SOR (Connecting 2015)

Progress North Texas 2015

Connecting You to the Region and the World

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You must get to your destinations efficiently, whether they are down the street, across town or around the world.

The transportation system in Dallas-Fort Worth is focused on efficiency, whether people need to travel down the street, across town or around the world.

Roadways provide important connections to points of interest throughout the region. As the area has grown, however, different options have become necessary to complement the traditional transportation system. The Sustainable Development Funding Program was created to support non-traditional, compact developments that encourage affordable modes of transportation such as walking, bicycling and transit. Passenger rail and bicycle-pedestrian facilities are important elements of the overall transportation system because they connect residents to the communities around them.

You want to get to your destinations efficiently, whether they are down the street, across town or around the world.

Connections to Community

The sustainable development program has funded 49 completed infrastructure projects through three calls for projects since 2001, supporting approximately 10,900 new residential units and 3.5 million square feet of commercial space. Sixty-six percent of awarded funds from the three funding initiatives have been dedicated to transit-oriented development, or TOD projects.

TOD is a style of land planning and building orientation geared toward encouraging pedestrian activity that results from a passenger rail station. The infographic below shows selected demographic and development characteristics within a half-mile of existing rail transit corridors in the region. Nearby rail transit allows residents to connect to amenities in the region.

Graphic: What's within one-half mile of existing rail transit corridors in the North Texas region?

Global Connections

The past year has seen tremendous improvement to surface access to DFW Airport. Roadway improvements such as the DFW Connector, North Tarrant Express and LBJ Express are making travel easier to the airport and throughout the region.

Light rail service is another option for travelers trying to get to and from the airport. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s five-mile extension of the Orange Line from Irving to DFW Airport gives the nation’s fourth-busiest airport an integrated rail system that helps passengers and airport employees access the terminal as efficiently as some of the world’s other major airports.

DART Orange Line projected to serve 1,200 daily

The latest improvement to what has become the nation’s longest light rail system represented a significant achievement for both DART and DFW Airport. Ridership has averaged about 1,000 per day. By the end of the first year of service, the new Orange Line extension is projected to serve 1,200 per day, according to DART.

In Dallas, Love Field received attention last year because of the lifting of the Wright Amendment flight restrictions. The expiration of the requirements meant Southwest Airlines could fly to more destinations from its home airport. It added flights to over 15 new nonstop destinations since the lifting of the Wright Amendment. This has provided a significant boost in traffic at Love Field. Growth is also occurring at DFW Airport – due in part to a 23 percent increase in international passengers over the past five years.

Approved in 1979, in DFW Airport’s early years, the Wright Amendment prohibited long-haul flights from Love Field as a means of helping DFW Airport grow. In four decades, DFW Airport has become one of the world’s leading airports, offering direct flights to more than 200 destinations.

Additionally, every major city in the continental US can be reached within four hours. DFW Airport is one reason the region has become a premier destination for corporate headquarters. North Texas is home to 18 Fortune 500 companies. Fort Worth-based American Airlines is the region’s leading employer, with 24,700 workers.

Air Cargo

North Texas is a leader in global and domestic trade. The region’s location along one of the nation’s major trade corridors provides the freight industry access to a variety of transportation modes for moving goods.

$16.7 billion -- impact of DFW air cargo on the region's economy

This access allows for the timely and efficient delivery of goods, helping to reduce costs and increase savings for the region’s consumers. Air cargo is one component of the region’s comprehensive freight system. DFW Airport processed 700,185 metric tons of air cargo in 2014, an increase of 6.5 percent over 2013. The airport’s air cargo operation has a $16.7 billion impact on the region’s economy.

While commercial flights make up most of the air traffic in North Texas, the region’s general aviation system plays an important part in the success of the industry. General aviation airports accounted for more than 900,000 flights in 2014. The region also added a new heliport in DeSoto.

Foreign Trade Zones