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Arlington Finally Catches the Bus


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#1 BlueMound

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Posted 27 August 2013 - 03:03 PM

Biggest American Town Without Public Transportation Finally Catches the Bus

http://www.wired.com...gton-texas-bus/


Edited by AndyN, 28 August 2013 - 10:16 AM.
Please post links only


#2 Electricron

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Posted 28 August 2013 - 08:44 AM

Has it really caught the bus isn't the question, the real question is has it caught public transportation?

I don't consider a single bus route any more public transportation than a privately ran limousine or taxi service.

FYI: Arlington ISD has been running an Arlington bus service for decades.



#3 Doohickie

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Posted 28 August 2013 - 09:06 AM

I think it's interesting that they're using DART equipment.


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#4 Electricron

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Posted 28 August 2013 - 01:26 PM

I think it's interesting that they're using DART equipment.


Are you sure they will be using DART equipment? I see a FWTA T logo on the bus in the photo from that article, without a corresponding DART logo.

#5 mmmdan

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Posted 29 August 2013 - 08:26 AM

That is interesting, since they made the deal with DART.  As far as I know the only involvement with the T is that the bus runs to CentrePoint Station.



#6 renamerusk

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Posted 29 March 2014 - 03:06 PM

What is the latest on this experiment?



#7 Dylan

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Posted 29 March 2014 - 08:12 PM

I have no idea, but my thinking is that MAX is a good option for those who park at Centreport or another suburban TRE station to get to/from Arlington, but a crummy option for those who go to Fort Worth or Dallas from Arlington (or vise versa).

 

It takes 20-30 minutes for the bus to get from Arlington to Centreport according to their schedule. If you are going to Fort Worth or Dallas on the TRE, you have to add 30 minutes to that. That means it takes an hour to get to Fort Worth or Dallas from Arlington. That is triple the time it takes to drive to/from either. I'm thinking they should add express busses that go to/from Fort Worth and Dallas, thus cutting many passenger's travel time by more than half.


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#8 Austin55

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Posted 24 October 2017 - 05:06 PM

What is the latest on this experiment?

 

The contract ends this year and will not be renewed.



#9 Jeriat

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Posted 24 October 2017 - 07:06 PM

 

What is the latest on this experiment?

 

The contract ends this year and will not be renewed.

 

 

Color me "not surprised"... 


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#10 Dylan

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Posted 24 October 2017 - 09:20 PM

Here is what Arlington's transit committee recommends: http://www.arlington...Report-2017.pdf

 

The report shuns traditional rail and bus service. HSR is apparently the only acceptable type of rail.

 

Ironically, CentrePort Station (a traditional commuter rail station) is considered an important hub.

 

The report is open to using BRT and/or express busses along the I-30 and I-20 corridors (let's hope so!).

 

Most corridors / destinations would be served by "on-demand" services that you request with an app. Sounds like Lyft / Uber to me.

 

My prediction: These transit options would not be affordable for everyday use.


-Dylan


#11 Austin55

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Posted 24 October 2017 - 09:40 PM

Thanks for sharing the PDF, PAS. 

 

This all seems a bit futile. To my eye, Arlington is basically built out in most places and I can't imagine the population increasing a huge amount. As is, Arlington functions fine as an auto-oriented city, as much as a don't like to admit it. The land uses are so spread and varied any transit system would be tough to get those last mile connections, and again, it's working without them right now.

 

An express bus to connect both downtown Dallas & Fort Worth to UTA and the rather up and coming Downtown Arlington is the only thing I really see being feasible, and also a replacement for MAX (and potentially even faster than what MAX currently runs). I think the focus should be on UTA/downtown Arlington as it is an up and coming area.



#12 johnfwd

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 05:56 AM

Being the largest city between Dallas and Fort Worth, Arlington is more closely aligned with Fort Worth's transportation infrastructure.  We've discussed elsewhere that, eventually, Fort Worth-Arlington will be considered a metropolitan area separate from the Dallas environs.  The COG regional transportation planners should be looking at a Fort Worth-Arlington transportation network.  The Fort Worth Transportation Authority, not DART, should be proactive in the development of bus and commuter rail throughout the two cities in a joint cooperative venture.  And this should be apart from any HSR or other transit links between Fort Worth and Dallas.



