Honkin' Mad

Cotton Belt Trail offers bike path to work without car traffic -- will cycling catch on in Tarrant County as a form of commuting?

A new stretch of the Cotton Belt Trail is open in Hurst, and that has bike commuting advocates hopeful that more residents will use it as an alternative to driving to work.

Watch the video, too:

Fun read about New York Subway life

In Dallas-Fort Worth, jamming a finger into your nose would draw stares. In New York, it's a slice-of-life moment.

Ride a bike to work without breaking a sweat - Fort Worth man aims to sell Dallas Fort Worth on electric bikes

A Fort Worth man is pitching his electric bikes, known as Bodhi Bikes, as a fun, clean and efficient alternative to driving to work.

Watch the video: 

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price scolds T board for delays on TEX Rail commuter rail project

Updated 12:45 a.m. Corrects Gary Cumbie's quote from"... bodacious ..." to "big, audacious ..." (At the risk of editorializing, I'd like to say that I would have preferred that Gary use 'bodacious' in this context, but he insists he said 'big, audacious') :-) -- gd

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price on Thursday scolded members of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority for dragging their feet on the proposed TEX Rail commuter rail line from the city's southwest side to Grapevine and Dallas Fort Worth Airport.

"The timeline for our portion of the TEX Rail will not reach the airport until late 2016. That's not acceptable," Price told members of the T board and executive staff during an annual retreat at a downtown hotel. "We as an administration and you as the T board simply must act now."

The 37-mile project is expected to cost $758 million, and the agency is several years behind schedule in applying for federal funding to cover at least half that cost. Last month, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff visited North Texas and told the Star-Telegram the TEX Rail project couldn't proceed until the T negotiated trackage rights with the railroads that own the property on which the line would run.

Price called for the T to immediately step up those negotiations with Union Pacific Railroad and the Fort Worth & Western Railroad, and added that she as well as other members of the City Council would step in and join the negotiations if necessary.

Price's comments are the latest evidence that she intends to make transportation a cornerstone of her time in public office. An avid cyclist, Price is seeking input from young people about their civic concerns - and when it comes to mobility, she doesn't like what she's hearing. The next generation of residents wants more public transit and walkable neighborhoods, she said. Yet, decision-makers such as the T board aren't making progress in those areas, or even sending a message to the public that the issue is on the radar.

"Our citizens don't believe Tarrant County has a convenient rail system yet, nor do we have a strong plan. Nor do they see that sense of urgency on this side of the Metroplex," she said. "Some have even said the thing holding back mobility in the region as whole is the western half of the Metroplex. That is not acceptable. Truth be told, I'm simply not satisfied with the progress and I don't think the council is either."

"If buses circulate in strategic locations that provide the most benefits to commuters, riders will come. If the T provides commuter rail that is fast and convenient, they will line up in droves. We've seen that on the other side of the Metroplex. This is what our younger generation is asking for. It is simply what our focus must be."

Price's message comes just days after the Federal Transit Administration agreed to let the T begin preliminary engineering and design of the TEX Rail project. That work is expected to take about a year and cost up to $9 million, which could be reimbursed by a federal grant. But, Rogoff said, the issue of trackage rights must be resolved before the project proceeds into final design.

The T board includes nine members, eight appointed by the Fort Worth City Council and one by Richland Hills.

Several board members pledged to do everything possible to make TEX Rail their priority. But they also noted that a lack of funding for big projects is always an issue with the T, which operates one a half-cent sales tax. Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which now has an extensive light-rail system that is the envy of the western United States, operates on a full penny of sales tax.

"It's one of those big, audacious challenges," T board chairman Gary Cumbie said. "We're facing needing half our money from the fedearl government. It's sort of working on their timetable. This agency will look at what could be done, what creative things are there that might shorten the time."

T board member Janet Saltsgiver, who previously served on the city's streetcar task force, told Price she was disappointed in late 2010 when the City Council on a split vote shot down down a proposal to bring streetcars to the city's downtown and near south, west and north sides. The council determined the possible $88 million cost was too high, and that the plan - while it would have helped development in the city center - didn't fit into the region's overall mobility plan.

"We just need your support and the council's," Saltsgiver told Price. "It was really a letdown to know we had done all the work and the council said no. I felt like the city let us down."

Price responded that while she wasn't mayor during the streetcar debate, today she is confident the council is united behind the TEX Rail project, and also is pursuing a commuter rail line from downtown to the Alliance Airport area.

