U.S. Streetcar Systems

John Smatlak - RPR Consulting

Texas Streetcar Systems

Fort Worth

Fort Worth Streetcar

Began Operation: proposed

Miles of Line: tbd  

Stations:  tbd

Org: tbd  

Schedule: tbd

In December 2008 an 18-member Streetcar Study Committee 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 committee's December 2008 City Council presentation can be found on the City's streetcar web page. 

In addition to analyzing the physical characteristics of various route concepts, the evaluation criteria included consideration of employment sites and other trip generators, current bus ridership in the same corridor, projected population and employment density, as well as development and financing potential.

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. In April 2009 the proposed streetcar was officially added to the Fort Worth / Dallas region’s Mobility 2030 plan, an important step towards eligibility for federal transit funding: Additional information on the proposal can be found via the links below.