Fort Worth — Streetcar Plan Revealed

Rail Transit Online, January 2009

An 18-member Streetcar Study Committee has completed a comprehensive plan for financing and building a 12-mi. (19.3 km), three-route downtown streetcar system. The project could be completed in five years and would cost around $250 million, but some funding sources have yet to be identified.
The initial routes would include:

• A downtown loop;
• West Seventh Street to the Will Rogers Center and the University of North Texas campus;
• South Main Street with spurs to Evans Avenue and Rosedale Street and to the medical district along Magnolia and Eighth avenues.

Subsequent lines would be built further along East Rosedale and on North Main Street to the Stockyards. About $89 million of the capital cost would be generated by existing tax increment financing districts, supplemented by the downtown improvement district. Another $97 million would be contributed by the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, gas well revenue and hotel taxes, leaving a $64-million gap.

There is strong political support from local elected officials who have already visited streetcar operations in Seattle, Tacoma and Portland. The next step will be hiring a consultant for detailed planning.