More cities in the T and DART

[alainOC]

DART has been tasked with some rather unusual requests. I don't know about 'The T', but, I'd suspect they should get some of the same requests.
I'm talking about more regional cities wanting to get onboard, so to speak, the regional transit system. I say the more the merrier, but, I know there's the sale's tax cap issue (2%). Many cities can't do what DART needs them to do. Lightrail.com has the story, and, so does dallasnews.com. What are some thoughts?

[JonasDenton]

My county, Denton, is sending a bill up through the chain that is requesting new transit agencies to be allowed if counties are adjacent to other counties with over 1 million in population. This seems interesting, but, disturbing somewhat.

How many freaking transit agencies do we need in our REGION? This sounds good if it's to kick start projects sooner than if more cities had to wait for money to join the big two transit agencies. On the other hand, it can also lead to a huge rift in transit planning, regional compatability, and/or working together for the common regional transit good. Competing for local rail monies? Ouch, that could get nasty too.

At least more cities are trying...Perhaps I'd like it more if I was assured it was a short-term approach to making rail transit plans happen sooner - and not something that would stay permanently. Maybe later, all agencies can dissolve into one with this approach.

[John T Roberts]

I think there should be ONE regional transit system in the Metroplex. I think all of the communities would be better served if there was one governing body that handled all of the mass trasit issues faced by the area.

[jsoto3]

i think a greater dfw government needs to be formed. toronto and some of its suburbs incorporated into one city a few years ago. new york and its boroughs incorporated into one city almost a century ago. a new metropolitan government would best accomodate and foster regional growth. member cities would remain individually incorporated cities, they would just be under the metropolitan government's jurisdiction, much like a federation. each city would elect a council member. the ntcog is a start, but it has no real power. i guess everyone could just vote to expand the ntcog's scope and power, ultimately becoming a true metropolitan/regional government.

[Axes]

I'm a HUGE fan of a unified government, but there are too many small-minded rednecks to let that happen in our lifetime.

[applecore24]

I like that - kind of like a mini-republic of cities in a deverse state in a democratic republic. I do like the idea of Republic's - no, I'm not a Star Wars freak... hehehe

[CJ]

I would agree that we need a truly regional transit authority (based at DFW airport), but I think it is crazy to have a regional government.

[jsoto3]

please elaborate CJ.

[LonghornFan96]

I agree there needs to be a regional transit agency for DFW, but like everything else here I am sure all of the little cities would cry about how it takes away their independence. To that, I say whatever. I know I sound like a broken record, but until the governments of the region pull together we are standing still. The ideas of Denton and other cities with their own transit systems is just about preposterous. It's time for our leaders to take a look around and get out of this city-centric mindset. Every other world class, thriving city has shown that banding together in transit and other issues is THE way to be successful.

[metrosteve]

I agree with you John. Have visited both the T meeting at the Intermodal Station (the night I briefly met you and some of the FW Forum members) and I also have attended the Denton County meetings--really nice people involved in both groups it seems. How quickly do you suppose this region will agree to one area-wide system?

[GarrettCarey]

A regional transit agency is the only remedy to the regional traffic problem. I am afraid that many don't see it as a truly "regional problem." 20, 30, 35 (Dallas and FW), 45, 75, 114, 121, 183, 360, 635 are all traffic plagued. North, South, East, and West. It affects us all...commuters and non-commuters. It would be beneficial even to those who wouldn't use it. If Dallas and Fort Worth could set aside the competition and move forward......I think more cities like Arlington and Grand Prairie would be less resistant.

Damn....I hate traffic....hence the move to DT


WESTSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bloodandpopcorn]

As DART expands and gets a larger user base, more experience, and gains even more respect throughout hte nation, the rest of the cities really won't have much of a choice but to join. I personally can't wait for the day when you can catch an express train from Union Station to Fort Worth on a completely electric rail car that does the ride in under 30 minutes.

[GarrettCarey]

Mayors tout transit plan
Dallas Business Journal
Margaret Allen and Michael Whiteley Staff Writers

GREATER METROPLEX — In a landmark move toward regional cooperation, local officials in North Texas may seek a 1-cent boost to the state's 8.25-cent cap on sales taxes, hoping to fund a new regional transit agency that would marry the existing Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Fort Worth Transit Authority.

Though still in the talking stage, momentum is building among government officials and business leaders to take funding proposals to the 2003 Legislature.

Advocates say the move is urgent because the current setup — two separate transit agencies serving 17 cities with unequal taxing authority — will stymie further build-out of a seamless mass-transit system critical for rapidly growing Dallas, Fort Worth and their suburbs.

Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr is one of many leading the charge, and he and Dallas Mayor Laura Miller publicly stated they'll work toward a regional transit authority at a recent luncheon where the two appeared jointly.

"There is no consensus on exactly how to do this," Barr said. "But some of us believe it's got to be done. It may take years, but we've got to start somewhere."

The sooner the better, according to Walt Humann, a well-known Dallas businessman with a 30-year history of successfully building coalitions for major public projects like the massive expansion of North Central Expressway, creation of DART and expansion of The Science Place. President of Dallas-based real estate development company Bon Terre-B Ltd., he's also a longtime business associate of Dallas oilman Ray Hunt.

Humann has made more than a dozen presentations to Barr and other area officials and business leaders on the wisdom of a regional transit authority.

Shortly after one of his talks at a regional transportation summit in late March, the T's executive committee voted unanimously to endorse Humann's pitch, according to committee chairman Dave Ragan.

Humann is proposing creation of a Lone Star Transit Authority — which was originally floated to voters in the 1980s, but failed — with initially an eastern subregion, namely DART, and a western subregion, the T, with the ultimate goal of one large seamless system.

"There is a growing disparity between what I call the trans-haves and the trans-nots," said Humann, noting the success of DART's light rail in the Dallas area and the economic growth it has ignited along rail lines. "There is now a growing acceptability of things regional, as opposed to the old days when we had knock-down, drag-outs. The time to unite is now. I know there are a lot of problems, but let's get it done ASAP."

Challenge is funding

DART and the T already have a regional fare system the two adopted in September 2000. They also jointly paid for, built and now operate the Trinity Railway Express commuter rail connecting downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth.

Humann and others, however, say funding is a major hurdle for going further with a regional transit authority. The region will have to present a united front in Austin to win as many financial options as possible for the cities, they say.

Options under discussion are:

Seeking permission from the Legislature to either raise the existing cap on the sales tax, or to allow going outside the cap on a local-option basis.

Boosting the gasoline tax, by adding 5 to 10 cents a gallon to the existing 20 cents taken by the state and the 18.3 cents now pocketed by the federal government.

Tapping the as-yet-unfunded Texas Mobility Fund, a transportation money pool approved by voters in 2001 that currently exempts the Metroplex and Harris County because each operates its own money-generating tollway authority. With money in the fund, revenue bonds could be issued to speed up financing available for transportation projects.

DART and the T are funded from a 2-cent allowance individual cities can elect to add to the state's 6.25-cent sales tax on each dollar.

Dallas and the other 12 member cities of DART have each voted to collect a full penny for transit.

However, Fort Worth and the three other members of the T — Blue Mound, Lake Worth and Richland Hills — collect only a 1/2-cent for transit. Fort Worth and Blue Mound spend another 1/2-cent on a crime district. Lake Worth and Richland Hills give 1.5-cents to the general fund.

With Fort Worth and other non-DART cities at their sales tax cap, it's inevitable lawmakers will have to get involved, say advocates including T President and Executive Director John Bartosiewicz.

"The biggest challenge is going to be funding, and how we cobble together a funding plan," Bartosiewicz said.

Sticky issue

Persuading the state to raise the sales tax cap will be tough, Humann said. As an alternative, he advocates that the non-DART cities that use some portion of their penny for economic development instead use it for transit.

While views differ on where to get the money, there is consensus on how much it will take, according to Robert Pope, chairman of DART, who says the agency is excited about the merger discussions taking place.

"Everyone in the region is realizing you can't build a system with a half-penny of sales tax," said Pope. "So anything we do will have to go through the Legislature."

The onus is on Fort Worth to match the penny in sales tax Dallas and other DART members are spending on public transit, according to Rep. Steven D. Wolens, D-Dallas, the husband of Dallas mayor Miller and chair of the House State Affairs Committee, which files public transit bills every session.

"There's a plumbing glitch in that Dallas has its full 1 cent. Fort Worth would have to get to funding parity with Dallas," Wolens said.

Besides that, the gas tax is constitutionally pledged to highways and schools. And boosting the sales tax statewide is complicated politically by the state's own dire financial straits, he said.

None of the plans for a regional transit structure will fly with the House Urban Affairs Committee without support from the Metroplex suburbs, according to Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth. A member of that committee, Burnam said Arlington's lack of participation in the Trinity Railway Express and its recent defeat of a referendum to spend 1/4-cent on mass transit is critical.

"With the city of Arlington deciding not to participate, that sort of thing really creates a problem," Burnam said.

Burnam, who's a proponent of mass transit, said Barr and Miller will have to win support from cities in Collin and far northeast Tarrant counties to convince lawmakers to act.

