Contact Information
Local Alliances Manager

Call!
Office 512 451 2634
Fax 512 451 3578

E-mail!
Info@JustTransportation.Org

Location/Mail
1000 Brazos St., Suite 201
Austin, TX 78701

Activities
If you are a resident of Fort Worth or Tarrant County and want to improve your mobility choices, contact us!

The goal organize a viable, self-sustaining, citizen advocate group that can take an active role in the decision-making process.

We want to get people working together for improvements and to elevate the conversation beyond confrontation.

The Tarrant County Just Transportation Alliance (TCJTA) is currently recruiting citizen advocates and a steering committee for orientation and training.

Everyone is a transportation expert. It‘s knowing how to "achieve the changes and improvements" needed that does not come naturally for most people. We will work with you to develop the skills needed to become a change agent in your community.

Now, it is your turn to create the future. If you nurture it and help it to grow, it will be a success.

News

Lake Worth Vote: To "T" or not to "T," that is the question…
With abundant apologies to Shakespeare and all those actors who have dreamed of the more famous version of that statement, the 800+ registered voters of this relatively small northwest Tarrant County city of 4,000 faced a significant choice during the 13 September elections: To stay within the service area of the Fort Worth Transit Authority (otherwise known as the "T") and thus, continue to contribute a half-cent in sales tax in support of its transportation services or to withdraw from the service area and lose all public transportation.

The T has served Lake Worth since 1991 when a majority of voters had supported joining and supporting the T’s services with a portion of their sales taxes.

Working closely with those residents of Lake Worth who use the T’s fixed-route, paratransit (or MITS), and Rider Request services and their families, members of the Tarrant County Just Transportation Alliance registered eligible voters, updated voter records, helped to clarify the impact of this vote and alert these citizens of the importance of their participation in this vote. Based on historical voting patterns in which elections participation that had hovered at 250 voters city-wide, it was initially estimated that a mere thirty votes- one way or the other- would decide the fate of the services.

By 8:00 p.m. on 13 September, the initiative officially crashed in flames by a vote of 244- 173, a split of approximately 59% of voters supporting withdrawal and 41% supporting continued service by the T. Disappointed and disheartened by the election’s results given the aggressive outreach and support, Tarrant County Just Transportation Alliance supporters chalked the loss to an unpredictably heavy voter turnout largely attributed to Proposition 12. However, Alliance supporters pointed out to Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporters that despite the unfortunate election outcome, that their efforts to educate voters accounted for more than 150 of the 173 voters who supported the T, a significant proportion of whom were voters with disabilities, seniors, and their families who turned out in numbers well above historic levels.

Countering criticism that the City would have no alternative available for those residents who needed transportation services, the City Council promised that it would have, in place, a temporary transportation service as soon as the elections were certified on Friday, 19 September. Although without specific public discussion of these alternate services, the contractor, or the terms of the agreement, the City signed a day-to-day contract with Yellow Cab to provide services as the City of Lake Worth’s Shuttle Service until a more permanent contract could be negotiated through the traditional "competitive bid" process that governs most municipal contracts.

The Shuttle Service which began on 19 September has received mixed reviews by those with whom Tarrant County Just Transportation Alliance members had contacted regarding their participation in the election. Responding to concerns that this temporary service might not meet the transportation needs of individuals with disabilities who could not access the "fixed-route" service design of the Shuttle, as well as the ADA-accessibility of the Shuttle’s vehicles, Texas Citizen Fund has filed a Public Information Request with the City of Lake Worth. With a 13 October deadline for competitive bids by interested contractors seeking to provide service to Lake Worth in the long-term, as well as the ticking clock on the Public Information Request, the next few weeks in Lake Worth may well decide the mobility of the City’s 4,000 residents, particularly for the proportionately large number who are least likely to have reliable access to a car.

Stay tuned…
The City of Richland Hills will have an election February 7th to decide if they will continue dedicating sales taxes for The T’s public transit services. We are currently working to build a relationship between The T and the City of Richland Hills that promotes development at the Trinity Rail Express station and to build citizen awareness about losing transit service.