#13 tamtagon

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 06:37 AM

Step in the right direction for sure. 



#14 Electricron

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 04:57 PM

Arlington and Grand Prairie should together form a bi-city bus transit system, either jointly or separate;y. Neither FWTA or DART will treat either city with regular bus lines - they will offer pick up van service reserved a day in advance. If you want a traditional bus lines along traditional streets, like Division and Broadway, they're going to have to provide the service themselves. 

Once that last mile link is in place, watch DART and FWTA stumble over themselves to  bring some sort of rail down old US 80 or the I-30 corridors. I would suggest a light rail line if you want 90 minutes downtown Dallas to downtown Fort Worth services, or a commuter rail line if you want to travel that distance in 60 minutes.  The UP (ex T&P) rail corridor could support either if UP will allow it, as could I-30. The old US 80 route could support street running light rail at grade in dedicated lanes, but not commuter rail. There's options available, but so far no one has even started a study to find out which would be better because both Grand Prairie and Arlington have no bus services at all, either their own or joining others. Until that happens, nothing will advance. because there will be no money to even study it. 



#15 Dylan

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Posted 28 October 2017 - 05:10 PM

Have you seen The T master plan? FWTA would absolutely be willing to provide Arlington with traditional bus service (and/or rail) if they were to become a member city.

 

Unfortunately, Arlington's mayor is completely against traditional bus service. He asked the committee to avoid suggesting traditional bus service.

 

As for rail, it's worth noting that NRH and Grapevine will soon have commuter rail stations despite not having traditional bus service.


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#16 Austin55

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Posted 14 February 2018 - 01:02 PM

They've committed to HSR but not to a greater transportation initiative. 

 

http://www.star-tele...e199921264.html

 

I posted more detailed plans on each of the 4 proposed station locations here, and also made note of a people-mover system, similar to the one Schwager Davis recently presented to Fort Worth, which would connect a few points of interest like Centerport Stataion, the HSR station, and UTA.

 

It also seems several transportation options were pitched to the city, including proposals from both FWTA and DART. You can see each of those here, and here is a single slide with a map of the FWTA's proposal.



#17 Dylan

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Posted 14 February 2018 - 06:38 PM

Arlington should strive for commuter rail or light rail, not expensive HSR bullet trains.

 

That said, I'd be okay with Arlington getting a HSR stop (even though they don't deserve one) if that's the only way we can get them to join a transit agency.


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#18 Austin55

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Posted 19 September 2018 - 04:00 PM

VIA is launching it's planned expansion to S Arlington, around the mall and Highlands

 

http://www.fortworth...630a1f464d.html

 

The article mentions 53,000 riders since last December, which I guess is around 175 a day. 



#19 Electricron

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Posted 20 September 2018 - 01:18 PM

VIA is launching it's planned expansion to S Arlington, around the mall and Highlands
 
http://www.fortworth...630a1f464d.html
 
The article mentions 53,000 riders since last December, which I guess is around 175 a day.

Also from the same news story; “The City of Arlington is contributing approximately one third of the project cost, in the amount of $322,500, with the remainder coming from the Federal Transit Administration.”
So that means the average subsidy per ride (53,000) was $6.08 , $4.04 from FTA and $2.02 from Arlington.
The individual rider either paid $3 per trip, or $15 per week with unlimited trips.

#20 Austin55

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Posted 20 September 2018 - 01:44 PM

By comparison, TM bus ridership was 6.5 million, TRE with 2.1 million, and vanpool ridership was 322k.

TM's operating budget is $91.8.

So about $10 per rider.

#21 Austin55

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Posted 28 September 2018 - 09:34 AM

To expand on this, MAX evidently carried 240 people per day, at a cost of $700k per year. 240x365 = 87,600 riders in a year. $700,000 / 87,6000 riders = $8 per rider.






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