Thanks to this program, Arlington finally has transit option for the entire city

Likely lost among all the political drama dominating the news is an announcement of a decades-long milestone that’s finally been reached in Arlington.

For the first time, Arlington has a public transportation system that serves the entire city.

No longer the largest city in the country without one, we can finally emerge from one of the most widely used criticisms by those who have long thought it was an unfortunate distinction that should have been shed many years ago.

The city’s announcement opens with: “Arlington’s on-demand public transit service, Via Rideshare, [now] reaches all neighborhoods, shopping centers, offices, restaurants, medical facilities and other key destinations across The American Dream City.”

We’ll look soon at how the almost 40,000 accounts created since the service began three years ago and the more than 470,000 rides provided are certain to expand.

First, let’s remind ourselves of the city’s journey long journey that has finally reached its destination.

The initial proposal for a transit system occurred, calling for a one-cent sales tax to join the Lone Star Transit Authority. It deserved to be defeated due to the combination of costs, uncertainty of how it would serve the city and lack of local control.

Five years later, the city launched its own plan, requiring only a half-cent sales tax. It proposed a system of buses, vans and specialty vehicles to meet the needs of all citizens. The proposition gained the support of the entire complement of local elected officials, the business community, the school district, junior college, UT-Arlington, service clubs, nonprofit organizations, neighborhood groups and others.

More than 10,000 voters showed up for that election, and the outcome wasn’t even close. About 55 percent of voters said “no.” Former mayor Tom Vandergriff and I served as the campaign’s co-chairs. I believe it was the only time that voters rejected a recommendation from the patriarchal mayor, who had held the office for 26 years.

It would be 17 years before the city tried again. In 2002, voter turnout was 80 percent higher than in 1985, and 58 percent voted against a revised transportation system that would require only a quarter-cent sales tax.

Clearly, voters were asking: “What is it about ‘no’ that you don’t understand?”

No other mayor or City Council would venture into further efforts to bring about a tax of any kind to put Arlington in the public transit business.

Recently, a citizens committee crafted a new approach to meeting the needs of the city’s 400,000 residents that ultimately led to the Via rideshare partnership. Its flexibility is a key, City Manager Trey Yelverton said.

“The data tells us if we have too much or too little capacity, and we can scale our operation to better optimize service,” he said.

The citywide expansion and a new fare structure goes into effect Feb. 15. The minimum cost of $3 per trip will apply to rides up to 1.5 miles, with a maximum of $5 per ride for trips longer than 6 miles.

Trips to and from the CentrePort TRE Station, which connects riders to all the transit systems of Fort Worth, Dallas, and the rest of the region, will remain at $3.

“Every city in America is looking at ways to improve public transportation, and mayors across the country continue to recognize Arlington’s rideshare program as the gold standard for transportation solutions,” Mayor Jeff Williams said.

That’s quite a reality for the city once known as the nation’s largest without public transportation.