June 24, 2020
______________,
I am a constituent who lives at _______________. Today, I am writing to encourage your support of public transportation as we move towards a more equitable community. Even as far fewer people are riding, transit has remained a public good that is essential to sustaining and reviving our regional economy.
We are at an unprecedented moment in our city’s history where community leaders like yourself must assess how we can better serve the residents of the City of Fort Worth equitably. As you might know, Transportation was identified as one of the top 5 issues facing Tarrant county residence by the United Way of Tarrant County’s 2018-2019 Community Assessment. The current Trinity Metro system has lagged behind population growth and city-wide demographic and economic changes. The current system is not able to efficiently transport as many people to as many jobs and opportunities as it should. This has led to an economic and transportation structure in Tarrant County that favors car-ownership, forgetting that there is a sizeable population in the region that is unable to afford them. The current system in Fort Worth also ignores, whether in part or whole, geographic areas with large numbers of jobs and, in the areas it does cover, often does not run frequently enough to benefit current riders or to encourage new riders. This all has the effect of further marginalizing lower-income communities, leaving them behind while the city grows.
Transit is our Opportunity
We are in a unique position to get Fort Worth back to work. Since the winter of 2017, the City of Fort Worth has partnered with Trinity Metro and consultant group Nelson & Nygaard to produce the Transit Moves Fort Worth plan. Our community has been waiting for significant transit funding for years now, and we have hoped that the TMFW plan's findings would push our city to begin investing in Fort Worth's future.
Work has already begun on a total bus system redesign and a proposed Lancaster Bus Rapid Transit corridor. These projects, along with the other improvements recommended by this plan, will help secure our city's economic vitality by creating new jobs and improved accessibility to jobs. I urge you to take a moment to read the recommendations around the Transit Moves Fort Worth plan, read the proposed budget for Trinity Metro’s system redesign, and consider what sort of city you would like Fort Worth to be in the future. I encourage you to accept the full $9,970,605 budget requested by Trinity Metro and to support the full Transit Moves Fort Worth plan moving forward. These proposals are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give our community the access it deserves.
Thank you for your focus on recovery - and your attention to public transportation. Please let me know what actions you take on this matter.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME