DALLAS | Public Transport

[dfwcre8tive]

Here's the Dallas streetcar proposal that is in the works. They are hoping to purchase modern streetcars next year.

http://dallascityhall.com/committee_...Dev_101209.pdf

[dfwcre8tive]

Dallas may have downtown streetcar line within 5 years
09:44 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 13, 2009
By RUDOLPH BUSH / The Dallas Morning News
rbush@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...omments_anchor

Dallas could have a downtown streetcar system up and running within five years if an ambitious plan being hashed out at City Hall becomes reality.

City Hall still hopes to build the line with the help of federal and state funds. But many City Council members appear ready to have Dallas go it alone, likely by issuing tens of millions of dollars in bonds backed by anticipated growth in downtown property tax revenues.

"That's exactly what we're investigating now. We have to figure out the route, the cost and the physical challenges. Then we have to figure out what level of development each [proposed] route will support so we understand the possible bond funding," said council member Angela Hunt, whose downtown district would include the streetcar line.

Under the plan, the bonds could fund construction of the line even as taxes from rising property values helped fund its operation.

It is unclear at this point, however, whether the city can raise enough bond money for the cost of building the line or whether it will have to seek outside funding to fill in the gap that city money can't cover.

Linda Koop, chairman of the council's transportation committee, appeared confident the funding question will be answered in a matter of months and the council can begin the process of ordering Dallas' streetcars.

"We're hoping to have it up and running in 4 ½ years," Koop said.

Koop estimated the cost of building a downtown streetcar line at around $80 million, a preliminary figure that surely will change as details of the project are set.

...

Hunt said Dallas is in discussions with Fort Worth, where a streetcar system is also in the works, to purchase cars with similar designs in an effort to minimize costs.

At a meeting of the transportation committee Monday, council members hashed out how financing might work for the proposed line.

It appears it would rely heavily on two funding sources: tax increment financing and public improvement district dollars.

Council members expect a streetcar line would significantly improve property values around its stops.

Additional tax revenue from growing values could be devoted to paying off bonds sold to fund the line.

Though the city would own the line, it is expected that DART will oversee its construction and operation and have a say in its governance through seats on a board of directors established specifically for the line.

While focus at City Hall is now on the downtown streetcar line, there is also movement to create a master plan to expand lines through downtown's adjoining neighborhoods.

Koop is working to form committees for five districts around downtown to study possible routes and financing for an expanded streetcar system.

The committees will include a council member and representatives from businesses and neighborhoods in the corridors.

[poshbakerloo]

Great plans...

When is the building starting? Or has it already?

[dfwcre8tive]

Some new drawings of DCTA's A-Train:

Before:


After:

[dfwcre8tive]

Originally Posted by poshbakerloo

Great plans...

When is the building starting? Or has it already?

Nothing has started yet until the streetcar routes are finalized. They hope to order streetcars and start construction in the next year or so. The MATA Streetcar, the heritage line, will extend their tracks closer into downtown Spring 2010.

[edubejar]

Originally Posted by Jayayess1190

Dallas is my favorite city in Texas. I visited with my father a few years ago, and we also went to Fort Worth and Houston. We rode the lightrail and the TRE from Dallas to Ft.Worth and back. Great to see such improvements to the area transit while here in Philly Septa struggles to find funding.

You clearly haven't been to Austin or you might like it even more than Dallas.

Although it's a shame Austin does not yet have anything like DART and although Austin's first commuter rail line will barely begin to run sometime by next year, Austin has the only downtown in Texas where people actually live and play (in significant numbers) and not only work and where many others live immediately around downtown, just walking distance...where downtown does not shut down at 5pm and where you see people driving Smart cars and Vespas and biking around the central neighborhoods. Almost all downtown Austin surface parking lots (so symbolic of cities of the southern US) have been developed with condos with ground floor retail.

