Texas Transit Association

If Fort Worth can put up half the money to build and operate a commuter rail line to Dallas, then San Antonio can pitch in to develop similar service to Austin, local business leaders said. “And we can probably do it better,” said Michael Novak, chairman of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.

S.A.-Austin rail pushed
Patrick Driscoll
San Antonio Express-News 05/01/2004

Novak helped lead a delegation of more than a dozen people, including a few from Austin, to check out the state’s only commuter rail service — the Trinity Railway Express linking the downtowns of Fort Worth and Dallas.

“If there was any lesson that we learned today, this is a part of the solution that we have to use,” said Tullos Wells, chairman of the Austin-San Antonio Commuter Rail District.

Commuter rail is needed because of growing traffic congestion on Interstate 35 and the increasing restrictions that congestion puts on economic activity, Wells said.

“It’s not a question of if this is going to happen, it’s a question of when,” he said.

The rail district, formed last year, is busy updating a 1999 study on the feasibility of commuter rail between San Antonio and Austin.

Officials hope to get numbers this year, develop a plan, fund it, and — perhaps with fingers crossed — start up service by 2009.

The last study said it would cost $475 million in 1998 dollars to start a 110-mile rail line, an amount that could add two lanes to I-35. Trains could run every 30 to 90 minutes, and rides from San Antonio to Austin might last an hour and 45 minutes and cost $9.

Officials with the transit agencies in Fort Worth and Dallas told the San Antonio group they started their 35-mile system for about $290 million, with the first section opening in 1996 and the rest by 2001.

The two agencies split the $16 million a year it takes to operate the system.

That doesn’t seem much of a problem for Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which collects $350 million a year from a 1-cent per dollar sales tax, said those in the San Antonio contingent. What’s impressive is how the Fort Worth Transportation Authority is managing costs.

Fort Worth collects half a cent, and because the city is smaller than San Antonio, it’s reaping just $32 million a year, half of what VIA Metropolitan Transit gets for its 1/2-cent tax.

Fort Worth is considering about 30 more miles of commuter rail over the next 10 to 15 years, said Dick Ruddell, director of the transit agency there.

Funding for the San Antonio-to-Austin line remains a huge question.

Officials will try to get money from every federal, state and local source possible. That could include the transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations and regional mobility authorities in both cities.

Fort Worth and Dallas found a way to do it, Wells said, adding: “We need to learn from that.”

The Railway Express carries about 8,000 passengers each workday to and from nine transit stations. A trip along the whole length takes about an hour, and a one-way ticket costs $2.25. Trains run from every 20 minutes during rush hour to every 90 minutes late at night.

And the rides are smooth and easy, customers say.

Scott Calkin rode the rail system for the first time Friday to get to jury duty in Fort Worth.

“It’s very clean and pleasant,” he said. “It’s just a hassle to drive downtown and find parking, and it’s a bit of a novelty so I wanted to try it.”

He said he’ll ride again when the occasion arises.