What Life at the Tower is really like

Assimilating life as an urbanite June 3, 2009

“If we are going to live downtown, we need to start acting more like urbanites”…

Travel can be expensive…. not just the trip itself, but the trip to the airport.  After spending the past three years trading out rides to  DFW Airport with friends and family, we decided to bite the bullet: we were going to try to get there the cheapest way possible without depending on another human’s assistance to get there on time. It takes some patience and planning ahead, so in preparing for our upcoming summer vacation we have been working all the angles to get the bugs out and solve all issues before we leave.

For years, before we moved downtown, our extended family frequently travelled together, so we would call a “shuttle bus service” to pick up six or more of us. Now, our family is grown, the in-laws don’t travel with us as much, and we decided that was too expensive for just two people with lots of options.  So, instead of the more expensive shuttle or taxi we decided to check out the TRE — Trinity Railway Express. A month ago we rode from downtown Fort Worth to downtown Dallas just to try it out and have lunch one Saturday. The cost from end to end is about $5 per person round trip, so it is certainly affordable. There were not too many people aboard on the trip to Dallas, but the trip back to Fort Worth in the late afternoon was pretty well packed.

Next, we decided to test the waters with a minimum amount of luggage, and walked the several blocks from the Tower to the Intermodal Station. We caught the first TRE available (7:03 a.m.) to ensure we made our flight for a cost of about $1.50 per person round trip (buy the tickets ahead of time or from the kiosk at each station). We knew that there is a shuttle bus which travels from the Centreport Station to the South Remote Parking Area, leaving every 15 minutes according to the schedule. On this trip we decided to call a taxi for the 10-minute ride from the TRE station to our terminal.  At a cost of $20+ ($25+ on the return trip because the taxi driver had no idea where the TRE station was located), we determined that we would definitely take the free shuttle bus instead. Organization is the key to success in any new venture.  We decided to skip the taxi from  now on.  The free bus came by three times while we waited for the arrival of the TRE on our return trip.

As our summer vacation grows closer we have eliminated another question — how about Molly the Trolley? Would it be possible to avoid walking several blocks with luggage to get to the station? Perhaps Molly the Trolley could take us there! We decided to investigate. Molly’s service began May 27th, and according to their website should arrive at 15 minute intervals around the various route it follows, depending on the day of the week. We went to the closest point of pick up. We waited. No Molly. It was Sunday —- the first Sunday of service. We called the number listed on the banner advertising the newest way around downtown. After several minutes on the phone with the nice lady at the other end, waiting until she called her supervisor, the realization was that the route on the website and the route given the trolley driver did not match. They would make a correction. Later that afternoon, we made a second try at checking out Molly, this time going to a nearby hotel to catch it. It’s fine for getting around town unburdened, but with lots of luggage it would be a chore, especially since it only goes to the Intermodal on Saturdays. The rest of the week we would have a three-block walk from the nearest  hotel to the TRE station.

In the end, we determined that the best choice on a trip where we are not easily mobile due to the amount of luggage we have to carry that we should take the luggage the few blocks to the station in the car, have one person wait with the luggage while the other returns the car to our garage and walks back over. We can then spend the $2.50 for the TRE ride to the terminal near the airport, take the shuttle bus to the south remote parking area where we catch the shuttle that takes you to your specific terminal…..thus avoiding the $80+ charge for the alternative methods.

Time consuming? Maybe —- but we like the challenge!

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