[dfwcre8tive]

DART Green Line construction photos from November. These are new images from DART's site (there are many more there not pictured below): http://www.dart.org/newsroom/imagelibrary.asp

Buckner



Lake June



Lawnview



Hatcher



Market Center



Southwestern Medical Center/Parkland



Inwood



Love Field



Bachman



Walnut Hill/Denton



Farmers Branch



Downtown Carrollton



Trinity Mills



North Carrollton/Frankford

[zaphod]

Bachman and Farmers Branch are interesting. So they used the island platform style awnings on side platforms, installing 2 of them? Those would be the first in the system like that, right?

[dfwcre8tive]

Originally Posted by zaphod

Bachman and Farmers Branch are interesting. So they used the island platform style awnings on side platforms, installing 2 of them? Those would be the first in the system like that, right?

Bachman has 3 tracks/4 platforms, since it's a major interchange between the Green Line and Orange Line (similar to Victory).

The canopy design at Farmers Branch isn't common, but it's not the first time. Similar stations exist at Baylor University Medical Center, Bush Turnpike, Downtown Plano, Akard, St Paul and West End.

The more unusual of the bunch is Trinity Mills, which has the trademark arched roof of a typical station but also has a 3rd track and shared platform for DCTA's A-Train :

[dfwcre8tive]

Dallas gets $23 million for street cars from federal stimulus
9:50 AM Wed, Feb 17, 2010
Rudolph Bush/Reporte
http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/a...n-for-str.html

Word comes now that the city of Dallas was a big winner of a federal transportation grant for a new streetcar system.

The city was selected to receive $23 million for a core streetcar system.

Developing with details to come.

http://www.dot.gov/documents/finaltigergrantinfo.pdf


_________________


Good news! Although, Fort Worth didn't get the money they were hoping for...

Dallas scores big in TIGER grants; Feds will fund street cars
9:51 AM Wed, Feb 17, 2010
Michael Lindenberger/Reporter
http://transportationblog.dallasnews...tiger-gra.html

Dallas scored big this morning as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the city will received $43 million in grants that will build a starter downtown streetcar loop that will cross into Oak Cliff, and will greatly reduce NTTA's cost to build the State Highway 161 toll road.

Its two projects were among 51 -- and the only ones in Texas -- to win out in the competition TIGER grant competition announced this morning. The federal government had reserved some $1.5 billion in stimulus funds for a grant competition aimed at providing funds for creative projects, especially those that achieve the Administration's sustainability goals.

Dallas' application for the street car funds was part of a joint application with Fort Worth, and it always was seen as a long-shot, even though that outlook brightened somewhat last month when the Obama Administration announced that it would reverse a Bush Administration policy of requiring all transit applications to be judged first on cost-effectiveness.

That departure made projects like trolley lines that remove relatively few cars from the highways more likely to pass review. (Fort Worth's portion of the application was not successful.)

The U.S. Department of Transportation described the $23 million street car grant like this:

The proposed streetcar line originates in Downtown Dallas at Harwood and Main Street, continuing down Main Street to Houston Street through the largest job center in the North Texas area. The line has a stop at Union Station in Downtown Dallas, which provides access to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority's Red/Blue Light rail lines and to Fort Worth via the Trinity Railway Express. It also includes stops at the Dallas Convention Center and Hotel, Trinity River Park (which will be among the largest urban parks in the United States), Methodist Medical Center, the Oak Cliff Gateway area and multiple residential areas.

The announcement was made by Lahood in Washington, but also to some Dallas officials by U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas.

...

[dwdwone]

_________________


Good news! Although, Fort Worth didn't get the money they were hoping for...

...[/QUOTE]

Does this mean the Fort Worth streetcar project is gone?

[dfwcre8tive]

Originally Posted by dwdwone

_________________


Good news! Although, Fort Worth didn't get the money they were hoping for...

...

