North Richland Hills and Haltom City are strategically located along Tarrant County's new commuter rail line, but the two cities are like kids peering into a candy store, hoping to enter.
The problem for both cities is that they are not members of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, or the T. That situation is unlikely to change without sales-tax help from the Legislature in two years.
As the T's public hearings on proposed rail-station sites move forward this week, two prospective station sites identified by North Richland Hills and one by Haltom City are among about 14 that will be under consideration along the 40-mile rail route.
But the cities can't do much but plan until they can commit sales-tax money to join the T.
North Richland Hills and Haltom City are among dozens of Dallas-Fort Worth cities shut out from the T, DART or the Denton County Transit Authority because they have committed the full 8.25 cents in permissible sales tax to economic development, crime control or other community initiatives.
Research has shown that sales tax is the best way to fund mass transit.
"We feel that it is just a matter of time before we will be members of the T," said Oscar Trevino, mayor of North Richland Hills and chairman of the Regional Transportation Council. "Everyone understands the state's funding problems for highway construction, and that makes mass transit all more important."
A coalition of Dallas-Fort Worth area cities, along with mass-transit supporters, lobbied the Legislature this year to approve a measure that will allow communities to hold local-option elections to raise the sales-tax cap up to 1 cent to expand commuter rail.
The measure failed, so government leaders and transit supporters are regrouping to target the Legislature again in 2009.
Local leaders are optimistic that pressure on lawmakers to provide relief from highway congestion and federal mandates to improve air quality will bode well for mass transit.
"We know critics of the sales-tax increase say you could have chosen to spend your discretionary sales tax on transportation but didn't," said Tom Muir, city manager of Haltom City. "The dynamics were different when those decisions were made – traffic and air quality are much bigger concerns now."
North Richland Hills has already set aside $500,000 for station development, so the city is ready to build when the opportunity comes.
Both cities have selected rail sites that have economic development opportunities.
"Economic development factors into every project we do in Haltom City," Mr. Muir said. "We need it so badly."
