Could a bus from downtown Fort Worth to Texas Live! be a home run for Rangers fans?
Imagine in a world without coronavirus — where fans instead of cardboard cutouts pack into Globe Life Field — not having to deal with congested Interstate 30 on the way to a Rangers game.
That might be possible if a fast-moving bus line down East Lancaster is extended into Arlington’s entertainment district. The concept is in its infancy, but has support from Trinity Metro.
Fort Worth and Trinity Metro are in the early stages of working out the design for a bus rapid transit line from downtown to Handley Drive, but city and transit authority officials have already reached out to Arlington and the Rangers to discuss continuing the service to the area of Globe Life Field.
Extending the bus line into Arlington is “the most natural extension of transit,” said Jeff Davis, chairman Trinity Metro’s board of directors.
“We’d love to provide downtown to the Arlington entertainment district service,” he said.
Trinity Metro and Rangers officials met earlier this month to initially discuss the idea. Fort Worth City Council members heard briefly about the concept Thursday during a budget workshop.
In an email, the Rangers said the team was interested in working with Arlington and others in “exploring public transit alternatives.”
Texas Rangers Executive Vice President of Business Operations Rob Matwick said in a statement that Trinity Metro provided team executives with a presentation about the plan, and both parties “agreed to keep the lines of communication open.” Other entities will need to be onboard before descusssions continue, he said.
A city of Arlington spokesperson said she was unaware of rapid bus line discussions. The city is the largest in the United States without comprehensive public transit. City officials recently said they are considering expanding the ride share platfrom Via.
Bus rapid transit, or BRT, is like “light rail on tire,” Davis said. Larger buses, like the extended accordion-esque ones that work Route 2 and Route 89, travel in dedicated lanes that are physically separated from other lanes. That keeps them out of regular traffic so both the bus and the cars can move swifter. The buses pull into stations that are closer to those for light rail than a regular bus stop with lighting, benches and shelters.
Design work that is just beginning will determine if the BRT line down East Lancaster will require rebuilding the median or taking up one of the lanes of the street. Some parts of East Lancaster have five or six lanes.
An early estimate indicates the seven-mile stretch of East Lancaster could cost $140 million to $150 million, said Chad Edwards, the city’s mobility officer. The Texas Department of Transportation has provided $50 million to Trinity Metro, and Edwards has proposed the city provide $25 million through the 2022 bond program. The rest could be available through Federal Transportation Administration grants.
Continuing the line roughly nine miles into Arlington to Texas Live and the Rangers stadium would cost another $70 million. Edwards stressed the numbers are early estimates that may drop after the design is done.
“These are high level planning estimates not construction ready estimates,” he said.
The idea of rapid bus lines is nothing new, said Councilwoman Gyna Bivens, a former chairwoman of the tranist authority. In the early 2000s she pitched an elevated line down Insterate 35, the backbone of the city, which she believes would connect downtown to job centers in the south and north.
Bivens said she was frustrated she had not yet been briefed on the notion of extending the Lancaster line into Arlington. The current termious at Lancaster and Handley is in her district. In order to make the BRT or other transit intiatives work, the city and Trinity Metro will need to better communicate about priorities and finances, she said.
“We need to be bold,” she said. “But we need to be transparent about the dollars and make sure everyone is on the same page.”
Route 89, the Spur/East Lancaster line, is already one of the most traveled bus lines. Nearly 73,000 trips were made on average each month in fiscal years 2018 and 2019. That number has dropped off this year due to pandemic. About 46,000 trips were made in July. Edwards said the ridership should naturally go up with a quicker, more convenient service.
The BRT line, even if it doesn’t carry Rangers fans to Arlington, will provide new opportunities to east Fort Worth, Davis said. Trinity Metro received $600,000 from the federal government specifically to help study development along the Lancaster cooridor.
“There’s great demand,” Davis said.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 12:13 PM.
