A study on improving Fort Worth’s public transportation is underway, specifically in the 76104 ZIP code.
This area has faced consistent poverty, according to NBC 5. In this ZIP code, only 14% of residents have a vehicle.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) is conducting the study. One of the NCTCOG principal transportation planners, Gypsy Gavia, said the study will last for a year beginning in 2023 and look at current transportation options.
“Over the course of the next year, we’re looking to do interviews, come and do public meetings, and really doing outreach within this community, and hear from residents. What it is that they need,” Gavia told NBC 5.
There are various health care facilities in the area, surrounded by highways.
“Even though there is a number of health facilities in this area, you have the hospitals, this area is also surrounded by highways, and a lot of the residents here don’t have access to a vehicle,” Gavia told NBC 5.
The NCTCOG study will look at how residents currently travel.
Shannon Stevenson, an NCTCOG senior program manager for transit management and planning, said in a news release that the community would be involved in coming up with solutions.
“NCTCOG and the Regional Transportation Council are committed to working with our valued public sector and community partners to find solutions to improve access of residents of this area to life-sustaining services,” Stevenson said. “We look forward to collaborating with the community to develop strategies that lead to real solutions for those who live and work in the study area.”
Currently, the 76104 ZIP code is serviced by on-demand ZIP Zone micro transit and Trinity Metro’s fixed-route bus service.
The one-year study results will also help Fort Worth prevent future transportation disparities or issues, according to the Chief Equity Officer and Director for Fort Worth’s Department of Diversity & Inclusion, Christina Brooks.
“We are committed to collaboratively identifying evidence-based solutions to existing disparities in transportation services in our community, specifically in 76104,” Brooks shared in the news release. “Additionally, we can use the data from this study to proactively prevent creating new disparities for the future. Ultimately, every resident, regardless of your ZIP code, should have access to quality, affordable transportation that supports a thriving quality of life in our community.”
Len Moore, who lives in Fort Worth’s 76104 ZIP code, told NBC 5 that he owns a car but still uses the bus multiple times a week.
Moore said that while he has not run into public transportation issues in the city, he has witnessed neighbors have problems.
“I see disabled people in wheelchairs, on walkers, and kind of elder people having trouble just maneuvering down the street. So, it would be helpful for them to be picked up from their house and go where they have to go,” Moore told NBC 5.
