A long ride could soon be over for Trinity Metro’s first and only all-electric bus route, The Dash, after agency officials announced they are considering eliminating the service.
Citing low ridership over the past few years, Trinity Metro noted during a March 18 board meeting that the current six buses allocated to this route could be better used elsewhere.
The Dash currently connects riders from Fort Worth Central Station downtown to West 7th and the Cultural District. It was launched thanks to an initial three-year financial commitment from the city of Fort Worth, Visit Fort Worth and other investors such as the Kimbell Art Museum, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Crockett Row, Museum Place, the Fort Worth Stock Show and Dickies Arena.
Now the transit agency is considering using it solely downtown.
“The idea is that we’re going to remove The Dash service and reallocate those buses to a downtown service, maybe replacing the Molly with The Dash,” Chad Edwards, executive vice president of strategy, planning and development, told the board.
In a statement to the Fort Worth Report, Edwards said the initial financial commitments for The Dash were for only three years, ending in September 2022. The Dash never reached its full potential, the agency said, noting that Route 2 covers much of the same area.
“We want to maximize investments in high-performing options that best serve our community,” he said.
Launched in September 2019, The Dash surpassed initial ridership goals, welcoming over 45,000 riders in the first year alone. However, numbers never fully recovered after COVID-19. The Dash currently is among the 17 routes carrying less than 10% of the total bus ridership, publicly available documents show.
Trinity Metro also will eliminate the following routes due to low ridership. Some of these routes will instead be serviced by the agency’s on-demand service, ZIPZONE, or other routes. Each of these routes will open one bus to reuse elsewhere.
- Route 28 will be eliminated and serviced by Southeast ZIPZONE instead.
- Route 45 will be eliminated and serviced by a new ZIPZONE.
- Route 66X will be eliminated and serviced by routes 6, 52 and 72.
- Route 23 will be eliminated in fall 2024, and serviced under a new ZIPZONE.
Despite the reduction of routes, Trinity Metro will be increasing the frequency of Route 5 from 30-minute intervals to 15-minute intervals. Route 5 runs from downtown to south Fort Worth.
Officials are also exploring new, cheaper and more streamlined fares to ride Trinity Metro’s bus and train system.
The agency will eliminate some premium fares and the monthly pass as well as consolidate all reduced fares into one category.
Old fares
- Base fare single ride for local buses: $2
- Reduced fare single ride for local buses: $1
- Single ride for TEXRail and TRE (to CentrePort): $2.50
- Reduced fare for single ride on TEXRail and TRE (to CentrePort): $1.25
- Xpress bus routes (route numbers ending in X): $2.50
- Reduced fare Xpress bus routes (route numbers ending in X): $1.25
- 1-day pass: $5
- Reduced fare 1-day pass: $2.50
- 7-day pass: $25
- Reduced fare 7-day pass: $12.50
- Monthly pass: $80
New fares
- Base fare single ride for local buses, TEXRail and TRE (to CentrePort): $2
- Reduced fare single ride for local buses: $1
- 1-day pass: $4
- Reduced fare 1-day pass: $2
- 7-day pass: $18
- Reduced fare 7-day pass: $9
- Monthly: not offered
All ZIPZONE single-ride fares will be set to $2 to match the base fare.
All of these changes will be presented at upcoming public meetings. A final decision and vote will take place on May 20.
Sandra Sadek is a Report for America corps member, covering growth for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at sandra.sadek@fortworthreport.org or @ssadek19.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.