Feb 17, 2010
Dallas Wins, Fort Worth Loses on TIGER Streetcar Funds
By: Kevin Buchanan
The US Department of Transportation has announced the winners of the TIGER recovery fund grants this morning. The complete list of winners can be view here (PDF link).
Both Fort Worth and Dallas had applied for TIGER funds to help with the construction of their respective modern streetcar systems. Dallas has won $23 million for the downtown Dallas streetcar line it’s been planning. Fort Worth won nothing for our own modern streetcar system.
Other streetcar projects which won TIGER funds besides Dallas include Tucson, New Orleans, and a reworking of a segment of the Portland streetcar.
Not much info just yet on what kept Fort Worth out of the running. More to come, certainly. The city has also applied for a New Starts grant from the Federal Transit Administration, the outcome of which we won’t know until later in the year.
Update: The Star-Telegram’s transportation blog has some more, including remarks from Tarrant Co. Judge Glen Whitley on why we may have lost, and the possibility that the grant goes to both Fort Worth and Dallas but Dallas gets listed solo because of the ages-old “Fort Worth is part of Dallas, right?” mentality.
If Fort Worth doesn’t get a slice of the pie, Whitley blamed petty politics — Tarrant County is SLIGHTLY redder than Democrat-blue Dallas County. He said it was time for people in both parties to start working together to solve transportation problems.
“You happen to be in the reddest of counties,” Whitley told about 500 people at the Northeast Tarrant County Transportation Summit Wednesday morning in Grapevine. “The only county redder than Tarrant County in the U.S. is Orange County in California. The happenstance that we were eliminated I’m sure is coincidental. We’ve got to stop the partisanship. We’ve got to start going what’s best for the region, and stop putting up with this …”
One other explanation may be that the award was meant for both cities, but that Dallas was the only city listed … perhaps an oversimplification, often held by many nonresidents that the entire North Texas region is “Dallas.”
We don’t like getting overtly political here on Fort Worthology, but we feel like Whitley’s thoughts about this being a red-county-vs.-blue-county thing are newsworthy and worth bringing up.
Update 2: Quoth somebody who’s heard from people in the city: “confusion reigns.” It seems that North Central Texas Council of Governments does not know if USDOT means for the grant to be solely for Dallas, or split between the Dallas and Fort Worth projects. Sounds like real miscommunication between the feds and local officials. It is not known if USDOT has really picked Dallas alone or just used Dallas because they forgot to mention Fort Worth because of the “Dallas area” mindset. More to come.
Update 3: The Observer seems to have confirmed it: the money is for Dallas only.
That is just sad for FW.
This is a shame. Looking at the two objectively, Fort Worth’s would (will eventually) leverage more development. The first phase in Dallas, that this money would go to, is little more than a downtown tourist loop, linking the convention center hotel with the arts district.
The range of service of streetcars historically supported inner ring neighborhoods and not coincidentally, those are the areas which will see the most benefit from the return of streetcars. IMO, Dallas is mistaken in waiting for later phases (which could possibly not materialize – worst case scenario) to reach into the areas that need the most help: Deep Ellum, Ross Ave link to Greenville and Oak Cliff/Bishop Arts.
While I am very excited to hear about the win for Dallas, I believe Fort Worth’s plan would have had more of an impact over a larger area. Fort Worth is rapidly becoming more dense and needs the streetcar system to help with smart growth. Hopefully Fort Worth will receive other funds and they system will be built. Does the city have funds for the project if it doesn’t receive money from the federal government?
Is it really true that the only county redder than Tarrant County in the U.S. is Orange County? Not saying it’s not true, I just have a hard time believing that without seeing statistics of some sort.
Chris, I’ve heard this statistic many times before. Having lived in both counties, I don’t find it hard to believe. The days of the Texas Democrat are long gone.
Agree with Chris. I mean what about the counties where Lubbock, Amarillo, Beaumont, Tyler, Longview, OKC, Tulsa, Birmingham, etc etc etc are? Granted, when people say “most” red or blue, they are really talking about a difference of 10-30% from city to city, not really completely black and white. For example, what is Austin/Travis County? I imagine it is balanced around 50/50 whereas Fort Worth/Tarrant County is about 62/38.
Did anyone see the statistics from the election poll taken last week in the StarTelegram? After looking at that, I would have to say we are pretty Red. Kind of sad if you ask me, but you didn’t ask me, so I will keep my opinion to myself. Oh well, what’s a yellow dog to do?
I agree with Chris, I’d like to see where that statistic comes from. Doesn’t ring true to me.
No idea about that statement – was just quoting the S-T.
So does this mean that the FW Streetcar plan is dead?
It sounds like Judge Whitley may be playing a little politics himself. If the grants were based on politics, would any of the money have gone to Alabama and Tennessee? Because they received over $100 million, while Dallas received only $23 million, and Obama is surely not going to turn those states blue anytime soon.
