Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

Tucy wrote:February 2019 ridership: 32,998
January 2021: 17,585
February 2021: 12, 879
March 2021: 24,752

Encouraging to see ridership numbers doubling this year between February and March.
Let's hope this new trend continues.

electricron wrote:

Tucy wrote:February 2019 ridership: 32,998
January 2021: 17,585
February 2021: 12, 879
March 2021: 24,752

Encouraging to see ridership numbers doubling this year between February and March.
Let's hope this new trend continues.

I hope it does. This has got to be some of the nicest trains I've ever seen.

I'd think the future extension southwest will add more users since its an employment hub. People who work in downtown offices may work remotely more often but fewer people in medical facilities will do that.

February 2019 ridership: 32,998
March 2019: 39,093
April 2019: 33,589
May 2019: 35,878
June 2019: 39,154
July 2019: 41,818
August 2019: 42,637
September 2019: 43,757
October 2019: 41,943
November 2019: 44,741 (1,491 per day; about 21 people per train)
December 2019: 51,217
January 2020: 43,795
February 2020: 40,276
March 2020: 28,476
April 2020: 10,478
May 2020: 14,067
June 2020: 14,145
July 2020: 15,064
August 2020: 17,391
September 2020: 18,421
October 2020: 19,452
November 2020: Not Reported
December 2020: Not Reported
January 2021: 17,585
February 2021: 12, 879
March 2021: 24,752
April 2021: 23,804

I don't know if any of these were already posted, but here are some YouTube videos I found with rides/reviews of the TexRail line.

https://youtu.be/uo08sGrEhRU
https://youtu.be/Q-bshs36OXg
https://youtu.be/utY1iIBdkp0

This one is the entire trip, T&P Station to DFW.
https://youtu.be/4jd2uJHuj2Q

February 2019 ridership: 32,998
March 2019: 39,093
April 2019: 33,589
May 2019: 35,878
June 2019: 39,154
July 2019: 41,818
August 2019: 42,637
September 2019: 43,757
October 2019: 41,943
November 2019: 44,741 (1,491 per day; about 21 people per train)
December 2019: 51,217
January 2020: 43,795
February 2020: 40,276
March 2020: 28,476
April 2020: 10,478
May 2020: 14,067
June 2020: 14,145
July 2020: 15,064
August 2020: 17,391
September 2020: 18,421
October 2020: 19,452
November 2020: Not Reported
December 2020: Not Reported
January 2021: 17,585
February 2021: 12, 879
March 2021: 24,752
April 2021: 23,804
May 2021: 29,329

February 2019 ridership: 32,998
March 2019: 39,093
April 2019: 33,589
May 2019: 35,878
June 2019: 39,154
July 2019: 41,818
August 2019: 42,637
September 2019: 43,757
October 2019: 41,943
November 2019: 44,741 (1,491 per day; about 21 people per train)
December 2019: 51,217
January 2020: 43,795
February 2020: 40,276
March 2020: 28,476
April 2020: 10,478
May 2020: 14,067
June 2020: 14,145
July 2020: 15,064
August 2020: 17,391
September 2020: 18,421
October 2020: 19,452
November 2020: Not Reported
December 2020: Not Reported
January 2021: 17,585
February 2021: 12, 879
March 2021: 24,752
April 2021: 23,804
May 2021: 29,329
June 2021: 30,581

Well its nice to see it move back upward even if its still not at its pre=pandemic peak but that's expected every transit in a sunbelt city. Any city transit has to be doing terrible when no one wants to wear a mask. When I rode DART Friday to the fair it was mostly masked and I hated wearing one that long of a ride.

Trinity Metro seemed to stop reporting their ridership numbers for a long time. (can you blame them?) I finally tracked some down. They still don't report by station, so we have no idea how many (or in this case, how few) are using the TexRail to DFW.

TexRail ridership for December 2022 was 61,689. That's the total ridership for the month. Nice increase since the last numbers we saw (slightly more than double June 2021; of course that was still COVID period). To put this number in perspective, after four full years of service, they are at 22% of the ridership they were projected to carry after one year!

They run approximately 33 round trips per day, so 66 trains per day. 1,990 passengers per day. So about 30 passengers per train. 4 coaches per train, so they are averaging a little more than 7 passengers per coach, for the entire run!

TexRail ridership for January 2023 was 58,143 (20.7% of the ridership they projected they would achieve after 1 year).

1,875 passengers per day. About 28 passengers per train - 7 passengers per coach, for the entire run. One should have a really good chance of having a private coach if you take it just a few stops.

Instead of expanding this boondoggle maybe they should just subsidize Uber and Lyft service.

Sadly, more gig cars on the road subsidized isn't really good either. Too bad this route is so under-utilized, although, I'm not sure how much better it would be overall even with the original SW part of it (slightly better overall numbers probably). Tough pill. In SimCity free money, a more broad system might actually make things check with chart quite a bit better - but, not necessarily. . .

Its all about the land use around the stations that needs to improve which we are terrible at doing here in North America. I'm not sure what TOD is planned for the TexRail stops like Grapevine has worked hard for. But yeah, putting everyone in a car and pushing the burden on the car driver is a silly argument too.

Advertising to some of the smaller towns outside of Fort Worth might really benefit this line for people going to DFW airport. There's a lot of active Facebook groups for areas like Cleburne, Granbury, Stephenville, Glen Rose, Mineral Wells, etc that have plenty of members that I'm sure have no idea this line even exists or that there is long term parking available.

