DENTON -- When the A-train commuter rail line makes its inaugural run June 20 between Denton and Carrollton, Chris Ryan plans to be among the first to climb aboard.
Ryan, who works and takes postgraduate classes at the University of North Texas, can't wait to leave his car at his Dallas home and instead ride the rails to campus."My parking costs on campus and my gas ends up being about $300 a month," said Ryan, 26, who added that he plans to buy one of the passes that will be offered to university students and employees. "So when you compare that to a regional transit pass for $120 a month, or less if you buy a semester pass, you end up saving a lot."At a time when transit advocates in Fort Worth and other areas of North Texas are struggling to pay for and build new rail lines, officials in Denton County have managed to get the A-train up and running quickly -- and without federal funding.On the first day of revenue service, commuters will be able to catch trains at any of five Denton County stations for a ride to Trinity Mills in Carrollton. There, they can transfer to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit light-rail system and connect to the extensive Dallas-area transit network.On Saturday, a launch party will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at all five Denton County stations, each of which will feature live music, food and free rides for visitors who want to try the train.The festivities come less than eight years after voters in the conservative county approved a half-cent sales tax to pay for the 21-mile line.First spokeThe line represents a change in the traditional way that transportation corridors are aligned in the region. Instead of serving primarily the downtowns of Dallas and Fort Worth, the A-train is aimed at the population in the Metroplex's middle. The plan is to eventually connect the A-train to the Cotton Belt line that extends to the north side of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Grapevine and Fort Worth."It's the first spoke in our new hub-and-spoke system in the region," said Denton County Transportation Authority Chairman Charles Emery, who has championed the A-train since it was little more than a dream back in 2002.Part of the line runs parallel to Interstate 35E, a badly congested highway that likely will be under reconstruction between Lewisville and Denton during the next couple of years. Emery envisions motorists getting a good look at the trains whizzing by while they sit motionless in traffic on I-35E -- and perhaps deciding themselves to give the rails a try."I believe it's hitting at the right time," he said.Initial projections are that the A-train will count 2,500 to 3,000 passenger trips per day, said Dee Leggett, vice president for communications and planning. That's the equivalent of 1,250 to 1,500 customers making a round trip each day, because each time a person boards a train counts as a passenger trip.But several officials said they wouldn't be surprised if the ridership is much higher.They noted that the Trinity Railway Express achieved its 10-year goal of an 8,000-passenger trip level shortly after service between the downtowns of Dallas and Fort Worth began in 2001.Tolls for trainsThe real break in the A-train project came in 2007, when Emery and other supporters devised a way to pay for the service without federal funding.During that time, the North Texas Tollway Authority took over the Sam Rayburn Tollway project (formerly Texas 121) and made a $3.2 billion payment to the region for other transportation projects. Denton County got $1.5 billion, based on estimates that included how many residents from each county would use the toll road.Emery and others persuaded Denton County officials to set aside $250 million of that toll road revenue for the $325 million rail project. That left only a gap of $75 million, which is being covered by bond funds and the sales taxes collected in four cities along the line.Skipping the application process for a federal new-start transit grant likely shaved several years off the time it took to get the rail line opened to the public.Meanwhile, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority is in the process of applying for a federal grant to cover up to half the estimated $600 million cost of building a commuter rail line from southwest Fort Worth to Texas Christian University, the Stockyards, Grapevine and D/FW Airport.Officials said, however, there's no guarantee that the T's project will score high enough compared with other commuter rail projects in the U.S. to win the competition for funds. Also, there is no guarantee the federal government will continue to fund local rail projects through the federal new-starts program as it has in the past."It means we're going to have to be creative when we're talking about how to pay for it," said Tom Shelton, who as a senior program manager with the North Central Texas Council of Governments is overseeing the development of passenger rail lines across Dallas-Fort Worth. "Clearly, we're not going to rely on federal funding as much as we have in the past."ConnectionsThe A-train will begin each day in downtown Denton, where buses offer frequent connections to UNT and Texas Woman's University. The A-train will make stops at Medpark near Denton Regional Medical Center, Highland Village/Lewisville Lake, Old Town Lewisville and Hebron before connecting to DART.Initially, the A-train is renting sets of Budd diesel cars from the Trinity Railway Express, which are being temporarily covered with the A-train and Denton County Transportation Authority logos. The A-train has ordered a new set of Stadler Bussnang AG rail cars that are scheduled to be delivered this year or in 2012.The A-train will operate about every 25 minutes during peak periods, and every 60 to 80 minutes during nonpeak times.While many in the community might assume the main goal of the line is to get Denton County residents to jobs in Dallas' commercial core, A-train officials say they expect that a majority of the riders will head north into Denton each morning in what traffic planners call a "reverse commute." That's because many of the riders, like Ryan, will use the A-train to get to classes or jobs at area universities, or Denton's growing medical district.At UNT, Ryan says he's looking forward to riding the A-train, even though it will add about 45 minutes to his commute, including time spent transferring trains and catching the shuttle bus from the downtown Denton station to campus. But Ryan figures he can spend that idle time reading or catching up on work, or counting the money he saves by not driving to school.And each day as the train crosses Lewisville Lake, he can wave to the thousands of motorists stuck on nearby I-35E.Gordon Dickson, 817-390-7796Take the A-train
An A-train launch party will be 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the five Denton County rail stations. Music, food and free train rides will be provided.
Revenue service begins June 20.
For more information, visit www.dcta.net
Source: Denton County Transportation Authority
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