As Tarrant County rapidly grows, the need for more transit options is increasingly apparent. Just take a drive if you want proof.
Fort Worth is exploring bringing a fixed rail system to the city with Mayor Mattie Parker taking the lead by establishing a diverse committee charged with examining the creation of a rail system between city entertainment districts, including the Stockyards and Cultural District.
The effort comes as North Texas is poised to become a major national passenger rail hub, including a proposal to establish a high-speed rail route that could connect Tarrant County’s two largest cities with Dallas and Houston.
Parker will join Arlington Mayor Jim Ross, Trinity Metro President and CEO Richard W. Andreski and North Central Texas Council of Governments Transportation Director Michael Morris for a free Aug. 29 Candid Conversation event with the Fort Worth Report on the future of transportation in Tarrant County.
If you go
“Full Speed Ahead: The Future of Transportation in Tarrant County” is part of Fort Worth Report’s Candid Conversation series. The discussion will be led by the Report’s publisher and CEO Chris Cobler from 8-9 a.m. Aug. 29 in the second-floor ballroom at the Nick and Lou Martin University Center, 3165 E. Rosedale St., on the Texas Wesleyan University campus. Register for free here. Coffee and light breakfast refreshments will be served starting at 7:30 a.m.
Note: We anticipate the ballroom will be full. Other than our sponsors’ tables, seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis. We also will livestream the conversation at fortworthreport.org and have a recording posted there after the event ends.
North Texas leaders are considering transit options as Fort Worth claims its spot as the 12th largest city in the nation, and Arlington, the largest U.S. city without mass public transit, prepares to host multiple World Cup games.
The Mayor’s Urban Rail Committee Supporting Economic Development & Tourism, launched with Trinity Metro, includes members in the business, tourism and transportation industries. The committee, formally announced May 2, is charged with exploring the creation of a rail system to connect Fort Worth’s entertainment districts and determine potential financial support and mechanisms for construction and operations. Jay Chapa, a consultant for the Texas A&M Fort Worth campus and a former deputy city manager, is chair of the committee.
Parker said the committee is set to begin meeting with a focus on determining how to better connect the city’s entertainment districts and provide residents with options that improve walkability, trail connections and other transit infrastructure.
“We’re going in with open minds,” she told the Fort Worth Report.
She said the committee will work with Trinity Metro to determine the best approach to urban rail, especially since the agency is already planning to expand the Trinity Railway Express to the Near Southside area. The partnership will be key to urban rail projects, which often require a multilayered approach when it comes to funding, she said.
Parker cited the city’s South Main Street project as an example of transit changes that are beneficial.
“It’s been a catalyst for economic development,” she said. “We’ve slowed traffic and added a bike lane, and we’ve seen all types of new growth and housing develop in that area.”
In addition to urban rail within the city, Parker also supports high-speed rail to address future needs.
“High-speed rail is an integral part of our transportation future, and it will include Tarrant County,” she said earlier this summer.
“The regional long-term success of DFW is connected to regional partnerships, such as the high-speed rail project, as the region is poised to be the third-largest metro region in the country by 2030 — with a majority of the growth occurring west,” the mayor said in a statement. “Collectively, our success is dependent on world-class mobility solutions that connect not just DFW but the entire state of Texas.”
Arlington, with its massive entertainment district that includes the Six Flags Over Texas theme park, AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field and a sprawling array of restaurants and hotels is supportive of efforts to bring high-speed rail service to the city.
Arlington currently operates an on-demand rideshare program that connects riders to anywhere in the 99-square-mile city, as well as Trinity Railway Express’ CentrePort Station to the north and the Eastchase Parkway shopping and residential area of far east Fort Worth. That service supplements an on-demand service that connects downtown Arlington and the University of Texas at Arlington as well as Handitran, the decades-old rideshare transportation program for people with disabilities or those age 65 and older.
Ross said a proposed high-speed rail line, which would run east and west from Fort Worth to Dallas along Interstate 30, could help generate jobs for the entire region.
“You know, any time you have the ability to connect with other major metropolitan areas outside of your city, that has the ability to quickly and rapidly transfer employees to and from their job sites, it’s going to be a job generator,” Ross said in an interview in May with the Arlington Report.
Morris, who is also staff director of the Regional Transportation Council, an independent policy group of elected and appointed officials involved in the North Central Texas Council of Governments, cited the need for more transit options as the North Texas population is expected to double from 8 million to more than 15 million by 2050.
He advocates denser infill development in large cities to eliminate the projected sprawl that is advancing into rural parts of North Texas.
“This growth outside the city centers follows a pattern we’ve seen developing for years,” Morris wrote in a July commentary article for the Report. “People have gravitated toward the suburbs, where developers can take advantage of building in unincorporated areas with large swaths of open land.”
As North Texas adds residents and workers to fill the jobs created by the fast-growing economy, Morris said, there is a critical need to examine how best to integrate them into a region that is expected to surpass 12 million people within 25 years.
“The new Mobility 2050 plan is being developed, and the horse is out of the barn,” he said.
“As NCTCOG and the Regional Transportation Council plan for 2050, the critical question is: Can local governments reduce congestion through land-use density, resulting in higher holding capacities and shorter trip lengths with a balance of jobs to housing? In other words, how can cities help reduce traffic congestion while providing opportunities for jobs and housing near the workplace?” Morris said.
Trinity Metro is also exploring ways to create transit-oriented developments that provide residential, work and play options. One proposal would bring a master-planned retail and residential community to 1,600 acres near the agency’s Trinity Lakes train station just east of the crossroads of Interstate 820 and State Highway 121 in northeast Fort Worth.
Officials are seeking a Federal Transit Authority pilot grant to help create a strategic plan for transit-oriented developments along the Trinity Railway Express route in three cities: Fort Worth, Irving and Dallas.
“As Fort Worth and Tarrant County continue to grow at a rapid pace, public transportation is playing an increasingly important role in this economic success story,” Andreski, the Trinity Metro president and CEO, said. “Every dollar invested in Trinity Metro generates $3.05 in benefits to businesses and residents alike.”
Trinity Metro, he said, “must continue to innovate and expand its services, but we need everyone’s help to embrace and advance this opportunity.”
Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.