"I'm willing to bet we'll see 100 percent participation from the council," Price said.

The mayor said she was even willing to entertain the possibility of a single, region-wide entity forming to take over commuter rail responsibility from the T and other transit agencies, although later she said she doubted such a step would be necessary.

The mayor was a keynote speaker of the day-long retreat, which otherwise focused on ways to improve the T's use of technology to not only operate its services, but to communicate better with riders.

###

Good morning. I am covering a Fort Worth Transportation Authority retreat at the Hilton in downtown Fort Worth. The T's board and executive staff is here in shirt sleeves, talking about upcoming technology improvements and other matters such as the financial state of the agency.

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price is scheduled to speak about 9 a.m. and word on the street is that she will scold the T for not being quicker in building the planned TEX Rail line from southwest Fort Worth to Grapevine and DFW Airport. That project, estimated to cost $758 million, has been delayed for several years and is now scheduled to open no sooner than 2016.

@gdickson

p.s. Walking over to the hotel this morning, I ran into the T's senior VP, Tony Johnson, who was riding a sample of the B Cycle bikes the T would like to begin offering for rent in central Fort Worth. I wasn't fast enough to shoot a photo of him riding past me on the street, but I took this snapshot of him with the bike inside the conference room.

TEX Rail commuter train from Fort Worth to Grapevine, DFW Airport gets blessing from feds

Supporters of a proposed commuter rail line from southwest Fort Worth to Grapevine and Dallas Fort Worth Airport say the project is a huge step closer to reality after a federal agency gave its blessing for preliminary engineering and design to begin.

"This puts us in the pipeline," said Fort Worth Transportation Authority president Dick Ruddell. "This means that all of our engineering costs are reimbursable."

The Federal Highway Administration sent a letter dated March 23 to the transportation authority, also known as the T, that it was okay to proceed with the work on the proposed 37-mile route. Although the T hasn’t yet been awarded a federal grant for more than half the roughly $758 million needed for the rail line, officials said it’s a very good sign that the federal agency is willing to let design work begin.

It also means that the T can apply for federal funds to offset the estimated $6 million to $9 million needed for preliminary engineering and design. So far, they have only a $4 million grant to cover those costs.

Federal funding for public transportation is extremely tight in Washington, but Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff visited North Texas last month and showed interest in the project. However, Rogoff expressed concern that the T had not yet reached agreements with several railroads to use their tracks for the TEX Rail service.

Preliminary engineering is expected to take about a year, and by the time the work is completed the T hopes to have permission to use tracks owned by Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Union Pacific Railroad and Fort Worth & Western Railroad, Ruddell said.

The proposed rail line could open by 2016. It would connect Texas Christian University, Fort Worth's medical district and downtown to the Stockyards and the north end of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.The T late last year submitted a request for a federal new-starts grant that could cover more than half that cost, and the Federal Transit Administration accepted that application.

URS Corp. is performing the consulting work for the project and will oversee preliminary engineering.

But the March 23 letter from the FTA's regional administrator, Robert Patrick, also provides a laundry list of steps the T must complete for the project to move to final design. For example, in addition to working out agreements with the railroads, the T must update its real estate acquisition and management plan, ande make mechanical corrections and refinements to its cost estimates.

Also, the letter warns that the T's request for a federal new starts transit grant to cover $415 million of the project - or nearly 55 percent - is too high. Local matching funds should play a greater role in the project, Patrick wrote.

"Given the high demand for new starts funding, the FTA strongly encourages overmatch," Patrick wrote. "During PE (preliminary engineering), the T should examine options to lower the requested new starts share to 50 percent. This is more consistent with other proposed projects currently in FTA's new starts pipeline."

The FTA considers the TEX Rail project a "medium-high" priority, based on the T's technical, legal and financial ability to complete the work. Medium-high is the second-highest of five possible ratings.

 @gdickson

'This light takes forever. Who designed this intersection?' Comic takes aim at traffic signal engineers

Timothy Welch of Welch Engineering in Bedford read our coverage in Monday's Star-Telegram about the lack of signal synchronization on Mid-Cities Boulevard in Northeast Tarrant County. He sent along this comic strip, which is a terrific reminder that as we debate how to best keep traffic moving in the area we best not lose our sense of humor.

