Quarterly Newsletter of the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area

Mobility Matters is a newsletter on the transportation planning activities and air quality programs of the North Central Texas Council of Governments andthe Regional Transportation Council – together serving as the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area since 1974.

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Calendar

• Regional Transportation Council Meeting

March 10 - 1:30 p.m.

NCTCOG Transportation Board Room

616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington

• Air Quality Public Meeting

March 14, 2005 - 3:00 p.m. Weatherford City Hall

303 Palo Pinto St, Weatherford, TX 76086

• Regional Transportation Council Public Meetings

March 14, 2005 - 10:30 a.m.Plano City Hall

1520 Avenue K, Plano, TX 75074

March 15, 2005 - 6:30 p.m.Dallas Samuel-Grand Recreation Center

6200 E Grand Ave Dallas, TX 75223

March 16, 2005 - 6:30 p.m.Fort Worth Intermodal Center

1000 Jones Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102

• Air Quality Public Meeting

March 17, 2005 - 3:00 p.m.Waxahachie City Hall

401 S Rogers St, Waxahachie, TX 75165

• NCTCOG Executive Board Meeting

March 24, 2005 - 12:45 p.m.

NCTCOG Transportation Board Room

616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington

• Surface Transportation TechnicalCommittee Meeting

March 25, 2005 - 1:30 p.m.

NCTCOG Transportation Board Room

616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington

• Regional Transportation Council Meeting

April 14, 2005 - 1:30 p.m.

NCTCOG Transportation Board Room

616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington

• Surface Transportation TechnicalCommittee Meeting

April 22, 2005 - 1:30 p.m.

NCTCOG Transportation Board Room

616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington

• NCTCOG Executive Board Meeting

April 28, 2005 - 12:45 p.m.

NCTCOG Transportation Board Room

616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington

NOTE: Dates, times and locations of meetings may change. Please confirm by calling 817-695-9240

AView from AboveAerial Photography Used for Monitoring Traffic Congestion

Winter 2005

mobilitymatters

Increasing traffic congestionand the resulting vehicleemissions are a major

challenge in the Dallas – FortWorth region. Commuters lose asignificant amount of time everyday stuck in traffic, causingincreased travel time, increaseddelays, frustration, high vehicle

emissions and poor airquality. Faced withgrowing traveldemand andlimitedtransportationresources, it isimportant thatdecision-makers

have anunderstanding ofthe performance

levels of our currenttransportation system.Recognizing this need, the North Central Texas Council Of Governments (NCTCOG)initiated an innovative datacollection effort to assessmorning and evening rush hourtraffic conditions in the region.

NCTCOG commissioned low-level aerial photography oflimited-access highways in theregion. The first aerial survey,covering 750 miles, wascompleted in 1999. A secondaerial survey, covering 850 miles,was done in 2003. The two sets

of data are valuable forcomparing the performance ofeach roadway between 1999 and2003. The purpose of this surveywas to identify bottlenecks,monitor system performance,evaluate the benefits oftransportation improvementstrategies, compare long-termcongestion trends and enhancethe mobility of people and goods.

One of the advantages of the2003 data collection effort is the1999 vs. 2003 comparison ofroadway system performance. It identifies locations on selectedhighways where major changesin traffic conditions occurredsince the 1999 aerial survey.Performance on some highwaysimproved, whereas othersdegraded, due to a number of reasons.

Through the web page users caneasily access the databasecontaining all of the collecteddata, from vehicle counts androad segmentation to flightinformation and the variablesused to calculate congestionlevels. Using this database, anumber of reports can bedisplayed or printed, includingsegment densities, speeds, levelof service and vehicleclassification.

Mapping Display see page 3

TransCADModeling Put to the TestTransportation Staff HelpTest Real World Accuracyof Computer ModelMetropolitan travel demandforecasting models, initiallydeveloped for regional roadwayand transit system planning, areincreasingly being used forcorridor analysis studies, trafficimpact studies, and trafficoperations studies. Rush hourcongested travel times are animportant conclusion offorecasting tools that can be usedto develop roadway systemperformance measures.

TransCAD technology providesengineers and planners with aconsistent and convenientframework for modeling atransportation system.NCTCOG’s InformationSystem’s team is now operatingthe largest, most complex andthorough TransCAD model inthe nation. The data evaluatedthrough this type of modelingtechnology can help governmentsevaluate the short and long-termeffects of proposed transportationimprovements.

