The Collin County Observer

While DART fights its own internal corruption and financial incompetence, Denton is leading the way in showing what a county can do to solve its mobility problems.

It was only a few years ago when 3 Denton cities formed the DCTA. Since then, they have started bus service to downtown Dallas, and will have commuter rail by 2010.

Of course, for Denton, it took courageous leadership by a few elected leaders, working in concert towards a vision - then educating, inspiring and campaigning until that vision was fulfilled.

"Courageous leadership" is, unfortunately, a Collin County oxymoron. In Collin County, we have many "Elected Officials", but damned few leaders.

Frisco is joining up with some DART cities trying to form a coalition that can contract with private companies to provide what DART seems incapable of doing. (see "Cities weighing rail service on BNSF" article below) It's good to see that someone in this county is looking for alternatives.

I have concerns about public-private transportation partnerships. They make me think Trans-Texas Corridor and foreign companies that deal under the table with the Governor.

Nevertheless, these types of creative solutions must be explored, debated, and perhaps even made to work for the citizens. We know that the old formulas won't work - we must seek new solutions. And we won't know what they are until we begin to try to find them.

Bill

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The DCTA gets its train moving
Editorial
Denton Record Chronicle
Sunday, March 2, 2008

It is appropriate that the progress in building a railroad is similar to that of a railroad locomotive itself. A train moves so slowly at the beginning that an impatient passenger can be forgiven for thinking the thing is never going to get out of the station.

But the train eventually begins picking up speed, and at some almost imperceptible point the passenger realizes he is on his way.

If things go according to plan, that “We’re off!” moment will come in May for the Denton County Transportation Authority. That’s when the DCTA hopes to award a contract for a dozen diesel-powered railroad vehicles that will move passengers along its Denton-to-Carrollton line sometime after the road is completed in 2010. The bidding process will begin next month.

The DCTA has set aside $71 million for the 12 commuter-rail vehicles, and there will be some suspense to see which, if any, bids come in at or under that estimate. The DCTA’s specifications call for the vehicles to have the capability of running on electrified as well as non-electrified rails, and to be manufactured with the latest fuel-efficient and sound-dampening technology. The money is coming from the DCTA’s own coffers and from the Regional Transportation Council.

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