METRO hopes light rail will pass over that challenging intersection.

"The Long-Mykawa junction - you've got to be able to thread the needle for all modes. Whether it's roadway or for rail," Ramabhadran said. "So what we're doing is doing everything we can in a sequential manner so that rail to Hobby becomes a reality. The first part is, when somebody else is building SH-35, let's make sure we take advantage of that."

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Continue reading this story by Elissa Rivas on our news partner ABC13.

money woes

Houston has 2nd most financially distressed residents in America

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houstonians are feeling the financial stress in 2026.

A new study has confirmed what many Houston residents are already feeling: Houston has one of the highest shares of people in financial distress in the nation.

Houston ranked No. 2 in WalletHub's just-released report, "Cities with the Most People in Financial Distress," which analyzed 100 of the largest U.S. cities across nine personal finance metrics: average credit scores and year-over-year changes; the share of residents with accounts in distress and year-over-year changes; the average number of accounts in distress; year-over-year change in bankruptcy filings from September 2024 to September 2025; and "debt" and "loans" search interest indexes.

For the purpose of this study, WalletHub defined "financial distress" as having a credit account in forbearance or with deferred payments.

Chicago, Illinois led the nation with the No. 1 most financially distressed residents, and Las Vegas, Nevada rounded out the top three.

According to the report's findings, Houston residents signaled a "strong need for borrowing" after having the highest search interest nationally for terms like "debt" and "loans." Houstonians also had the 10th highest increase in bankruptcy filings from September 2024 to September 2025.

"Houston has a high share of the population with accounts in distress compared to most other cities, at over 8 percent, and it also has a high number of accounts in distress per person," the report said.

Here's how WalletHub broke down the rest of Houston's overall ranking:

No. 32 – Credit score rank
No. 35 – Average number of accounts in distress rank
No. 39 – People with accounts in distress rank

High unemployment rates and inflation are major factors contributing to most Americans' financial woes, the report said, and rising property taxes can create an even bigger burden for homeowners and renters alike. Texas residents may feel a greater burden than residents elsewhere in the country after the Lone Star State was dubbed the No. 1 most most financially distressed state in America in 2025. And digging oneself out of the "downward spiral" isn't easy, according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

"You may get temporary relief from your lenders by not having to make payments, but all the while interest will keep building up, making the debt even harder to pay off," Lupo said.

Though no Texas city is feeling the financial squeeze as much as Houston, three more of the state's biggest cities also ranked among the top 10 most financially distressed places in America: Dallas (No. 4), San Antonio (No. 6) and Austin (No. 9). Fort Worth ranked 12th overall.

The top 10 most financially distressed cities in the nation are:

No. 1 – Chicago
No. 2 – Houston
No. 3 – Las Vegas
No. 4 – Dallas
No. 5 – Los Angeles
No. 6 – San Antonio
No. 7 – Atlanta
No. 8 – New York
No. 9 – Austin
No. 10 – Phoenix

finance wallethub houston

now boarding

New METRO plan lays groundwork for light rail system to Hobby Airport

money woes

Houston has 2nd most financially distressed residents in America

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