Cmacemm wrote:Advertising to some of the smaller towns outside of Fort Worth might really benefit this line for people going to DFW airport. There's a lot of active Facebook groups for areas like Cleburne, Granbury, Stephenville, Glen Rose, Mineral Wells, etc that have plenty of members that I'm sure have no idea this line even exists or that there is long term parking available.

Even if parking at TexRail stations was possible, I don't see much attraction for such people - parking and taking the train would add significant time and inconvenience to their trip to the airport.


From Trinity Metro's website:

Rider Question: I am going on a trip for nine days. Can I leave my car parked at the train station for free?

A: No, anyone who leaves a car for longer than 20 hours risks having the vehicle towed. Trinity Metro TEXRail is indeed the best and most economical way to get to the airport. However, we encourage all travelers to ask someone to drop them off at the nearest station or to ride one of our bus routes that connect with a TEXRail station. We reserve all parking spots at TEXRail stations for commuters and day-trippers. For this reason, the maximum length of parking at TEXRail stations is 20 hours to accommodate long shifts and overnight shifts.

Tucy wrote:

Cmacemm wrote:Advertising to some of the smaller towns outside of Fort Worth might really benefit this line for people going to DFW airport. There's a lot of active Facebook groups for areas like Cleburne, Granbury, Stephenville, Glen Rose, Mineral Wells, etc that have plenty of members that I'm sure have no idea this line even exists or that there is long term parking available.

Even if parking at TexRail stations was possible, I don't see much attraction for such people - parking and taking the train would add significant time and inconvenience to their trip to the airport.


From Trinity Metro's website:

Rider Question: I am going on a trip for nine days. Can I leave my car parked at the train station for free?

A: No, anyone who leaves a car for longer than 20 hours risks having the vehicle towed. Trinity Metro TEXRail is indeed the best and most economical way to get to the airport. However, we encourage all travelers to ask someone to drop them off at the nearest station or to ride one of our bus routes that connect with a TEXRail station. We reserve all parking spots at TEXRail stations for commuters and day-trippers. For this reason, the maximum length of parking at TEXRail stations is 20 hours to accommodate long shifts and overnight shifts.

Oof welp never mind!

TexRail ridership:

April 2023: 52,003
March 2023: 52,821
February 2023: 42,483
January 2023 Total Ridership: (the end of the fourth year of paid service): 58,143 (20.7% of the ridership projected for the end of year 1)

That's awful

If you are going to be gone for more than one day does anyone want their car in an open lot exposed to weather and crime for an extended period of time.

Cbdallas wrote:If you are going to be gone for more than one day does anyone want their car in an open lot exposed to weather and crime for an extended period of time.

What does that have to do with TexRail?

Tucy wrote:

Cbdallas wrote:If you are going to be gone for more than one day does anyone want their car in an open lot exposed to weather and crime for an extended period of time.

What does that have to do with TexRail?

I think this was due to my earlier post.

But uhhhh I do exactly that in Chicago hahahah

Cmacemm wrote:

Tucy wrote:

Cbdallas wrote:If you are going to be gone for more than one day does anyone want their car in an open lot exposed to weather and crime for an extended period of time.

What does that have to do with TexRail?

I think this was due to my earlier post.

But uhhhh I do exactly that in Chicago hahahah

Maybe Cb is looking at the traffic that uses TexRail to get to DFW for trips away from the area.

TexRail ridership:

May 2023: 56,156 (1,811 riders per day)
April 2023: 52,003
March 2023: 52,821
February 2023: 42,483
January 2023: (the end of the fourth year of paid service): 58,143 (20.7% of the ridership projected for the end of year 1)

good to see the increase in numbers.

Trinity Metro chooses design team for new Near Southside station in Fort Worth

Construction is due to start next year on a 2.1 mile extension of the TexRail to a new station in the Medical District. The Near Southside station will include parking for 100 vehicles.

https://fortworth.culturemap.com/news/c ... e-station/

TexRail ridership:

June 2023: 54,767 (1,826 per day)
May 2023: 56,156 (1,811 riders per day)
April 2023: 52,003
March 2023: 52,821
February 2023: 42,483
January 2023: (the end of the fourth year of paid service): 58,143 (20.7% of the ridership projected for the end of year 1)

So if TexRail is at 20.7% of the ridership projected for the end of year 1, what is the incentive to spend more money to expand it? Do they ever do a cost per rider analysis versus what was projected? Or are those number just too horrifying to look at?

Tnexster wrote:So if TexRail is at 20.7% of the ridership projected for the end of year 1, what is the incentive to spend more money to expand it? Do they ever do a cost per rider analysis versus what was projected? Or are those number just too horrifying to look at?

LOL Excellent questions. Of course the answer is always: we have to extend the line to build more ridership. . .

TexRail ridership:

July 2023: 59,271 (1,912 per day)
June 2023: 54,767 (1,826 per day)
May 2023: 56,156 (1,811 riders per day)
April 2023: 52,003
March 2023: 52,821
February 2023: 42,483
January 2023: (the end of the fourth year of paid service): 58,143 (20.7% of the 9,000 daily ridership projected for the end of year 1)

The small increases in ridership are a good sign. I noticed it always peaks up in December and January because that's travel season and the Grapevine holiday stuff on main street is running. If it can exceed the holiday season number then it might crack over 2,000 daily ridership. That's still low but better than nothing.