I think we might need to consider that Fort Worth has absolutely no rail transit and a fairly poor bus system, while Dallas has something like 50 miles of light rail (soon to be much more) and 250,000 daily riders on their system. They are also just a bigger city. Fort Worth, meanwhile, can’t even seem to get SW2NE off the ground. To the FTA, Dallas probably just seems like a better investment.
Maybe a streetcar just isn’t the place to start?
Fort Worth may have also paid for it’s properity.
I don’t know about Tucson, but Dallas, Portland, & NOLA have much better reputations/experience with public transit than FW. It could’e been a feasibility issue, or they may be looking for a safer bet on getting the job done quickly.
I do despise how our opportunistic elected republican judge immediate cries partisanship when Dallas gets funding and FW doesn’t. Pot, meet kettle.
Not a doubt in my mind that FW didn’t get the funds because our congressperson is a member of the republican leadership.
I can’t back this up with facts, it’s just a hunch.
Jeff – it’s a setback, no doubt, but it doesn’t mean that it’s dead. There is still the FTA New Starts grant, which we’ll hear te results of later in the year, plus combos of city & regional dollars. Losing TIGER doesn’t help, though.
It’s a completely backward system. You have to prove ridership to get federal money. And it’s pretty hard to prove ridership when you don’t have a streetcar system for anyone to ride. I once heard someone say that if we tried to finance rail like this back in the 19th century, the western border of the US would be the Mississippi. Add to that a scarcity of federal funds (the result of no real commitment to transit) and you get results like this.
I say to hell with the feds, to hell with the state, and to hell with our pride: get rid of the crime district (they use a half cent of sales tax) and merge the T with DART.
Hey, this is not that big of a blow. Keep thinking positive. The kickoff meeting for the streetcar circulator design team is set for March 4th. The TIGER grant was a quick opportunity to get some additional funding. Losing the grant (if we did) does not mean it is over, by any means. We’re all still waiting for clarification.
The “redness” of Tarrant maybe overstated – but not by much – it depends on percents vs. raw numbers. The link below has the 2008 Presidential election results by county for the entire nation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/election/uscounties.html
Fort Worth is not out of the running…the DOT stated earlier in the month that so many good apps came through for TIGER that they’re looking at a second one funded at $50 Billion.
With that being said, it’s obvious that FW isn’t on the list for this one. The award specified each of the stops for the Dallas line (Main/Harwood, Convention Ctr, Union St., Methodist Hosp).
I am pissed. I thought this was a great proposal to improve the quality of life in Fort Worth. If it is true that Dallas got it because of politics, the US is worse off than I thought…
I would like to reiterate what Andy and others have said – this doesn’t kill Fort Worth’s streetcar project. There’s still New Starts plus our city/county/etc. funding. It doesn’t help, but it’s far from dead.
It *is* disappointing, and even more so considering how big a deal was made of the joint application and how great it made our chances for success because it showed we were working together as one big happy regional family…only to have Fort Worth shut out. There’s definitely a reason to be irritated by the whole thing, but again, it doesn’t spell doom for the streetcar.
I really hate to make the red state/blue state argument, but when NOLA gets $43mil to FULLY fund a 1.5mile loop, while the average grant only received 1/3 of the request I can’t help but wonder
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/02/new_orleans_awarded_45_million.html
Do the FTA and New Starts grants offer as much money as the TIGER and does anyone know the probability of Fort Worth’s obtaining either of those? Further, is the methodology of determining which projects/cities get the grants similar or the same as with TIGER or do different grant sources essentially have entirely different methodologies to select who gets funded?
As Sam mentioned above, the logic behind not funding transit in any place where it doesn’t already exist is ridiculous.
[...] website (with full list of recipients across US) Ray LaHood’s blog Dallas Morning News Fort Worthology Tags: dallas, fort worth, [...]
I wasn’t arguing that not funding transit in any place where it doesn’t already exist is the logic of the FTA or the Obama Administration or anyone. I just don’t think this was based on red/blue politics. Obviously transit systems have to start somewhere, but the FTA is going to be less likely to fund a major investment in a city that has shown little commitment to transit outside of the streetcar application (the new bike plan is probably too recent). The Administration wants the projects to be successful, and Fort Worth may be more of a risk than Dallas.
I also think that perhaps the congressional reps could have a lot of influence on the process amidst all the Washington horse trading. If Kay Granger or Joe Barton or whomever was a huge supporter of the streetcar, it would be more likely to get traction in Washington. The representatives from the Portland, Oregon, area, Peter DeFazio and Earl Blumenauer are two of the most outspoken transit advocates in Washington, and Portland just so happens to be included in almost every funding cycle.
Even if the Administration was basing the choices on red/blue politics, there just isn’t much to gain from only funding projects in areas where Obama is already strong. Wouldn’t he be more likely to try to win over the red voters with projects rather than wasting the money on votes he already has wrapped up?
The criteria are listed in the first few pages of the award announcement: http://www.dot.gov/documents/finaltigergrantinfo.pdf
Illinois grabbed $100 million.