Does this mean the Fort Worth streetcar project is gone?[/QUOTE]

According to a post here, the funds may be split among the cities since the money is officially going to NCTCOG... but Fort Worth is still going after funds from other sources. It depends on the exact grant language and it's unclear who will get the funds.

http://fortworthology.com/2010/02/17...n-tiger-funds/

BUT, because the grant was jointly applied for by OCTA (Oak Cliff Transit Authority) and the city of Dallas, any money that goes to Dallas will probably require a streetcar connection from the Dallas CBD to Oak Cliff.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...127f32376.html

[dfwcre8tive]

Private money may be used to build Cotton Belt corridor rail line
07:42 AM CDT on Friday, April 9, 2010
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News
mlindenberger@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...c.3f70d2e.html

With transportation funds running short at every level, regional planners for the North Central Texas Council of Governments are seeking permission to lead an unusual partnership with private investors so they can fast-track a 62-mile rail line known as the Cotton Belt corridor.

The plan, already supported by the two lead transit agencies in Dallas and Fort Worth, would use private money to build the rail line. And for the first time, the Regional Transportation Council would be put in charge of negotiating a contract outlining service levels, fares and other aspects of the new rail line.

DART and The T in Fort Worth would retain a veto over any final deal, and their staff members would sit in on the negotiations, explained Michael Morris, transportation director for the council of governments.

"From our point of view, we have an obligation to look out for all modes of transportation," Morris told the 43-member Regional Transportation Council on Thursday. "We've seen how innovative financing has helped us on the highway side, so our thought is, why not try to bring some of that same innovation to other modes and help our transit agencies develop rail lines as well."

The deal would be different than any of the private toll deals that have dominated discussions of highway financing for years.

Instead of an advisory role, the RTC would be in charge of selecting the firms to partner with and would negotiate the financing details for the plan, which could involve about $1 billion.

Morris said that if his approach is approved, the RTC could have a final deal to vote on, and to forward to the transit agencies, by the end of this year.

The council was poised to vote Thursday, but Dallas County Commissioner Maurine Dickey and Collin County Commissioner Joe Jaynes asked for more time, and the 43-member RTC tabled the item for a month.

...

DART knows of no other transit agency in the country that has opened a passenger rail line paid for by private investors, DART spokesman Morgan Lyons said. A public-private partnership in Denver is under way, but the transit agency has made big contributions of tax dollars to keep that project, already delayed and scaled back, moving forward.

The Cotton Belt plan, by contrast, would seek private investors to build the system without a penny from DART or The T.

The plan would most likely include much steeper fares for the Cotton Belt, paid parking, and the creation of special tax districts that would capture property tax increases associated with private development along the rail line.

...

[TheKorean]

Considering the size of Dallas, I suggest they build at least one subway line.

[FDW]

Originally Posted by TheKorean

Considering the size of Dallas, I suggest they build at least one subway line.

They're huge, yes. But the Dallas-Ft. Worth Area lacks density, so what it has now is fine. (Though what they're planning now (Which includes an underground segment.) will make it even better.)

[dfwcre8tive]

Station Designs for the Orange Line: http://www.dart.org/newsroom/imagelibrary.asp#orange



University of Dallas











Las Colinas Urban Center











Irving Convention Center











Las Colinas Carpenter Ranch











North Lake College











Belt Line Station

[dwdwone]

What is all the construction at 121 and 114 at the north end of DFW airport? Is this for the Orange Line or the commuter line from Fort Worth? Or just regular highway work?

[dfwcre8tive]

Originally Posted by dwdwone

What is all the construction at 121 and 114 at the north end of DFW airport? Is this for the Orange Line or the commuter line from Fort Worth? Or just regular highway work?

That's the DFW Connector, highway work which will be complete in 2014.

http://www.dfwconnector.com

[dfwcre8tive]

http://www.dart.org/about/expansion/...ndsstation.asp

[dfwcre8tive]

June 2010 Update

North Carrollton/Frankford Station



Trinity Mills Station







Royal Lane Station





Walnut Hill/Denton Station









Lawnview Station







Lake June Station









Buckner Station