The North Central Texas Councilof Governments (NCTCOG)This and other traffic information produced from the

aerial photography is available on the NCTCOG web site, http://www.nctcog.org/trans/photo-survey/2003/index.html. Continued on page 3

Congestion survied weekdays from 6:30–9 am and 3–7 pm

uncomfortable with change.

“Wait, I am confused,” you’reprobably saying to yourself.“We just said we have all thisdifference every day and nowyou’re saying individualpersons don’t like change andfrequently support the statusquo.” That is, in fact, reality.When you left the house today,you did see a lot of difference.

What you couldn’tsee is that a lot ofthese people andevents are exactlythe same every day.We collectively are different, but individuallyconsistent.

We live in a diverseregion with differenttypes of problems.Some areasdesperately neednew arterials toalleviate the trafficcongestion through

residential areas, while otherparts of the Metroplex wantmore mass transit options toease the reliance onautomobiles. We don’t solveeach problem the same way. It is important, especially in a

region with six million people,to: (1) understand theimportance of a diverse andbalanced transportation system,(2) promote a publicinvolvement system tocommunicate this differenceand (3) conduct a technicalprocess which can evaluate arange of options and suggestthe right tool for a particular job.

The year 2004 for NCTCOGexemplified this three-stepprocess. In a new partnershipwith the Texas Department ofTransportation, $6 billion ofnew projects will be built in the Dallas-Fort Worth regionover the next 10 years. This past year also recommended a $2.2 billion rail systempromoting passenger rail and$2.4 billion in goods movementimprovements. All plans havefinancial components underwayand public outreach continuingnon-stop. We held over 100meetings on regional rail alone in 2004.

We will continue to identifyproblems and seek solutions…custom solutions, because after all,… mobility matters.

Regional Transportation Council

Jack Hatchell, ChairCommissionerCollin County Wendy Davis, Vice Chair Council Member, City of Fort Worth Cynthia White, SecretaryCommissioner, Denton County Pedro AguirreBoard Member Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Ron BrownCommissioner, Ellis CountyMaribel Chavez, P.E.District Engineer TxDOT, Fort Worth DistrictBob DayMayor, City of GarlandCharles EmeryBoard Chair Denton Transportation AuthorityPat EvansMayor, City of PlanoLois FinkelmanCouncil MemberCity of DallasPaul GeiselBoard ChairFort Worth Transportation AuthoritySandy GreysonCouncil Member, City of DallasWilliam Hale, P.E.District Engineer, TxDOT, Dallas District Roger HarmonCounty Judge, Johnson CountyBecky HaskinCouncil Member, City of Fort WorthF.T. “Bear” HebertMayor, City of BenbrookJohn Heiman, Jr. Council Member, City of MesquiteRon JensenMayor Pro Tem, City of Grand PrairiePete KampCouncil Member, City of DentonMargaret KeliherCounty Judge, Dallas CountyLinda KoopBoard Member Dallas Area Rapid TransitKenneth MayfieldCommissioner, Dallas CountySteve McCollumCouncil Member, City of ArlingtonJack MillerDirector, North Texas Tollway AuthorityRich MorganCitizen Representative, City of DallasJohn MurphyMayor Pro Tem, City of RichardsonMike NowelsDeputy Mayor Pro Tem City of LewisvilleEd OakleyCouncil Member, City of DallasJoe Putnam Mayor, City of IrvingChuck SilcoxCouncil Member, City of Fort WorthGrady SmitheyMayor Pro Tem, City of DuncanvilleMark StokesMayor, City of CarrolltonJohn TatumCitizen Representative, City of DallasMaxine Thornton ReeseCouncil Member, City of DallasOscar TrevinoMayor, City of North Richland HillsCarl TysonMayor Pro Tem, City of EulessMarti VanRavenswaayCommissioner, Tarrant CountyBill WhitfieldMayor, City of McKinney B. Glen WhitleyCommissioner, Tarrant County Kathryn WilemonCouncil Member, City of Arlington

NCTCOG Execut ive Board Bob Phelps, President Mayor, City of Farmers Branch Wayne Gent, Vice President County Judge, Kaufman CountyOscar Trevino, Secretary-Treasurer Mayor, City of North Richland HillsJack Hatchell, Past PresidentCommissioner, Collin County Mike Cantrell, CommissionerDallas CountyTom Vandergriff, County Judge Tarrant CountyBobbie Mitchell, Commissioner Denton CountyBill Blaydes, CouncilmemberCity of DallasWendy Davis, CouncilmemberCity of Fort WorthPat Evans, MayorCity of PlanoJohn Murphy, Mayor Pro TemCity of RichardsonGreg Hirsch, Councilmember Town of AddisonChad Adams, County Judge Ellis CountyJerry Gilmore, General CounselR. Michael Eastland, Executive Director

Regional Transportation Council

Maribel Chavez seeks to find balence between transportation needs and funding

Member ProfileMaribel Chavez, P.E. District Engineer, Texas Department of Transportation, Fort Worth District

A Message from Michael MorrisTransportation Director

“What is the most surprising observation…”

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When you left the house today,you bumped into peoplewearing different types ofclothes, driving different typesof cars, coming from differentparts of town, began travelingat different times of day andgoing to different kinds ofthings. In fact, this mixturepretty well defines the character of a community. Difference is celebrated.

