Rodeo offers transportation options
by KC Jones, reporter

    Visitors to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo now have several transportation choices. The annual event at Will Rogers Memorial Center is one of the city’s most famous attractions. This event runs through Feb. 4 and is now more accessible than ever.

    The new Trinity Railway Express commuter train brings visitors from Dallas and the MidCities to Richland Hills Station, so they can leave their cars at home. Parking is free in commuter train parking lots. A T bus shuttle will run between Richland Hills Station and the Stock Show every hour from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. for $1. Passengers with monthly T passes or children under 5 years old ride free.

    On Saturdays and Sundays during the Stock Show (Jan. 27, 28 and Feb. 3, 4), the Trinity Railway Express departs Dallas’ Union Station for Richland Hills Station every two hours from 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

    The return departs every two hours from 11:35 a.m.–7:35 p.m. The last train returning to Dallas’ Union Station departs Richland Hills Station at 7:35 p.m.

    The cost for the train is $1 per zone, but children under age 5 ride free.

    If arriving by car, free parking is provided at Ridgmar Mall near Foley’s or Billy Bob’s Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Next, board the T bus shuttle to Will Rogers Memorial Center. The T bus shuttle runs every 30 minutes from 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays and costs $1, children under 5 are free.

    So far, the Trinity Railway Express has been a transportation success. The first three months of operation, October–December 2000, have seen over 100,000 passengers ride the train throughout the DFW area. The Trinity Railway Express commuter rail is a joint project of the T and DART.

    The T provides other public transportation services, such as Mobility Impaired Transportation Service (MITS), Longhorn Trolley Service in Fort Worth’s visitors districts and Airporter Bus Service to and from DFW International Airport for Fort Worth, Lake Worth, Richland Hills and Blue Mound.

    For more information regarding area transportation, call The T customer service at 817-215-8600, 8 a.m.–8 p.m.