Fort Worth is getting rid of ‘the T.’ Will you still be able to catch a bus or train?

January 31,2018

By Gordon Dickson

Fort Worth is getting rid of the T.

But it’s not what you might think. Users of public transportation will still be able to catch a bus, train or other transit vehicle.

Instead, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority is simply rebranding itself. The agency, known informally as the T since its inception in the 1980s, is changing its name to Trinity Metro.

“It’s time for a new name and a fresh image. It has got to become more regional, and we need to have a name associated with the region,” said Scott Mahaffey, authority board chairman.

The board approved the name change during its regular meeting this week in Fort Worth.

The idea is to create a name that is catchy and stokes a regionwide image. The first word in the new name — “Trinity” — makes sense because many of the cities that make up the North Texas region got their start in the 1800s popping up around the Trinity River and its various branches and forks.

As for the second word in the name, “Metro” is understood around the world as a term for public transportation, Mahaffey said.

The name change was done after lots of work by J.O. Design, a South Main Street agency. It’s part of a master plan to expand more services throughout Tarrant County and to persuade neighboring cities to join the transit movement without feeling like they’re spending their money on a Fort Worth-centric program.

A passenger reads a newspaper at the Intermodal Transportation Center in 2012. The Fort Worth Transportation Authority no longer wants to be called the T, and instead wants to be branded Trinity Metro.

The Fort Worth Transportation Authority was established by state law, and on government documents that name will remain, Mahaffey said. But when someone calls customer service, they might hear some variation of “Thank you for calling Trinity Metro. How may I help you?”

Mahaffey said he is even open to the idea of changing the name of the agency’s planned TEXRail commuter line to Trinity Metro. The rail line is scheduled to open in December, carrying an estimated 10,000 passengers a day from downtown Fort Worth to Grapevine and DFW Airport.

For now, the rail line is still known as TEXRail.

Also this week, the agency postponed approval of a Trinity Metro logo and deferred action on a plan to rename the Intermodal Transportation Center, the main downtown Fort Worth transit station. The new name under consideration is Metro Center.

The station houses buses, rental cars, Greyhound, Amtrak and the Trinity Railway Express — and beginning in December will be a place to catch TEXRail.

Gordon Dickson: 817-390-7796, @gdickson