When remodeling isdone on your homeor maintenance onyour car, you seetrades with differentexpertise, tools thatperform differentfunctions andactivities that arespecialized for aparticular purpose.You don’t hire acarpenter to replacea timing chain.

I am now working inmy 26th year atNCTCOG and was recentlyasked, “What is the mostsurprising observation youhave over this time?” Theanswer is individuals want tosolve a problem the exact sameway each time. Individuals are

Balance is key to MaribelChavez. Whether it’s balancingneeds versus funding, localagendas versus regionalconsensus or form versusfunction, Chavez takes it all into consideration in her role as District Engineer of the TexasDepartment of Transportation(TxDOT), Fort Worth District.

“While you can’t ignore yourown agenda you must have aregional perspective and thatcan often involve a balancingact” she said.

Chavez said that same balancingact applies to her work with theRegional Transportation Council(RTC). “As a TxDOT employee I feel I bring a different approachto the table of the RTC. The RTCprovides a regional perspectivefor policy and planning and I look at what it will take tofollow through with thosepolicies or plans,” she said. Thisprovides a unique perspective,one Chavez believes helps withthe planning of the region. ”I aman implementer; where the RTCis the policy and planning boardof the region.”

RTC, Chavez said. “The TMMPlooks at the long-range needswithin the region and developsa prioritized list of projectsaimed at improving mobility,reducing traffic congestion, andmitigating air quality impacts,”she said. “Several memberswere blown away by the shearamount of money it takes justto maintain the roads, muchless the amount of money ittakes for other needs, such asrail and programs to meet airquality standards.” It becomes a real balancing act when thereare so many needs and only limited funding, she added.

Even the design of projects call for a certain level ofbalance, Chavez explained.“Everything used to be aboutthe form and function of ahighway, but now there is the added challenge to designin ways that makes thetransportation system a goodneighbor. But, with this there is still a bottom line, again a balancing act on how toaccommodate amenities and who pays for them.”

The RTC is the independenttransportation policy body of the Metropolitan PlanningOrganization and is responsiblefor overseeing the Metropolitantransportation planning process.

Chavez has been DistrictEngineer of the TxDOT FortWorth District since January2002 and an employee ofTxDOT since 1983. She beganher career as an engineeringassistant working her way upthrough various positions tobecome District Engineer ofFort Worth. The district sheoversees comprises sevencounties: Hood, Jack, Johnson,Palo Pinto, Parker, Tarrant, and Wise. In addition, she has served on the (RTC) since January 2002.

Chavez sees many opportunitiesand challenges for the RTCtoday and in the future. One of those is balancing needs versus funding. “The recent Texas MetropolitanMobility Plan (TMMP) was areal eye opener for many on the

• Understand theimportance of adiverse andbalanced trans-portation system

• Promote a publicinvolvement systemto communicate this difference

• Conduct a technicalprocess which canevaluate a range ofoptions and suggestthe right tool for aparticular job.

Building onthe success ofthe three transitagencies

currently serving portions of the region, plans are beingmade to integrate a rail systemthat would tie the existing linestogether, creating a seamless railsystem in North Central Texas.

The proposed system structurewould incorporate thecontinued growth of DallasArea Rapid Transit, the FortWorth Transportation Authorityand the Denton CountyTransportation Authority(DCTA), along with a newRegional Rail Authorityworking in cooperation toprovide seamless transit service for North Central Texas,offering over 350 miles of railservice. Unlike the existingtransit services in the region, the new system would focus on commuter travel, reachingresidents in communitiesbeyond current rail serviceboundaries.

In the 2001 and 2003 Texas StateLegislature session, much wasdiscussed on providing moretools to local governments to

entire proposed service area.

The next steps to continuingthis momentum includegathering support for necessarylegislative change that wouldmake a region-wide localoption election possible, anddeveloping the organizationalstructure to plan andimplement the Regional RailAuthority system.