Comments on Dallas Observer’s Unfair Park suggest that the Dallas portion of the application was selected because they had more of their money lined up than Fort Worth. I think based on the criteria, Fort Worth is very competitive with Dallas. Success with existing transit projects within a given area does not seem to be an established criteria.
Blame it on Jerry Jones and the media. Let’s see, the NBA All-Star game was where? Oh, in Dallas. The Superbowl next year will be where? That’s right, Dallas. Yes, I realize Jerryworld is in Arlington, but it’s a helluva lot closer to Cowtown than Big D. If FW is ever going to break free and get its own recognition, it’s gonna have to do something dramatic. Maybe all those red voting, Perry supporters will see the wisdom in Tarrant County seceding. That’ll draw some attention.
Please get over the Dallas v. Fort Worth thing. It’s a tired cliche that only exists in the mind of people living in an Amon Carter “brown bag” time warp. I live in FW and love it. Work in Dallas. NOBODY in D considers FW to be a rival for anything- period. People there love FW and heartily recommend it’s attractions. They rightly consider FW part of the metro area in which they live and are happy to take pride in it. Maybe Oak Cliff just had a better proposal.
As for the red/blue idea- yeah, I remember the torrent of funding for rail here during the W years…give me a break.
User “NThomas” on the Fort Worth Architecture Forum had an interesting point-of-view:
“I can’t help but think if two separate applications were filed by the City of Fort Worth and the City of Dallas, instead of the joint application by NCTCOG, both cities would have gotten a third of what they needed (a standard the TIGER Grant seemed to have followed on most requests).
As happy as I am for Dallas, it’s disappointing to see a city with sub-par transportation (rail and roads) denied funding for a step in the right direction. I’m not calling for heads, but this seems like a HUGE f*** up on NCTCOG’s part. Anyone else following my line of thought?”
I don’t see this as a Red vs Blue thing. That being said, I am less convinced that D received the grant because of proven TOD development and a greater feasibility that their line would be more successful. Previous comments, I believe, very effectively support this point of view. This morning’s Star-Telegram offered an interesting perspective on what might have gone wrong with the proposal.
“But others who have followed the Fort Worth streetcar proposal noted that the project had its problems, including the fact it is competing for federal funds with a proposed commuter rail line from southwest Fort Worth to Grapevine, a $500 million-plus project that’s already partly funded.”
http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1977192-p2.html
I know that some of the actual residents of Oak Cliff came together and wrote their own additional proposal to submit to the feds. The city of Dallas only hopped on after the proposal was written for the oak cliff extension of the streetcar. It could be the reason that the funds were allocated to Dallas and not Ft. Worth.
The city of Dallas and city hall didn’t have much to do with Dallas getting the streetcar funds, it was the residents of Oak Cliff that came together for it.
Maybe just one possibility among many.
Is there anything the residents of FW can do to raise awareness/support for the street car? If we’re loud enough about it, surely we can get someone’s attention. It seems like Oak Cliff’s plan has a very grass roots start.
That’s a great point/question. In my opinion, one action that should be very productive is to email or call City Councilmembers and elected officials including Kay Granger and Charlie Geren. While you might think that they have “already heard about streetcars”, I think that every voice or email from a constituent essentially registers as thousands of votes as few constituents actually take the time to call or write them.
[...] Fort Worth didn't receive a dime in federal funds to jump start its street car system, but Dallas received 23 million Fort Worth didn't receive a dime for its street car system. Seriously, this is a bunch of bull. One side of the metro will have light rail system and street car system. Fort Worth and the rest of Tarrant County continue to have no form of mass transit. Doesn't make sense but I believe politics as usual play huge part in these decisions on how this money is distributed. Dallas Wins, Fort Worth Loses on TIGER Streetcar Funds | Fort Worthology [...]
Interesting article this morning from Dallas’s perspective:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/transportation/stories/021810dnmettigergrants.127f32376.html
Excerpt:
“”This is really great news,” he said, noting that it would not have been possible had it not been for U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, each of whom had personally and repeatedly lobbied Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and other top officials in favor of the Dallas grants.”
[...] Fort Worth didn't receive a dime in federal funds to jump start its street car system, but Dallas received 23 million Fort Worth didn't receive a dime for its street car system. Seriously, this is a bunch of bull. One side of the metro will have light rail system and street car system. Fort Worth and the rest of Tarrant County continue to have no form of mass transit. Doesn't make sense but I believe politics as usual play huge part in these decisions on how this money is distributed. Please chime in Fort Worth and Tarrant County http://www.bizpress.net/display.php?id=11984 Dallas Wins, Fort Worth Loses on TIGER Streetcar Funds | Fort Worthology [...]
Does anyone remember when Rep. Barton tried to humiliate Nobel Prize winner and Energy Secretary Steven Chu?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=symYfq51aho
I completely agree with SusanaSanJuan. If your congressional leader doesn’t care enough to support their constituents, why would the federal government?
Just saying.