@gdickson

Trinity Railway Express stop in Richland Hills a step closer to being developed with shops, toilets, eateries and maybe housing

RICHLAND HILLS – When Elaine Owens and her husband, Danny, got a ride from a friend to Richland Hills Station on Tuesday early afternoon, they didn’t realize they’d be waiting more than an hour for the next Trinity Railway Express train to Dallas. “I thought they came every 30 minutes,” said Owens, who recently moved back to the North Richland Hills area from Hawaii so her husband, a disabled veteran, could get medical care in Dallas.

Owens added that the wait wasn’t too inconvenient, but, “A restroom and a convenience store would be nice.”

Richland Hills Station is still a long way from becoming the commercial attraction – with shops, restrooms and possibly even housing – that transit supporters hope it will someday be. But regulars at the commuter rail station are noticing signs of progress. For example, sometime shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday, workers are expected to open up a new Burns Street entrance to the station.

The switch will occur sometime after morning rush period, Fort Worth Transportation Authority spokeswoman Joan Hunter said. “They are waiting to close the old street and open the new one until after the early morning commutes because we don’t want drivers to have to experience the detours and barricades blocking the old Burns Street for the first time while it’s dark,” she said. Other than getting used to turning at a new traffic signal about 200 feet east of the old one, motorists shouldn't experience major problems, officials said. The move will make room for workers to finish up with the rest of Burns Street, which connects the train station to a nearby industrial area frequented by trucks.

The Burns Street realignment is an effort to straighten up an odd-shaped street formation at the station, and make it a more attractive option for prospective merchants. It’s part of a $2 million overhaul of the station and surrounding area, and it includes lining up Burns Street with the intersection of Handley-Ederville Road and Trinity Boulevard. Also, an additional 100 parking spaces have been added, giving the station a total of 480 spots, making it one of the most popular park-and-ride lots on the TRE line. The next step, according to those who are pushing for transit-oriented development, is to make the area more palatable to residents who want to live within walking distance of a train station – or at least take a bus to it. For now, much of the surrounding area remains a 1960s-era industrial zone. Chris Baker, whose family owns about a third of the 100 acres within walking distance of the station, said late last year that once the realignment of Burns Street was completed – most likely by the end of this year – he and others would begin marketing the area to developers.

@gdickson

Golden Triangle Blvd. makeover in far north Fort Worth; lane shift is latest sign of progress

The expansion of Golden Triangle Boulevard in far north Fort Worth is now slated to be complete in 2013.

Bike-sharing gets a push in Fort Worth; cyclists hope bicycle rental gets going by 2013

Supporters of a bike-sharing program in Fort Worth are looking at major employers to help start up the program.

Trinity Railway Express passengers stranded by bomb hoax; agencies reviewing communication plans as a result

Updated: 12:30 p.m.

The Trinity Railway Express is reviewing its communication plans after dozens of passengers were stranded for several hours by a bomb hoax. Some passengers told television station WFAA they were taken off a train between stations east of CentrePort and left standing in a field for so long they were forced to urinate outdoors. Dallas Area Rapid Transit spokesman Morgan Lyons struck an apologetic tone, and said the agency should have done a better job communicating with stranded passengers in the field, as well as Dallas Union Station, about the status of their train ride.

DART and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority are co-owners of the Trinity Railway Express, which operates Monday through Saturday between downtown Fort Worth and Dallas.

Many of the passengers were weekend revelers, decked out in green, attempting to return to Fort Worth after celebrating St. Patrick's Day in Big D.

Here's an email from Lyons sent Monday morning to clarify what happened Saturday night:

"We had two trains - one east between CentrePort and West Irving - and one headed west (at West Irving) when the call came in to Irving PD Saturday night just before 9. We stopped the trains immediately. That's why the eastbound train was between stations and why customers were evacuated away from the stations. The train had traveled too far east to go back and in any case it's most important to get them off the train. Train crews were able to talk to customers at both locations. We will review how they communicated with customers at those locations and see if we could improve. There were about 150 customers waiting for a westbound train at Union Station. That would have been the one coming from CentrePort that would turn. We did not communicate with them. That's the area we need to improve and that's what I said Sunday. We have a project for station message boards and that could have helped, but that's a year or so off. We're looking at how we could get people there to do make sure customers know they're going to be significantly delayed. Saturday was a big ridership day for DART and the TRE. It largely went quite well. We did what we felt was most important to keep the customers safe given the bomb threat. We're reviewing what we can do to keep them more informed when their schedules are disrupted. We're disappointed the customers on those trains didn't get the information they needed."

@gdickson