Category: News Release

Trinity Metro is closely monitoring the rapidly changing COVID-19 crisis and is making service adjustments to better meet the mobility needs of Tarrant County residents. In conjunction with its downtown funding partners, Trinity Metro has temporarily suspended Molly the Trolley service.

Passengers can use the online trip planner tool to find an alternate route. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Customer Care at 817-215-8600.

To learn more about Trinity Metro’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, visit the website.

(FORT WORTH, TX – April 2, 2020) – In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Trinity Metro is extending its modified schedules and free fares until May 1 to reduce the novel coronavirus risk for customers and employees.

Regular bus service will continue to operate on a modified Sunday schedule seven days a week. Routes that do not operate on Sunday, such as the downtown Lunch Line, 71-Forest Hill and the 991-Juror Shuttle, will be temporarily suspended. Express routes 63X/64X and 65X will continue to operate on their regular schedules. 

“An essential component of serving the public is to be there when they need you most,” said Trinity Metro President and CEO Bob Baulsir. “Public transportation is as essential service to make sure customers can access work, health care and other resources during this difficult time.”

Trinity Metro TEXRail is running on an hourly service, which is based upon the regular schedule, seven days a week. Trinity Railway Express (TRE) will operate six days a week based upon its current Saturday schedule, with no service on Sundays.

The number of ACCESS rides will be reduced, with a focus on only making essential trips. ZIPZONE services are not impacted by this temporary change. 

Social distancing with free fares

To limit the risk of COVID-19 exposure, Trinity Metro will continue to offer free rides on buses, Trinity Metro TEXRail and ACCESS paratransit. This is intended to significantly minimize the amount of contact between operators and customers as well as conductors and riders. 

On trains, passengers will sit in alternating rows and only in the window seats to maximize the amount of space between customers and between the conductors and riders. Signs or caution tape will be used to designate unavailable seats.

On buses, passengers will continue to board and exit through the back doors to increase social distancing. The front entrance is open for customers using wheelchairs.  On the busiest routes, extra operators are ready to pick up passengers in a second bus to limit the number of riders per vehicle. Trinity Metro has reduced seating capacity to 35 percent. The agency will be posting signage on platforms to reinforce appropriate distancing for customers waiting for rides.

Because TRE is a shared service with DART, TRE passengers will need a ticket to ride.

How Trinity Metro is helping

Safeguarding the health and well-being of passengers and employees is Trinity Metro’s top priority. The agency is closely monitoring the rapidly changing situation and are communicating with local, state and national health authorities to reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure.

Trinity Metro continues to take extra steps to increase the cleaning frequency of high-touch areas such as door handles, railings, seats and benches with disinfectant throughout each shift. Buses, vans and ACCESS vehicles are sanitized daily. Trinity Metro TEXRail trains are disinfected daily after they have been in service.

About Trinity Metro

Trinity Metro is a regional transportation system that provides public transportation to meet the mobility needs in Tarrant County. The agency offers connections throughout the North Central Texas region, annually providing 8 million passenger trips on buses, TEXRail, ACCESS paratransit, vanpools and the Trinity Railway Express (TRE), a 34-mile commuter rail line jointly owned and operated with Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). Trinity Metro is the sole owner and operator of TEXRail, a 27-mile commuter rail line that runs between downtown Fort Worth and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport’s Terminal B. 

Trinity Metro bus operators, railcar engineers and conductors can now join first responders in getting tested for COVID-19 at an off-campus test site operated by The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth (HSC).

Trinity Metro operates buses, TEXRail, ZIPZONE services, ACCESS paratransit, vanpools and Trinity Railway Express (TRE), providing 8 million passenger trips annually. Its transportation services are essential to many Tarrant County residents who rely on Trinity Metro for access to health care, food and medicine, as well as many first responders and other essential workers who depend on Trinity Metro to get to work.

