Fort Worth leaders, resolve to plan better for mass transit in 2020 and beyond
Here’s a New Year’s idea for Fort Worth’s elected officials and other leaders: Resolve to make public transportation a top planning priority for 2020 and beyond.
It’s too simple to say that there’s been no attention to the issue so far. Trinity Metro, the city-county public transit agency, has an ongoing master plan, and leaders are examining innovative potential solutions.
What’s missing as Tarrant County and its neighbors boom, though, is a strategy that reflects a consensus among the patchwork of governments that must work together to make major changes to how we move around our sprawling area.
And an approaching decision by the city and voters on police funding that could cut off potential long-term funding for building transit seems to be on auto-pilot, when it needs a full vetting.
Two truths should guide this discussion. The first, as any transportation planner will tell you, is that you can’t build enough roads to eliminate congestion for very long. The roads themselves invite more traffic. And building more lanes in developed areas is expensive and disruptive.
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The second is that transit is important to driving economic growth. Businesses evaluate it when deciding to relocate, and future workers seem poised to make it a priority in their choices, too. If Fort Worth wants to continue to attract top jobs, it needs better public transportation options.
Major challenges and policy tradeoffs lie ahead.
The first is sprawl. Recent growth planned in Wise County is a great example of the scope of the challenge. It’s long been a rural area, far from the city center, but it’ll soon be the home of Fort Worth’s next big suburbs.
Having several cities and counties involved makes planning and coordination more difficult. Former Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr thinks the answer lies in what would have once been considered “heresy:” A regional transportation agency for the west side of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“The more they can collaborate, the better off we are,” said Barr, who has made transit something of a passion. He noted with optimism that some cooperation already exists, such as between Trinity Metro and Denton County’s transit agency.
It points to a related, but broader issue: Culture. DFW — all of Texas — is built on car culture. Many of us would have to develop entirely new habits to adapt to mass transit. But as Barr notes, younger residents are more open to it, as are many of the thousands of people moving here from other states each year.
Other changes in modern life require more nuanced solutions than just building a massive rail network. The very nature of work is changing, including hours and locations. Fort Worth doesn’t have just a couple of massive job destinations to funnel riders into. Like our homes, our workplaces spread across a large area.
Then, there’s the challenge of money. For decades, Fort Worth has used some of its sales-tax flexibility for the Crime Control and Prevention District. The funding helped remove the ignominious distinction of having one of the highest crime rates among large cities.
Decades later, though, needs have shifted. The city may ask voters to continue the half-cent sales tax for another decade. That would prohibit shaving off even a small portion for transit. Voters and leaders must stop and have a conversation about where the right balance lies.
Barr, who was a council member when the crime district was created, says it’s been “extremely important” for Fort Worth. Now, it’s “time to study that and look at it very carefully,” he said.
“We’re not going to cut back crime-fighting efforts in city budget,” Barr said. “If some sales tax money is shifted to transportation, the city’s general fund has to pick up the shortfall.”
It will be politically tough. Any City Council member who votes to reduce the crime money even a bit could be open to challengers tagging him or her as soft on crime. But leadership is needed to step up and make sure both priorities are well-funded.
Good, if small, steps are underway. Trinity Metro’s DASH buses are providing new ways around downtown and the Cultural District and generating information about how to address the “last-mile” problem that plagues our transportation system. That’s when a transit option leaves a commuter with too far a walk to their specific destination to be practical. The agency is also re-examining bus routes, some for the first time in decades.
It’s a solid start. But a bigger, broader vision should be a priority for 2020 and beyond.