Fort Worth’s ‘bare bones’ bus system will get a redesign, but funding is lacking
Trinity Metro hopes riders will tell them how to improve the system ahead of a redesign meant to bring more people onto Fort Worth’s buses, but at least one official worries suggestions will merely “sit on the shelf” without a change of heart from City Hall.
There appears to be little commitment coming out of City Hall this year to boost Trinity Metro.
The transit agency requested $10 million from the city’s 2021 budget for short-term improvements and additional funding for longer-term fixes. But City Manager David Cooke’s budget provides $1.5 million for improvements to Trinity Metro, of which about $650,000 is set aside for sidewalks and other improvements at bus stops.
“We know where the demand is, but we don’t have the funds to meet the needs,” said Jeff Davis, Trinity Metro board chairman, calling the system “bare bones.”
Despite the city moving into leaner years with slowed growth of the tax base due to the coronavirus-spurred recession, several cash-funded city programs will see a 2.5% to 3% increase in funding for capital improvements. Transit will receive no additional dollars. Trinity Metro isn’t alone, as $750,000 used to support partnerships with community groups also remained the same.
If the economy returns to where it was in January, Cooke said he would be more comfortable looking for additional funds for Trinity Metro.
Cooke said he understood Trinity Metro’s desire for $10 million, but said the decision came down to “choices and trade offs.” To find $10 million for transit, the city would have to cut money from some other program, he said, at a time when open positions are being eliminated to save money. Fort Worth has grown its tax base by roughly 4% annually for several years, but Cook is projecting low or no growth through 2023.
“I think these are valid conversations to have,” Cooke said of increasing transit spending. “But I think we’re about to go into a hard year and ‘22 is going to be even harder.”
For fiscal year 2020 the city also set aside $1.5 million, which helped fund the development of a new app and a new Zipzone, where bus riders can connect to a rideshare service, in the Near Southside. About $500,000 wasn’t allocated, said Chad Edwards, the city’s mobility officer. At first that money was swept up to pay for COVID-related expenses, but it’s available again, he said. It could be used to meet some of the needs Trinity Metro outlined in its request for $10 million. The wish list included creating an “Amazon route” to serve a north Fort Worth fulfillment center at a cost of $450,000.
The city has also made a three year commitment of $450,000 for Dash, the tourism-focused loop from downtown to the Cultural District. The last installment of $150,000 will be in fiscal year 2021, Edwards said.
Fort Worth’s allocation to Trinity Metro is just a small part of the agency’s budget, which in 2020 was expected to bring in roughly $125 million in operating revenue. More than $94.1 million, or about 75%, comes from sales tax collected in Fort Worth, Blue Mound and Grapevine. Ticket sales account for a little more than $10 million and federal aid brings in about $13 million.
Trinity Metro provides 8 million trips a year, according to the agency’s website. In March, as the pandemic set in, a little more than 500,000 people rode a transit service, down about 25% from last year.
The office of Mayor Betsy Price said she would reserve comment until the next budget discussion scheduled for Tuesday when Cooke will present his vision for operational spending in the next fiscal year.
Councilwoman Ann Zadeh, the council’s most vocal proponent of the bus system, expressed disappointment in the allocation for Trinity Metro. The city needs to be more transit-focused to attract jobs and to provide access to underserved areas. The longer Fort Worth waits, the more expensive transit improvements will become, she said.
“It’s important to realize that there are things that we can do now that you may not see as totally necessary for your life right this minute, but will benefit you in the long run,” she said. “A transit system works for young people who don’t drive yet, and older people who get to a point where they can’t or shouldn’t be driving. It provides access to all of those important things that increase their quality of life.”
Zadeh serves on the Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the Metroplex’s official regional planning agency.
Councilman Cary Moon, another Fort Worth representative on the transportation council, said he wanted to see sustained growth in Trinity Metro’s ridership before the city invested additional tax dollars. Alternatives to fixed bus routes, like the rideshare-style Zipzones are promising, he said, and his office regularly discusses smaller improvements like signage, accessibility and more comfortable bus stops.
