Mobility Matters - Images of a freight truck traveling on a highway, downtown Fort Worth, a TRE locomotive, downtown Dallas skyline and highway traffic
Summer/Fall 2009 — Quarterly newsletter of the Metropolitan Planning Organization

Transportation Gathers Steam
Grassroots Involvement Will Help Drive Rail Expansion -
A Message from Michael Morris, Transportation Director
Hicks Enjoys Balancing Regional, City Goals - Regional Transportation Council Member Profile
Vehicle Replacement Program Proves Popular with North Texans
Region's Drivers Embrace Alternatives to Traveling Alone
Air North Texas Receives National Outreach Award
Answers to Recently Received Questions from North Texans

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These income amounts change
annually in February.

*You must meet these annual net income requirements as determined by using the Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) on the most recent Federal Income Tax form.

Note: The value of the replacement vehicle may affect eligibility requirements and/or benefits for financial assistance programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Please contact your case worker if you have any questions.

Vehicle Replacement Program Proves Popular with North Texans
A popular program intended to help qualifying residents retire old cars and trucks is back up and running for the new fiscal year.

Over the summer, so many residents applied for $3,000 vehicle-replacement vouchers from AirCheckTexas Drive a Clean Machine that the program’s funds were exhausted weeks before the state’s fiscal year ended August 31.

The program offers $3,500 vouchers toward the purchase of hybrid vehicles. In fiscal year 2009, the program helped more than 6,000 residents replace their vehicles with newer, cleaner-burning cars and trucks.

AirCheckTexas began accepting applications for vehicle replacements again August 3. Vouchers worth up to $600 toward repairs for vehicles that failed the emissions portion of the state-required inspection were distributed even during the interruption.

AirCheckTexas provides residents who meet the income guidelines help replacing or repairing their cars in an effort to improve the region’s air quality. The nine-county Dallas-Fort Worth area is taking steps like this in an effort to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard for ozone pollution. It is currently a moderate nonattainment area.

The AirCheckTexas program was resumed before September 1 to coincide with the federal Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), also known as “cash for clunkers.” AirCheckTexas' success in North Texas led to the region receiving additional funding to help people who qualified for both programs.

Both programs have been popular with consumers. Not only was funding for AirCheckTexas replacement vouchers exhausted before the end of fiscal year 2009, but the initial $1 billion for CARS dried up in a week. Congress approved an additional $2 billion for the program before its August recess. The program was halted later that month after helping consumers replace more than 690,000 vehicles.

AirCheckTexas has income qualifications, starting at $32,490 for a single adult. Registered vehicles that failed the emissions portion of the state inspection or are at least 10 years old are eligible.

The CARS program had no income guidelines, and the goal was to improve fuel efficiency. The primary goal of AirCheckTexas is to improve air quality.

Resources
AirCheckTexas Drive A Clean Machine Program
Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) - North Texas Impact
Questions/Comments - Contact Us

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Region's Drivers Embrace Alternatives to Traveling Alone
Commuters using the region’s alternative commute Web site have saved more than 2 million miles of solo driving in less than three years. The milestone was reached June 12, 10 months after users of www.tryparkingit.com logged the millionth saved mile.

Launched in October 2006, the Web site offers drivers the chance to record alternatives such as carpooling, riding mass transit and working from home. Bicycling to work and bringing a lunch are also presented as options for reducing traffic congestion and improving the environment.

Improving congestion and air quality is important for North Texas to maintain its quality of life. The traffic congestion residents battle each day results in dozens of hours lost every year and accounts for much of the region’s ozone problem.

Resources
www.tryparkingit.com
Questions/Comments - Contact Us

In 2007, traffic congestion cost DFW drivers an average of 53 hours, according to the Texas Transportation Institute’s Urban Mobility Report. According to another recent survey, commutes are becoming less reliable on the roads of North Texas, not surprising to those traveling them every day. The region moved from fifth to fourth in traffic congestion in 2008, according to the Inrix Traffic Scorecard. The only three cities with heavier congestion were New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the nation’s three largest cities.

Driving less also has tangible financial benefits. Using the standard per-mile cost of maintaining a vehicle, by driving 2 million fewer miles, users of the Web site have saved more than $1 million since October 2006.

The Web site also allows residents to see how many gallons of gas they’ve saved since logging their first alternative commute. Assuming an average fuel economy of 21 miles per gallon, the site has resulted in the consumption of 95,000 fewer gallons of gas.

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Air North Texas Receives National Outreach Award
Air North Texas, the environmental awareness program highlighted in the spring 2009 issue of Mobility Matters, recently received a national award from the EPA.

Resources
www.airnorthtexas.org
Press release announcing award [PDF]
EPA Clean Air Excellence Awards
Questions/Comments - Contact Us

The Environmental Protection Agency recognized the outreach and educational efforts of Air North Texas with the presentation of a Clean Air Excellence Award. Recipients were also chosen in the following categories: clean air technology, community action, regulatory policy innovations and outstanding individual achievement.

Established in 2000, the annual awards honor innovative efforts to improve air quality.

Air North Texas aims to help residents of all ages make clean air choices with outreach materials like educational brochures, coloring books, crayons, and public service announcements.

The program’s Web site, www.airnorthtexas.org, offers 15 ways to contribute to improved air quality, encouraging residents to commit to one or more. Many people are already trying at least some of the activities. They range from fuel-saving suggestions such as carpooling and riding mass transit to energy-saving ideas such as buying more efficient appliances and light bulbs.

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Answers to Recently Received Questions from North Texans
The following are examples from recent public meetings of questions and answers about regional transportation issues.

Q & A

Q: Is there funding available for Tower 55?

A: BNSF Railway, Union Pacific Railroad and the city of Fort Worth are pursuing funding for near-term improvement plans around Tower 55 and submitted an application for economic recovery funds.

If funding is identified, construction on short-term improvements to tracks and intersections could begin in less than a year.

Ninety percent of the design is complete and the process is moving forward for roadway and safety improvements benefiting pedestrians and drivers.

The next phase is a grade-separated trench for about $700 million. This does not include related costs of right of way or roadway construction. Funding will likely come from several sources because the project is significant nationally, statewide and regionally.

Railroad companies and the public would benefit from a Tower 55 solution; therefore, all entities, public and private, should be involved in funding-strategy discussions.

Q: The Southwest-to-Northeast (SW2NE) rail project, which would run between southwest Fort Worth and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, would connect key points in the western part of the region by commuter rail. Is the project funded?

A: The SW2NE project is partially funded, but primarily these funds have been used for alternatives analysis and preliminary engineering studies. While small amounts of regional air quality funds have been set aside for construction, the project is not yet ready for construction so it does not qualify for funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

There is $100 million available in the Texas Mobility Fund, and some will be used for this rail corridor. Funds from the city of Grapevine are also available. There are ongoing discussions with the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) and Dallas Area Rapid Transit concerning all funding options for this rail corridor.

This rail line is complex and expensive with eventual connections to DART service in Dallas County. FWTA’s goal is to have this rail line operating to Grapevine by 2013.

Q: How are vehicle miles traveled reduced when building roadways and does the regional outer loop itself induce vehicle travel?

A: The objective is to strategically build the regional outer loop and utilize existing corridors where possible. The regional loop is integrated within the region to reduce VMT growth from locations 20 miles out.

The challenge is that North Texas is going to grow with or without the regional outer loop, and as a region, solutions need to be developed with the available tools. One focus of the regional outer loop is a truck bypass route which would divert the heavy-duty traffic around the core metropolitan area.

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Mobility Matters is prepared in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration. The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the opinions, findings and conclusions presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration or the Texas Department of Transportation.