"If we don't speed up public transportation, we're going to start dying in our own filthy air," Burnam said. "That's going to affect the economy."

Despite advocating mass transit, Humann said it was actually good the recent Arlington initiative failed, as 1/4-cent was inadequate to build and operate a system. But Arlington will have to climb aboard eventually, or it will be one of the largest cities in the United States without mass transit.

"If Arlington holds out, they will eventually be analogous to the city of Coppell, which is now kicking themselves in the pants for voting themselves out of DART," Humann said.

Moving ahead

Having funded $2 million in studies on regional partnership programs, the North Central Texas Council of Governments is planning to publish a white paper Oct. 1 about the need for a regional transit authority.

COG, the volunteer planning association of 16 area counties, is also in the initial stages of putting together various task-force groups to develop policy positions on the idea. Members will come from among the many North Texas government officials and business leaders who attended the spring transit summit. The idea is to build grassroots support for a regional transit authority, according to Michael Morris, executive director of COG.

"We have consensus that we have to do something," said Morris, who also presented in favor of a regional agency at the summit. "We know the California model is not the way to go, where they have over a dozen transit services in their region, and the customer is the one who suffers."

With the North Texas population estimated at 8.5 million between 2025 and 2030, Morris said it's critical to act now.

"If we're going to be a region of 8.5 million people," he said, "we need to start acting like a region of 8.5 million people."

Meanwhile, Barr and Miller have said they'll convene a special joint meeting of the Dallas and Fort Worth city councils at the jointly owned and operated Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Halloween day. Among the items on the agenda will be methods of linking the communities of Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties with the Trinity Railway Express, DART's bus and light-rail systems and the T's bus and trolley systems.

In addition, staff members at the North Texas Commission are working on proposals to provide money for the Texas Mobility Fund, according to Dan Petty, president of the commission, a nonprofit consortium of businesses, cities, counties, chambers of commerce, economic development entities and higher education institutions in North Texas. Petty said the regional transit authority issue is now poised to move forward.

"I think the thing that's different," said Petty, "is that the mayors of our two largest cities in the region have enunciated this publicly and taken what I would call an advocacy position."

Contact DBJ writer Margaret Allen at mallen@bizjournals.com or (214) 706-7119; DBJ writer Michael Whiteley at mwhiteley@bizjournals.com or (817) 837-1082.

[Lance Atomic]

Im a HUGE supporter of regional rail. If this area is going to become a urban megaopolis, we're going to need better transport routes(both highway and rail) than the mess and "one-upmanship" that we have right now.


I think its hightime for all the good ol boys to put their narrowmindedness, longhorn cadillacs and "me,me,me" politics aside to help form a regional transport board that will both promote long and short distance rail service in this region. Think the old interurban rail coverage area(Sherman to Waco) with both long and short haul commuter rail. I can imagine a day when we are all taking commuter train from downtown dallas or fort worth to points all over the region.

[GarrettCarey]

I could not agree more atomic!

[FoUTASportscaster]

Just did some math. I compared the cities in the Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton Counties not in a transit agency and those that are. There are 5,354,550 residents in those 4 counties according to the NTCoG estimates for 2006. 2,015,600 aren't in an agency while 3,338,950 are.

Arlington citizens represents 18% of the citizens not in a tansit agency in the 4 county area.

Grand Prairie represent 7.7%

Mesquite makes up 6.7%

Together those three cities make up 32.4% of the population in the cities without transit. If those three joined an agency at the same time, the regions transit population would increase nearly 20%.

The next three are McKinney, 5.1, Frisco, 4.2 and Allen, 3.5.

Together, those are only 12.8 of the population, or less than Arlington's percentage or Grand Prairie's and Mesquite's percentage combined.

After doing this, it is my opinion that DART needs to get Grand Prairie and Mesquite while the T needs to get Arlington to get a truly regional transit coverage area. Plus it would make a nice geographic fit.

Anyway, there's some more dumb numbers for ya.

[txRNGr]

Revived from the dead.

[RobertB]

Just found this interesting tidbit in the October 24, 2006 (http://www.dart.org/boardminutes.asp?zeon=102406) DART Board Meeting Minutes.

9. Approval of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Supplemental Agreements for the Cities of Grand Prairie and Mesquite

Approval of Resolution No. 060171 authorizing that:

Section 1: The President/Executive Director or his designee is authorized to execute supplemental agreements with FTA and the cities of Grand Prairie and Mesquite for 49 U.S.C. § 5307 Funds.