“Trinity Metro is a critical part of the mass transit system that continues to get essential workers to their jobs and ensure people have access to important services, such as health care and grocery stores,” HSC Fort Worth President Michael R. Williams said. “Trinity Metro team members interact with people on a daily basis, and this expansion of our test site will help further reduce transmission of this disease.”

Trinity Metro has already taken steps to prevent transmission of COVID-19, minimizing contact between employees and passengers by offering free rides on regular bus routes, ACCESS and TEXRail. It also has increased the cleaning and sanitization frequency of high-touch surfaces on trains, buses and vans.

“Partnering with HSC for testing of our frontline employees is a great option,” said Charles Davis Jr., Vice President of Teamsters Local 997. “Our operators are committed to providing vital services during this health crisis. Knowing that we have access to timely testing is a tremendous benefit for our team.”

The drive-through testing site is a partnership that includes HSC, Catalyst Health Network, the Fort Worth Fire Department and the Moncrief Cancer Institute. It opened March 23 to first responders, such as police, fire, emergency medical technicians, sheriff’s officers, paramedics and constables.

The testing site is intended to keep first responders informed of their health status, and to allow those who test negative to return to their jobs rather than wait out the 14-day self-observation period after a possible exposure.

An Infection Disease Coordinator at the Joint Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the City of Fort Worth is the primary point of contact for first responders. The coordinator will conduct an environmental and clinical assessment to determine if COVID testing is warranted. If so, the responder will be contacted by HSC within 24 to 48 hours to schedule the test.

As of March 31, 166 first responders have been tested for COVID-19 at the site, said Dr. Mark Chassay, HSC Chief Clinical & Medical Officer.

“Thanks to our partners and the extraordinary dedication of our healthcare team, we have been able to help many of our first responders concerned about their health,” Dr. Chassay said. “We’re proud to now offer testing to our friends at Trinity Metro, who continue to provide their valuable services to the community during this challenging time.”

MEDIA CONTACT:

Alex Branch, Director of Media Relations

alexander.branch@unthsc.edu

817-307-2399 (cell)

A Trinity Metro bus operator has tested positive for COVID-19. The operator drives on bus routes 20 Handley, 21 Boca Raton and 25 Crosstown and was last at work on March 21, working in the afternoon and night.

Here are the dates and routes for the two weeks prior to self-quarantine:

Route 20 – March 13 and 20

Route 21 – March 9-11 and March 16-18

Route 25 – March 7, 14 and 21

The employee has mild symptoms and has been self-quarantined since March 22.

Any passengers who rode the routes driven by the operator between March 7 and 21 should monitor themselves for possible symptoms, contact their healthcare provider if any symptoms develop, and self-quarantine to avoid possibly exposing others.

What Trinity Metro is doing

Safeguarding the health and well-being of passengers and employees is Trinity Metro’s top priority. The agency is closely monitoring the rapidly changing situation and are communicating with local, state and national health authorities to reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure.

Trinity Metro continues to take extra steps to increase the cleaning frequency of high-touch areas such as door handles, railings, seats and benches with disinfectant throughout each shift. Buses, vans and ACCESS vehicles are sanitized daily. Trinity Metro TEXRail trains are disinfected daily after they have been in service.

To help reduce exposure between employees and customers, Trinity Metro is temporarily offering free fares on buses, TEXRail and ACCESS paratransit. Bus riders are encouraged to board and exit through the back doors to increase social distancing. The front entrance is open for customers using wheelchairs. For additional social distancing, Trinity Metro is reducing seating capacity to 35 percent.

This weekend, Trinity Metro TEXRail will temporarily stop service to complete annual maintenance, including track work and clearing vegetation. The service interruption will be Saturday and Sunday, April 4-5, with the last trains departing Fort Worth T&P Station at 1:43 a.m. and DFW Terminal B Station at 2:10 a.m. Saturday. There will be no service after 2:10 a.m. Saturday and no service on Sunday. 