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expand transit services.Unfortunately, the lack oflegislative consensus at thattime made it difficult to moveforward with a legislativeapproach that would meet the needs of the entire North Central Texas region.

The regional transportationplan for North Central Texascontains a number of future rail projects where service will be needed, but that fall inareas outside current serviceboundaries. The successes ofDART, DCTA and The T havemoved this region to a pointwhere interest and need is out-stripping service delivery areas.

The future Regional RailAuthority would have theflexibility to partner with thoseexisting transit providers,expand to other counties asneeded and provide minimalfeeder bus service to railstations in the Regional RailAuthority area.

Funding of the proposedRegional Rail Authority couldbe found through additionallocal sales tax. A region-widelocal option election would benecessary to authorize that sales

tax capacity. Organizers believesales tax is the best option tofund the annual costs because itadjusts to inflation, has anavailable collection mechanismand is equitable for alljurisdictions within the region.

However, before a fundingvote, the Regional RailAuthority would develop adetailed service plan for its

determine if future adjustmentsto NCTCOG’s network codingassumptions or speed-estimation procedures arewarranted. The earlyindications are that NCTCOG’sexisting travel models performwell for both regional andcorridor transportation planning purposes.

This effort also shedsinteresting light on somethingthat is usually very difficult tomeasure: recurring congestionversus nonrecurring congestion.In other words, both typicalaverage travel time and traveltime reliability are importantmeasures for defining roadwaysystem performance.

This particular survey approachhas national value as well. Itcould prove to be a costeffective way for a MetropolitanPlanning Organization toevaluate a travel model’s abilityto estimate roadway speeds.

The next steps in the study areto review the modeled-versus-observed results in detail, to

Transportation Departmentconducted an internal surveyduring the first two weeks inOctober to measure home towork and work to home traveltimes and travel route choices.The purpose of the survey was two-fold. First, to compare thesurvey results to what theNCTCOG TransCAD-basedtravel demand model predicts—and thus gauge the “real-world”accuracy of the computerizedtools. Second, to summarize theresults to see how rush-hourcongestion is impacting traveltimes to and from work. Thestudy was motivated by thedesire to see how NCTCOG’scomputer model-calculatedtravel times during weekdaymorning and evening rushhours compare to real-worldobserved travel times. It wasalso motivated by the desire foradditional local informationabout observed day-to-dayvariations in travel times.

Over a three-week period, 46 Transportation Departmentemployees logged theirdeparture and arrival time to and from work each day,traveling the same route. Theresult showed their averagemorning rush-hour commutetime to work was 25.9 minutes,while their average eveningrush-hour commute time tohome was 26.9 minutes.

Employees in the study traveledan average of 16 miles, each way.

TransCAD Continued for Cover

Highway Traffic Survey Guide

2003 Highway TrafficSlide ShowThe interactive slide show of high-quality digital photographs,maps, charts, and performanceindicators was developed tohighlight the existing trafficconditions.

Use the map above to select theHighway or Road of interest

Review detailed congestion byintersections

http://www.nctcog.org/trans/photo-survey/2003/start.htmThis interactive slide show contains more than 850 aerial photos of Dallas - Fort Worth freeways and highways

Seamless Rail Service for North Central Texas

T he roadmap for improvingtransportation in the region wasapproved by the Regional

Transportation Council (RTC) of the North Central Texas Council ofGovernments in October, then affirmedby the Texas Transportation Commissionin November.

After receiving consensus approval fromlocal governments, the RTC unanimouslyapproved projects for the UnifiedTransportation Program (UTP). The UTPcontains the short-range, high-priorityprojects from the Texas MetropolitanMobility Plan.

This will mean transportation partners in North Texas can build more mobilityprojects sooner, reduce the time citizenswait in traffic, and improvetransportation reliability and safety.Projects in the UTP include theconstruction of new toll roads and High Occupancy Vehicle/managed lane facilities, improvements to existingroadways and construction of a seamlessrail connections to DFW Airport and Love Field.

The Texas Metropolitan Mobility Planprovides a comprehensive multimodal

blueprint for a transportation system forthe Dallas-Fort Worth area. It illustratesthe cost to maintain our current system of roads, eliminate the worst congestedroadway corridors and includesstrategies to fund and build newfreeways, toll roads, managed lanefacilities and rail systems.

By partnering together, state and localofficials can address the critical financialshortfall in transportation funding facingthe region. These partnerships allow stateand local officials to leverage $4.4 billionin additional state transportation funds,freeing existing allocations for critical,but otherwise unbudgeted, safety andcapacity projects. This shift allows newprojects that were originally budgetedthrough gasoline tax revenue to generate tolls.

