DART Expansion

Dallas has started construction on the Green Line. I'm really excited to see this line finally taking shape. The folks at DART are more educated now on TOD and might be able to make some decisions that will help this line be more transit oriented than the others. The Farmer's Branch Station apparently is first.

From the Dallas Morning News:

From Globe Street:

DALLAS-Dallas Area Rapid Transit is set to receive an $80-million grant for an expansion project. The first installment of a $700-million grant, approved last year by the Federal Transit Administration, will go toward construction of the Green Line, a 21-mile, two-segment extension of DART's light rail line, which will extend from the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas through Downtown Dallas and onto Farmers Branch and Carrollton.

The grant coincides with the Aug. 30 ground-breaking ceremony for the Farmers Branch light rail station. Carrollton will hold a similar ceremony Sept. 8 for the city's main Downtown station, one of three planned for the city. The Downtown Carrollton station will be the hub for three separate DART lines, making it one of the busiest in the system.

“Carrollton has the potential to become a major transit hub, joining Downtown Dallas, Downtown Fort Worth and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Airport, in terms of importance to the region’s transportation network,” observes Carrollton Mayor Becky Miller. “We’re committed to leveraging public and private resources to maximize the development opportunities in this transit district.”

Tampa Not So Fast in Space Race

David Pinero over at Tampa Rail mentions the second coming of a Tampa rail plan. It's ambitious and according to the St. Petersburg Times, a vote on a half cent sales tax might come in 2010. 2010 however is three years away, which could be long or short depending on the outcome. Personally I don't think its fast enough. They need to plan it up and strike fast and hard. Unfortunately during that time period, they are still going to be building more roads and congestion is going to get much worse. They might have rail by 2020 at this rate.

- A primary rail line with four main stations: downtown St. Petersburg, the Gateway-Toytown area, West Shore district and downtown Tampa. It would cross the bay on a new structure between the Howard Frankland's two spans. The current bridge was designed with that in mind, although it would be expensive.

- Radiating out from that primary "spine," you'd have "ribs" - railways and express buses to the beaches, Clearwater and the University of South Florida, eventually reaching as far as Brooksville, Lakeland and Sarasota.

- Ferries traveling between downtown St. Petersburg, Tampa, Bradenton and possibly Apollo Beach.

Train, boat and bus fares would cover only a fraction of the costs. Local transit officials think the most realistic way to start paying for these things is to follow the lead of numerous other cities, including Miami and Jacksonville: Ask voters for a half-cent sales tax.

By that time, the initial space race will be over. Denver, Salt Lake City, and Dallas will each have over 100 miles of rail lines and Tampa will have a small starter line. As my old track coach Bubba used to say, Pick It Up!

This Is What It Has Become

While I am biased towards transit, I think the Texas Legislature's latest action shows what is happening all over the United States. The investments that need to be made in infrastructure are being stymied by people who just think about themselves. Texas is run at the moment by Republicans. Most of them are from rural areas that have no need for transit and any time they hear tax they turn and run. In light of the fact that many people would like to have the chance to vote in order to raise taxes for commuter rail in Dallas, it sickens me that they won't even get the chance. What's worse, someone else decided whether you could pool your resources to get a valuable service. This isn't a democracy, but rather a government run by thugs and self interested businessmen. Most in the legislature don't work or if they do its for a law firm or real estate business where they have already made a lot of money. I mean are you serious, not even letting people vote for a tax for commuter rail??? It's not like they were approving the tax, just the vote. Yet they made Austin vote for Light Rail in 2000. What a bunch of hypocrites.