Section 2: The President/Executive Director or his designee is authorized to approve revisions not to exceed 25% (of the original grant request) for the Cities of Grand Prairie and Mesquite.

Section 3: DART authorizes the cities of Grand Prairie and Mesquite to receive and dispense funds as described in the grant agreements.
The meeting minutes are never terribly long on details. But it looks like someone in the City Halls of GP and Mesquite is working with DART, instead of independently, to get federal transportation funds funneled their way. To me, that implies that there's more going on behind the scenes than we currently know about -- and I suspect that it's no accident that DART's 2030 plan includes lines that point right towards the heart of both cities. Good news all around!

[FoUTASportscaster]

We'll see. It is interesting to me that these historically anti-transit cities, more so Grand Prairie than Mesquite, are getting grant money funneled through DART. If something is going on behind the scenes, it seems to me to be a bad idea. The citizens will still have to approve it. That in and of itself could be a bad idea, especially in Grand Prairie.

[RobertB]

We'll see. It is interesting to me that these historically anti-transit cities, more so Grand Prairie than Mesquite, are getting grant money funneled through DART. If something is going on behind the scenes, it seems to me to be a bad idea. The citizens will still have to approve it. That in and of itself could be a bad idea, especially in Grand Prairie.
Can you explain your concerns? I think behind-the-scenes work is essential for a successful campaign to join DART.

A city can't just wake up and say, "Hey, let's have a DART election!" without some sort of plan. You want to show the voters what DART membership will deliver for that extra buck on your weekly grocery bill. The only way to give voters real information is to get with DART and put together a plan. Working with DART to maximize federal grant money builds trust and relationships between the agency and the city planners -- which leads to ideas that you can put before the citizens and say "Here's how it will work".

[FoUTASportscaster]

There have been a few elections from cities to join DART after the August 1983 election that created the agency. Cockrelll Hill and Duncanville had another election in November, Buckingham voted in 1985 and Hutchins in 1992. Fairview and Murphy eached approached DART in this decade. Each time, minus the '83 re-elections, the cities have approached DART about what services they could offer the respective cities. DART outlined a plan and it went to voters. Let's say for example that DART worked with Murphy, they applied for grants to get a rail line going (and let's even say it was awarded), then the cities citizens declined membership. Then there was all the work for the grant gone.

Most of the anti-transit focus goes to Arlington, with the typical comments like it is the biggest city without a transit system and they have voted it down 3 times. However, I think Grand Prairie is more anti-transit than Arlington. Unlike Arlington and the rest of the metroplex, they declined to hald a vote in the 1980 Lone Star Transportation Authority election. 64 other cities did, but not GP. Arlington itself has brought up the transit issue twice and tried to form its own entity in '85 and more recently near the turn of the century. GP has brought up the subject a few times and declined to vote on it. Arlington was considering setting up a joint transit system with GP, but they said no. And of course they declined DART membership in 1983, though 47.8% of GP citizens said yes. It seems the elected officials are more apt to decline it.

Of course that could mean they were waiting for something better and thought the Arlington-GP transit system would be inaqequate, which I tend to agree with them. Which if that were the case, it would prove my fears to be wrong.

I'm not as against this with Mesquite, they seem more sympathetic or at least blase to transit. However, I am still leary of trying to secure money when membership hasn't been secured.

I think the best thing for everyone would be to have the state legislature provide a transit hal- cent sales tax exption from the 8.25% sales tax. Then all Mesquite and Grand Prairie would have to do is find wiggle room for half a cent, instead of the full cent. If that happened, I'd be more comfortable with the behind the scenes activities.

[RobertB]

I think the best thing for everyone would be to have the state legislature provide a transit hal- cent sales tax exption from the 8.25% sales tax. Then all Mesquite and Grand Prairie would have to do is find wiggle room for half a cent, instead of the full cent. If that happened, I'd be more comfortable with the behind the scenes activities.
Thinking strategically, though, it's all part of a larger picture. Mesquite and Grand Prairie need to be fully on board if the legislature (including Mesquite's St. Sen. Bob Deuell and GP's St. Sen. Chris Harris) is to pass the transit exemption.

Other cities are solidly behind the proposal, but as you noted, GP is famously leery of transit, and Mesquite equally so (at least from what I've heard). DART needs ALL the big suburbs on board, even (especially!) the doubters. Helping GP and M-Town get federal grants doesn't take anything away from DART, and helps build a relationship. But perhaps most importantly, it puts hard cash (in the form of visible projects) behind politicians who might be vulnerable to anti-transit arguments.

Politics isn't always pretty. I'm glad to see that DART has learned some lessons about currying political favor from agencies like TxDOT -- who are old hands at this game.