The Texas Metropolitan Mobility Plan is a study required by the TexasTransportation Commission to identifythe unmet transportation needs in thestate’s larger metropolitan areas (over200,000 population). Each metropolitanarea is asked to identify long-rangetransportation plans within the regionand develop shorter-range priorities (i.e., Unified Transportation Program).

The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors whoare responsible for the opinions, findings, and conclusionspresented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect theviews or policies of the Federal Highway Administration, theFederal Transit Administration, or the Texas Department ofTransportation. This document was prepared in cooperation withthe Texas Department of Transportation and the U.S. Departmentof Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, and FederalTransit Administration. Mobility Matters is a newsletter on thetransportation planning activities and air quality programs of theNorth Central Texas Council of Governments and the RegionalTransportation Council – together serving as the MetropolitanPlanning Organization for the Dallas-Fort Worth MetropolitanArea since 1974.

Published by North Central Texas Council of Governments

EditorLara Rodriguez

Contributing Staff Vercie Pruitt-Jenkins

Layout and DesignKevin Kemp, Graphic Designer

Masthead DesignKristy L. Keener, Graphic Coordinator

Please email comments, suggestions or newsletter topic ideas to lrodriguez@nctcog.org.

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ARLINGTON, TX

Regional Transportation Council Makes Strides AgainstCongestion, Approves Texas Metropolitan Mobility Plan

Winter 2005

mobilitymattersQuarterly Newsletter of the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area

As someone who commutes more than 80miles each workday, when I think oftransportation my thoughts immediately go to roads. After all, North Central Texas hassome of the most congested roadways in the nation.

However, one thing I quickly learned when I joined the staff of NCTCOG is transportationissues encompass far more than just the streets and highways we travel each day.

Mass modes such as buses and trains,designated paths for bikes and pedestrians, the quality of our air, and how and where webuild our homes and businesses all shapehow we plan transportation.

In this issue of Mobility Matters we explorewhat it means to have a balancedtransportation investment.

With approval of the Unified TransportationProgram (UTP) in October, the RegionalTransportation Council moved forward withthe short-range, high priority projects in theTexas Metropolitan Mobility Plan (TMMP).The TMMP provides a comprehensivemultimodal blueprint for a transportationsystem for the Dallas-Fort Worth area. (seearticle on page 4)

Commuter rail continues to be a popularchoice for many in the Metroplex, increasingthe chances of a seamless regional rail system.Short-range projects such as adding light railstations and double tracking existing lineshelp keep transit alive in our region while

local transit authorities work together onplans for expanding rail service to areasoutside existing service areas through a newRegional Rail Authority. (see article on page 3)

Having a balanced transportation investmentmeans taking a multi-modal approach toplanning, considering both the short-term andlong-range effects of our choices and workingtogether with cities, counties, state andfederal transportation authorities to best meetour transportation challenges. Striking thatbalance will help improve our daily drives,and our daily lives.

Enjoy this issue.

Lara Rodriguez

Editor

New transportation projects for North Central Texas proposed in the TMMP include:CONSTRUCTION OF NEW TOLL ROADS;

• Southwest Parkway, a toll road connecting Fort Worth to Cleburne

• Trinity Parkway, a toll road near downtown Dallas along the Trinity River

• Extension of President George Bush Turnpike east to I.H. 30

CONSTRUCTION OF TOLLED HIGHOCCUPANCY VEHICLE/MANAGED LANES;

• Completion of the S.H. 121/S.H. 114 connectionnorth of DFW Airport

• Completion of tolled HOV/managed lanes alongI.H. 35W and I.H. 820/S.H.121/S.H. 183

• Addition of HOV/managed lanes along I.H. 635 and I.H. 35E/Loop 12

• Completion of tolled HOV/managed lanes along I.H. 35E between President George BushTurnpike and Lake Lewisville

REALLOCATION OF REVENUE TO FUNDMAJOR HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENTS, such as;

• Construction of S.H. 121 in Denton County to the Dallas North Tollway

• Extension of S.H. 161 toll road from S.H.183 to I.H. 20

IMPLEMENTATION OF MULTIMODAL PROJECTS, such as;

• Seamless rail connections to DFW Airport and Love Field

These proposed projects would go to construction between 2005 and 2015.

elcome

This publication can be made available in alternate formats upon request

North Central Texas Council of Governments

P. O. Box 5888, Arlington, Texas 76005-5888

PHONE (817) 695-9240 (metro)

FAX (817) 640-3028

E-mail transinfo@nctcog.org

WEB www.nctcog.org