Many residents of the growing communities there do not have direct access to rail, but would like the option of boarding a train to get to Dallas, Fort Worth or in between. Collin County contains some of the fastest-growing cities in the country, but their residents are heavily reliant on their own vehicles.
A public-private partnership would provide financing from the private sector and shift much of the risk away from the public sector. The region’s public transportation providers would lay the track; the private sector would be called on to help pay for the expansion.
Public-private partnerships are familiar in Texas and other parts of the country for their use in developing toll roads. Little experience exists on this use in passenger rail construction. Rail projects are almost always subsidized, too, because the fares passengers pay are not enough to offset operations and maintenance, even in the nation’s most transit-reliant cities.
Still, a well-crafted partnership that benefits both the traveling public and private sector could prove to be a precursor to future rail improvements.
In North Texas, the plan could take any number of shapes, as the region has dozens of options for financing the Cotton Belt.
Among them is a possible manufacturing facility on the actual line. This would provide needed revenue while ensuring that the cars on the track are built at home, where they provide jobs to the community and tax revenue necessary to deliver other transportation services.
Public-private partnerships have been used internationally to complete rail projects. In the US, they are being explored in Dallas-Fort Worth and other places to enhance transportation and freight movement.
The RTC has extensive experience partnering in roadway and other transportation improvements and is looking forward to a passenger rail application. The RTC was prepared for this effort by its involvement in the negotiations to build State Highway 121, SH 161 and other regional highways. |
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These facilities are now either complete or being built and will provide residents with a lasting transportation legacy. The work done by the RTC to find a partner for the Cotton Belt will do more than help deliver a rail line that could prove to be a critical link for fast-growing cities to the rest of the region.
It could result in other projects being expedited. This is especially important with the challenges facing the nation in a sluggish economy.
With cooperation and the creativity to explore new funding options, the region can expedite rail construction and continue to provide the public the world-class transportation system it deserves. After all … mobility matters.
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Wilemon Sees Education as a Key to Mobility
Regional Transportation Council Member Profile - Kathryn Wilemon, Councilmember,
City of Arlington
Dallas-Fort Worth residents are frustrated by slow traffic, but it’s not always easy to know where to turn for answers. |
Kathryn Wilemon wants to change that. A member of the Arlington City Council and the Regional Transportation Council since 2003, Wilemon also serves as chair of the Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition, an organization dedicated to helping find a solution to the traffic congestion plaguing the region.
“TRTC is in the information business, to inform people in the area of the challenges and involve them,” she said. “We don’t want just elected officials involved because mobility affects everyone.”
Half of Arlington leaves every morning for jobs in other cities. And since Arlington is the nation’s largest city without public transportation, this means the roads are often clogged at rush hour. One of the main arteries packed with cars leaving for jobs in other parts of the region is State Highway 360, which for years has been a prime target for expansion. Work is going on all around the area, with the Interstate Highway 30 project and State Highway 161, but SH 360 remains a hotspot for congestion. Right now, the money to unclog the road is in short supply. But that does not mean it is not being pursued.
FWTAexas Department of Transportation recently held a meeting about the roadway, which local officials and commuters would like extended south into Mansfield. “[State Highway] 360 is important to us,” Wilemon said.
“Completion of [State Highway] 161 was a reliever … finally – for 360. But that won’t do it. We’ve got too many cars in the region to say we’re through.”
To add the needed capacity takes money, which is difficult to come by these days. TxDOT says it will not have money to add new capacity by 2012. But innovative approaches have become common as the region tries to expand its multimodal transportation system to accommodate 6.5 million residents.
Wilemon is working along several fronts to help the region find the money to improve its multimodal transportation system. As chair of TRTC, Wilemon is coordinating with public officials and other residents of the region to raise the profile of transportation. Education is a key component of TRTC’s work.
The organization’s members naturally advocate for improvements primarily in the west, but it’s important for everyone to work together because as the region grows, boundaries are being blurred, she said. |
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No city, regardless of its size, will be able to craft a solution alone. The winning approach will involve everyone, Wilemon said.
The maintenance, new roads, rail and other improvements that will enhance residents’ quality of life will take cooperation among governments and people across the region, she said.
She sees that cooperation take shape each month as the RTC crafts regional solutions to what some may consider local problems. Commuters count on this approach to remain productive in the face of explosive population growth.
“They can’t take three hours to get to a job,” she said. Wilemon is impressed by how the RTC is able to work together to solve problems common to the region. One event that has illustrated the region’s willingness to cooperate is Super Bowl XLV, which will be played in Arlington in February.
Preparations, including traffic management plans, have been under way for months. And the city has had the benefit of a full football season and several marquee events at the stadium.
Despite the large capacity of the stadium, people are surprised by the smooth traffic flow in and out of the stadium, she said. And that is because of cooperation – the kind that she sees every month as a member of the RTC.
“It starts out as a puzzle and comes together as a beautiful picture,” she said.
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