Thursday, June 23, 2011

All aboard the A-Train

At the beginning of the week, the Denton County Transportation Authority inaugurated its "A-Train" commuter rail service:
At 4:57 a.m., the Denton County Transportation Authority’s first official A-train ride chugged down the 21-mile track on its first southbound trek to Carrollton, where passengers can connect to DART rail. Passengers hope the train will catch on and become a practical option for residents and commuters here.
I have high hopes for this commuter rail line not only because it should have a decent reverse-commute component of UNT and TWU students heading from Dallas into Denton, but also because it parallels an already-congested Interstate 35E which is about to undergo several years of highly-disruptive reconstruction. In fact, I would argue that the A-Train meets Christof Spieler's eight habits of highly-effective commuter rail lines very well.

I'm admittedly biased; I was part of the team that planned and designed this new transit service and I'm proud to see it come to fruition. But ultimately, the people who live, work and study in Denton and Lewisville will decide if the A -Train is successful or not. The Dallas Morning News has more.

2 comments:

M1EK said...

Not optimistic. This is WES from Portland in a less supportive environment.

Thomas said...

Maybe so, M1EK, although to be fair Wilsonville does not have Oregon's fourth-largest university sitting in the middle of it. Time will tell...