“If we’re going to move and be a region of 12 million people, it sure would be nice to have high-speed rail connected directly to this transit system.”

Michael Morris
Director of Transportation 
North Central Texas Council of Governments
.…on the value of having high-speed rail connected to North Texas’ growing population centers.

At the Dallas Regional Chamber’s State of the Region event held in December, regional leaders addressed the opportunities and challenges of growth in North Texas—from mobility and high-speed rail to prioritizing green space over highways to ensuring health care and good public schools for our future workforce.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) forecasts that North Texas’ growing population will surpass 12 million people by 2050. At the event, the NCTCOG’s Michael Morris said that growing population could need some faster ways to travel.

Michael Morris speaking at the DRC’s State of the Region event in December. [Photo: DRC]

“If we’re going to move and be a region of 12 million people, it sure would be nice to have high-speed rail connected directly to this transit system,” Morris said at the event. “[And have it] connected directly to the infill development of our minority and lower-income communities all tied together in an integrated system.”

Dallas Area Rapid Transit CEO Nadine Lee brought up the issue of balancing a desire for green spaces with maximizing mobility on roads and highways.

DART CEO Nadine Lee, speaking at the DRC’s State of the Region event in December. [Photo: DRC]

“Do we want more green spaces to be dedicated to highway expansion,” Lee said, “or do we want to actually capitalize on the mass transit investment that we’ve made over the last 40 years and build upon that and optimize the operation of that so that we can carry more people in the same amount of space that it takes to add a lane or two lanes to the highway?”

“The philosophy behind a lot of what we’re doing at DART is to try to move as many people as possible by mass transit so that we can free up the capacity for efficient goods movement,” Lee added.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins emphasized the health of those North Texans that will be traveling around in years to come.

Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins, speaking at the DRC’s State of the Region event in December. [Photo: DRC]

“For Dallas County and the region, one in four of people between the ages of 18 and 65 [are uninsured],” Jenkins said. “The number-one cause of bankruptcy is a medical condition and a lack of insurance… When we’re competing against states that have Medicaid expansion and have an opportunity for those lower-wage workers to have health insurance, it puts us at a disadvantage.”

Jenkins mentioned something else that needs to be healthy: our public schools—and their impact on raising a much-needed future workforce.

“The biggest opportunity is workforce readiness, and what we can do to help with the legislature on that is protect our public schools,” he said. “As people retire and as you get new employees, you want people to be workforce-, military-, or college-ready when they graduate from high school.”

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas and JPMorgan Chase & Co. were the presenting sponsors of the State of the Region event, which was held Dec. 11 at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel in Richardson.

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, check out Every Last Word.

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