UPDATED: Fort Worth T bus service is coming to Arlington

BarbaraRose, says:

As longtime former Irving resident and a current Arlington resident, I'm opposed to mass transit in Arlington. I saw what happened to Irving after DART and I believe other Arlington residents have the same fear. That's why mass transit has been voted down twice. The Super Bowl is one game, one week in one year and there will be many years before another possible Super Bowl. The Cowboy games are less than a dozen a year. For that matter stand outside a Cowboy game in Irving this year and watch home many get off the city bus originating in Irving. The stadium workers may use it more often, though it has not prohibited anyone from working the Ranger games, which have many more games per year. Park & Rides and the TRE to the major Downtown area is a much better idea. Arlington does not have a real central business district other than shopping, so uniform interurban transportation system is not that logical. I’m sure transportation for the one game can be addressed for the one week between the City of Dallas, Ft. Worth and Arlington. As for Dallas who believes that even though they did not have the guts to build the stadium they will reap most of income the benefit shuttles from their hotels should not be an issue. They agreed to participate in Super Bowl fast enough. Just to wrap this up, Arlington is not Dallas. We can make decisions and take action.

xdavidwattsx, says:

Awesome, Barbara. Tell your fellow peeps in Arlington to keep on rockin like it's 1977. That attitude is exactly why I LEFT Arlington and moved to Dallas.

DH, says:

Gee, Barbara, why would Dallas residents want to build a stadium when the taxpayers of Arlington will do it for us? e.g. Seven Seas, The Ball Park(s), etc. Gotta love those bond elections!

As a 30 year resident of Arlington, from the 60's to the 90's, I watched the population grow from 75.000 to over 300,000. Now Arlington has the singular honor of being the largest city in America without a comprehensive public transportation system?

Arlington needs to contribute a little to the support of the Metroplex's infrastructure. It's not enough to be the place where people go to sleep, shop, or watch sports. Now, your major contribution is traffic congestion along I20 and I30.

Bus service from Arlington to the ITC in Fort Worth? Please, is that the best your city council can think up? Why not run those buses to the TRE station to the north? Why not a light rail from, say, the UTA area? Hell, extend it all the way down to I20 and pick up a few malls in the process. Far more productive than bus tours to Interlochen for the Christmas lights.

bdoyle, says:

People live in the mid-cities so they have an option of working either in Dallas or Fort Worth. Lets get some public transportation to those areas from Arlington and stop the hell that is the commute on I-20, I-30, 360, etc.

belleview, says:

Barbara - I am a new Irving resident. My husband and I moved here last year after spending 20 years in Denver. I do drive but I am also a public transit rider. It seems to me that you have a problem with public transportation. How is Irving better off without DART? How do you expect those without autos to get around? Is DART the reason why you moved to Arlington? I need public transit and can't live in an area without it. Answers please.

DH, says:

Exactly my point. I have friends that live in Plano and work in Fort worth. Never mind why you would want to do that, a large number of the TRE's passengers do just that.

If it were convenient for Arlington's citizens to ride the train, they might make that choice. As it stands, they would have to drive up the terribly congested N-S corridors to get to the DFW or Hurst-Bell stations. I can see why they choose not to.

As a former resident of a hoity-toity Arlington neighborhood with a Junior Leager ex-wife, I believe I know the rationale that drives comments like Barbara's. As xdavidwattsx commented though, it's not the 70's any more and it's time Arlington accepted a role in the growth of the Metroplex.

DH, says:

Scott, can I get tinfoil in a cool plaid like that?

xdavidwattsx, says:

DH - I had a lengthy conversation with Kathryn Wilemon (District 4 City Council - Arlington) about my concerns for Arlington needing mass transit and frustrations that a sizable chunk of the city was stuck with negative connotations of mass transit. Point blank, she said people tell her they don't want to pay for something that brings transients from Dallas to Arlington. She was all for it and it's why I helped elect her, but that attitude is prevalent there.

Shortly after I finally left that place and never looked back. I got tired of commuting from Arlington to Plano. Arlington needs a big ol warm glass of wake the hell up.

DH, says:

xdavidwattsx, as I recall, the current mayor of Arlington, aside from delivering all my children, hails from that district. One of his campaign planks was a desire to improve basic citizen services. It seems a public transportation system would be in accord with that desire.

In a Wall Street Journal article, it was noted that, "United Way polled community leaders in 2005 asking them to name the city's greatest needs, public transportation topped the list". Are those same community leaders representative of their constituency or are they just giving lip service to the problem?

If bringing transients to Arlington were a viable issue, there would, no doubt, be a Dan Dipert tour.

xdavidwattsx, says:

I hear those polls but when I lived there and some sort of transportation proposal came up it was always voted down by the general public. It was frustrating.

I do think this stadium is giving some of the residents a real wake up call that their current infrastructure isn't going to cut it. I voted against Jerryworld but if it finally brings transit then I suppose it won't be a total fail.

bdoyle, says:

Transients from Dallas to Arlington? I think they take cabs not buses. There's a network of people/motels/drugs out there and they have their own transportation, thank you very much. I am talking about working people here who commute!

DH, says:

Well, I sincerely hope something does the trick. Maybe the coming new traffic problems will be just the wake up call they need.

DH, says:

Yeah, about those transients. Trust me Barbara, if they want to be in Arlington, they are already there. At least with a decent public transportation system, you could buy them a train ticket to Fort Worth. Or Grand Prairie.

DH, says:

I'd want to do my own clan, anyway.

snoryder8019, says:

I'm an independent cable contractor. I moved with my girlfriend from Denver because her career brought her here to Fort Worth. Thanks to a missleading group of contractors in FW and the bank breaking gas prices, I'm out of business. I decided to simplify and sell the truck for a few bikes (not straight up). I know I can be a career bartender in the DFW area. I found that Funky Town has as good , if not better public trans than Denver. A week later I found that I could go all the way to Dallas and get around town. Wow!, what a great idea this is turning out to be! So I get a job in FW. Training is two weeks long in Arlington. "no problem!", I say, "I'll be there at 4:30." So I go home and check the internet for bus routes to where I'm going. Couldn't find anything for the "T". I check Arlington's web site for half an hour until I get hungry and decide to give up. I'll just do it in the morning. Does anyone know where this story goes? I still have the job, I'm humble and asked to car pool, but really? What a monumental let down. This city is supposed to be playground America, right? How can a city, that size, vote down any mta project. Screw DART! If your city doesn't want that kind or crappy entity in your area, FINE! Start you own. Start small, you'll build revenue through tax, fares, and other contracts. Before you know it you have a great bus system that connects the rest of the metroplex together. Maybe it could, one day, be thriving enough to buy out DART's contract when it's up and be the savior of Dallas, oh yeah and Irving (sorry babs). Its too bad that Arlington has a lot of catching up to do. Should of been thinking about this before you put in the TEXAS GIANT.