Service will resume on Monday, April 6, with the first train departing North Side Station at 3:20 a.m. Riders who need to travel to essential employment or appointments this weekend should call customer care at 817-215-8600 by 5 p.m. Thursday, April 2.

FORT WORTH, TX – March 13, 2020) – In the interest of public safety in regard to the health of Trinity Metro’s employees and the community, the Trinity Metro Board of Directors committee meetings to be held on Monday, March 16, are canceled. 

The upcoming board meeting to be held on Monday, March 23, is also canceled. 

The decision to cancel the meetings was made as Trinity Metro joined a long list of Tarrant County organizations that are committed to preventing the spread of coronavirus by practicing social distancing and by avoiding events where there are large groups of people.

Trinity Metro customers, partners and employees are reminded to safeguard their health and the health of others by washing hands regularly, covering their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing and staying home when sick. 

Trinity Metro is taking precautionary measures to help safeguard customers and employees by modifying procedures to reduce exposure to coronavirus. Extra efforts have been made to increase the frequency of cleaning at high-touch areas such as door handles, railings, benches and ticket vending machines. Buses and trains are sanitized daily with disinfectant and all buses are equipped with ionizers, which help purify the air as it is recirculated in the vehicle.  

For questions regarding upcoming meeting cancellations, Trinity Metro’s precautionary measures in response to COVID 19 or Trinity Metro’s services, customer care representatives are available at 817-215-8600. 

About Trinity Metro

Trinity Metro is a regional transportation system that provides public transportation to meet the mobility needs in Tarrant County. The agency offers connections throughout the North Central Texas region, annually providing 8 million passenger trips on buses, TEXRail, vanpools and the Trinity Railway Express (TRE), a 34-mile commuter rail line jointly owned and operated with Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). Trinity Metro is the sole owner and operator of TEXRail, a 27-mile commuter rail line that runs between downtown Fort Worth and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport’s Terminal B.

(FORT WORTH, TX – Feb. 28, 2020) – Congresswoman Kay Granger announced Friday that Trinity Metro is authorized to use remaining federal funds from the TEXRail project for an extension of the commuter rail line. The 27-mile route was completed on time and $80.6 million under budget, with roughly half of those funds coming from federal and half from local.

The $38.9 million in federal funds can now be used to extend TEXRail another 2.1 miles from the Fort Worth T&P Station to a new station in the Medical District. In 2016, Trinity Metro and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of the United States Department of Transportation signed a $499.39 million Full Funding Grant Agreement for the $1.034 billion TEXRail project.

The new station will be located behind Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center, by the Mistletoe neighborhood.

Trinity Metro President and CEO Bob Baulsir shared his excitement about the expansion. “The Fort Worth Medical District is an ideal location for the next station because of the 40,000 people who work and visit that area. Extending TEXRail is perfect for medical professionals, patients and visitors.”

“We appreciate the FTA for allowing us to use the unspent funds toward expanding our TEXRail line,” said Trinity Metro Board Chairman Jeff Davis. “The support of Kay Granger and our other congressional delegates has meant the world to us.”

A timeline for the extension has not been determined. Baulsir said the first steps will be to define the scope and to undergo a competitive process of bids.

TEXRail began operating in January 2019, and the existing route runs between downtown Fort Worth and the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport’s Terminal B. The line has nine stations in Fort Worth, North Richland Hills and Grapevine.

About Trinity Metro

Trinity Metro is a regional transportation system that provides public transportation to meet the mobility needs in Tarrant County. The agency offers connections throughout the North Central Texas region, annually providing 8 million passenger trips on buses, TEXRail, vanpools and the Trinity Railway Express (TRE), a 34-mile commuter rail line jointly owned and operated with Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). Trinity Metro is the sole owner and operator of TEXRail, a 27-mile commuter rail line that runs between downtown Fort Worth and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport’s Terminal B.