“What I task Trinity Metro with is delivering a mobility system people actually want to use,” Moon said. “We have to see more riders before we increase tax dollars.”
This year won’t be the time to get more funding, he said.
For four years Fort Worth lowered its property tax rate, but this year Cooke is proposing keeping the rate the same. Moon said he wanted another reduction and was looking to find areas to cut spending.
Mayor Pro Tempore Jungus Jordan, a longtime member of the transportation council, did not return a call for comment.
If Fort Worth truly wants economic growth, transit must be a priority, Davis said, citing an oft-mention statistic from the American Public Transportation Association that for every dollar spent, public transportation generates $4 in economic activity.
“What kind of city do we want to be?” Davis asked. “Do we want economic development? Do we want to be able to move our best resource, our people, around? Or do you want to make it difficult for them to get out of their neighborhoods to go to school or work?”
Trinity Metro improvements
The agency released a survey Aug. 3 asking riders to share their priorities.
Questions focus on why people ride, whether a person is willing to walk farther for shorter wait times and if it’s popular to go downtown or should routes be more direct to job centers. The survey will be used to develop alternatives to the bus route, which has basically been the same for almost 40 years.
The agency spent part of this year studying the system, but no one from Trinity Metro was available this week to discuss that analysis.
Davis said the analysis and the survey will inform how Trinity Metro reroutes buses. The likely outcome will be more service to job centers outside of downtown and at higher frequency. The hope is those changes with help attract more riders.
Without more funding from the city, Davis wasn’t optimistic riders will get what they deserve.
“I worry this is just another study that’s going to sit on the self,” he said.
There are some obvious holes in the bus service.
Of Trinity Metro’s 48 bus routes, five carry 50% or more of the system’s weekday riders. That means the bulk of the system isn’t doing much to connect riders. Weekend service is even more sparse, with fewer routes and longer wait times.
That’s likely because service is infrequent on most routes. Only seven operate every 15 minutes — the ideal frequency to attract riders — and 33 routes end service by 6 p.m. This makes using the metro tricky for all sorts of riders, whether they’re trying to get to and from work, headed to the grocery store or riding for fun.
A year ago Chad Edwards, the city’s mobility officer, and a consultant outlined three options for the City Council: incremental improvements that wouldn’t require additional funding but also wouldn’t catch up to Fort Worth’s growth, a more robust plan that calls more more frequent routes and a TEXRail extension, and a “visionary” plan that calls for at least 19 bus routes with service at 15 minutes, among other changes.
Some changes are in the works now.
In the fall Trinity Metro will launch an updated GoPass app. Currently the app is only useful for buying and displaying electronic passes, meaning a third app like NextBus or Google Maps is needed to plan a trip. Accessing the ZipZone rideshare or the B-Cylce rental bikes requires yet more apps.
The new GoPass will have all of those functions built into one, Davis said, calling it “a big shot in the arm.”
The city and Trinity Metro are also finishing design work on a bus rapid transit line that will carry passengers swiftly from downtown to far east Fort Worth to a stop just on the other side of Loop 820. Bus rapid transit, called BRT, mimics light rail because it gives the bus a dedicated lane with large, well-lit transit stops and quick service. The city set aside about $60 million for the project, which could be doubled with grants.
In July Trinity Metro launched a Zipzone in Fort Worth’s medical district. Rides in the Near Southside will be free through the end of August and will cost $3 after. Riders hail a rideshare through Via that connects from the bus stop or train station to anywhere in the zone.
Other zones serve Crowley and the Mercantile and Alliance areas.
Trinity Metro also plans to enhance its services in the medical district by extending the TEXRail commuter line from its terminus at T&P Station about two more miles to the southwest, to a planned train station at Mistletoe Boulevard.
