With cities in Tarrant County growing as a tourism destination, officials and developers in the western part of the metroplex are working together to keep people moving. City planners and business leaders met in Hurst for the Tarrant Transportation Summit.
Among the topics they discussed was growth in the eastern part of Tarrant County around Arlington, which will host nine World Cup matches in 2026.
"We've got to innovate," Arlington Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Michael Jacobson said. "That's the long-term solution for everything we do in our world. We've got to innovate."
He said businesses and city governments work together with the North Central Texas Council of Governments to plan for large events and the area's population growth.
The NCTCOG said about 1 million people move to North Texas every seven years.
"Imagine that," NCTCOG senior program manager for transportation planning Dan Lamers said. "There are places in the country that would give anything to have that kind of growth."
Lamers said the NCTCOG brings 200 local government entities under one roof for regional projects including cities, counties, and transportation organizations like the North Texas Tollway Authority, DART, Trinity Metro, and Denton County Transportation Authority. He said the budget for the Regional Transportation Council exceeds the budget of 16 states.
"Could you imagine if each one of those local governments tried to do things on their own? It wouldn't be done," he said. "It's the communication between all of you, the RTC, TxDOT, North Texas Tollway Authority, DART, the great transit stuff going on in Arlington now."
Voters in Arlington have rejected plans to join DART or Trinity Metro. The city is the largest in America without a mass transit system.
Arlington had previously run a bus route from the Trinity Railway Express stop near DFW Airport to downtown. At the summit, city manager Trey Yelverton said Arlington discontinued the service because of low ridership. Instead, he said Arlington has adopted a system that better uses current technology.
Arlington's Via provides an on-demand point-to-point transportation service. Trips less than 1.5 miles cost $3. Prices range to $5 for trips longer than 6 miles.
Rob Matwick, executive vice president of business operations for the Texas Rangers, said the public and private sectors are aligned to develop a transportation plan that can accommodate the biggest events in the world.
"It's great, the partnerships you have to have, but the visions need to be aligned, too," he said. "I think that's where the relationships between the Rangers, different entities with the city and development partners are really critical for us."
"I totally agree," Yelverton added. "Planning, alignment, and the icing on the cake is political will, all the stakeholders have the will to take the risk and have the trust in the staff to execute it."
In another panel, developers talked about tourism in Fort Worth. They said the Stockyards drew 9.3 million visitors last year, more than visited the Eiffel Tower. They said they also draw more tourists on an average Thursday through Sunday than attended the Super Bowl last weekend.
"Our baseline is, 'Are we doing the right thing for the 9 million people?'" Majestic Realty executive vice president Craig Cavileer said.
Majestic Realty has been redeveloping land in the Stockyards. Since opening Hotel Drover in 2021, Cavileer said travel has rebounded after the pandemic, and he said spending and the value of goods and services in the Stockyards has increased from $175 million to almost $400 million.
"When I met with [Mayor Betsy Price] in 2015, she said the Stockyards are an amazing institution. The locals don't really go there, but it's really just demolition by neglect," he said. "The Hickman family cared for it, but there wasn't a vision. There was no local focus on it. Locals didn't go there."
Cavileer said they met with the owners of Billy Bob's and started working with the city of Fort Worth and Tarrant County to look at options to attract more people. He says 70% of visitors live in Texas and 40% live in Fort Worth.
Cavileer said he "would have never dreamed of 9 million people showing up," so he said Majestic is now focused on maintaining the area's historic characteristics while helping visitors reach the district more easily.
"How do they get off I-35? It's not a beauty contest going down 28th Street. Northside's even worse," he said. "But coming down from downtown is pretty cool now with Main Street being improved. That connectivity to downtown, Panther [Island] is a gigantic opportunity for all of us that we can't screw up."
Cavileer said they also want to be a partner on traffic within the Stockyards, saying Majestic Realty plans up to $800 million more development in the area.
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