The saying goes that “everything is bigger in Texas.” The Lone State has gained a reputation for having large-scale everything – from its ranches and oil fields to its cowboy hats, food portions, and probably consequently, its people. The saying has, for decades, served as a playful exaggeration meant to highlight Texas’s excessive size, resources, pride and ego. Texas’ self-proclaimed pretentious jewel, Dallas, is no different.
A northern-set miniature, reflective of its parent state, Dallas boasts much of the same “bigness” – from its booming population and ever-growing brunch scene, to its footprint. Still, while the city’s large footprint means ample space to spend on residential and commercial developments with plenty of change left over for green spaces, there’s one major issue: the ever expanding urban sprawl in a city that was already fairly spread out.
But Dallas living didn’t always mean car dependency. In fact, Dallas was once a walkable place – just dense and compacted enough that people could get between their work, leisure and home lives simply by putting one front in front of the other or via an extensive streetcar system. Between 1889 and 1936, the city inhabitants would have access to a fully functional and booming public transit system that, at its peak, operated close to 400 cars between 20 routes, all riding atop 200 miles of track.
For nearly 30 years, these streetcars ruled Dallas transit, shuffling people around the most densely populated areas of the city. The system also featured a tie-in to a wider light rail train system. “Not only could you take a train through the city – an extensive out-of-town light rail network also existed to take you to places like Waco, Ft. Worth, and Corsicana, with trains departing every hour from the Interurban Building downtown”, writes Jake Berman, cartographer and historian who studies the researches and redraws maps of the lost streetcar and subway systems of America.
By the late 1930s, buses – a cheaper competitor – had rolled onto the transit scene. Met by the ever rising costs of maintaining the streetcars, the devastating Great Depression and National City Lines’ acquiring of local streetcar systems and subsequent conversion to bus operations (which was backed by investment from General Motors, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California, Federal Engineering, Phillips Petroleum, and Mack Trucks), by the 1950s, streetcars were difficult to find.
A redrawing of the Dallas streetcar system by Jake Berman, a New York City-based writer, cartographer, and historian. The image is featured in his book “The Lost Subways of North America: A Cartographic Guide to the Past, Present, and What Might Have Been.”
“The system survived until after World War II, but was eventually dismantled in favor of highway construction as the system became unprofitable to run”, explained Berman. By 1954, a desperate Dallas City Council ordered the streetcars to be shut down within two years, and in January 1956, the final lines were officially removed from service.
For Dallas and much of the rest of the nation, the shuttering of the streetcar system would mark the beginning of the widespread adoption of automobiles as a mode of transportation that provided a more convenient and flexible transportation as the city grew and expanded outwards.
Following the General Motors streetcar conspiracy, car, oil, construction, rubber, asphalt, trucking, and limestone industries (known as “The Road Gang”) would begin to lobby hard for government funding to build and maintain extensive highway and expressway networks and parking facilities while opposing initiatives to expand public transportation systems, supporting suburban development to create more spread-out cities, and advertising to promote car ownership as part of a more desirable lifestyle.
Once a bustling hub of Dallas’s streetcar activity, South Dallas was a predominantly affluent neighborhood tied into the rest of the city. Today, however, South Dallas is still dealing with the neglect of Civil Rights Movement era white flight, intentional divestment, removal of historic landmarks, displaced residents, and highway construction – with the construction of Interstates 35, 45, and 175 between the 1950 and 1970s cutting through the heart of South Dallas, disrupting businesses, dividing the community and increasing urban sprawl.
As a result of this transit neglect, transportation inequities have continued to disproportionately impact South Dallas. Fewer public transportation options with infrequent routes and limited coverage means it’s more difficult for residents to reach jobs, schools, healthcare facilities, and other essential destinations. There are also financial barriers, as residents can find it difficult to afford a vehicle and the associated costs including insurance, registration, fuel, and repairs.
Still, South Dallas residents are turning a new corner, and back to a childhood pastime that’s now being recognized as a reliable and renewable means of transportation – cycling. Ashly Fletcher and her team are chartering the route.
Fletcher founded Bike Friendly South Dallas, the only African American founded bicycle education non-profit in the state of Texas, in 2012. “It started with me riding with some of my girlfriends and I noticed that people really liked what we were doing”, she says. “People would say that they had never seen women of color who were full-sized biking like us – they were used to white guys in spandex.”
Ashly says that she soon realized that she wanted to do more with biking in South Dallas and began thinking of ways to educate others about how biking could be both fun and productive, as a passion and a reliable mode of transportation.
“After a while, Cornerstone Baptist Church got wind of what we were doing, liked it, and asked what we needed – I said, ‘we need a building to house a bike shop.’” Before long, Bike Friendly South Dallas had a space to call their own. “They gave us this space and ended up raising $330,000 for us to build it out the way we needed and launch our operation”, Fletcher explained.
Today, Bike Friendly South Dallas aims to promote cycling as a safe, accessible, and enjoyable mode of transportation into, out of and around South Dallas. But besides education and bike maintenance, the organization works to further bike policy in the city.
While Dallas has made significant strides in recent years to become a more bike-friendly city, the city is still heavily car dependent and is expected to remain as such as the population grows and the city spreads away from its center.
In 2011, Dallas adopted a comprehensive Bike Plan, which outlined the city’s vision for expanding the bike network and improving safety for cyclists. Since then, the city has been expanding the bike network, including building new bike lanes, trails, and shared paths.
Today, there are now over 200 miles of bikeways in Dallas with various initiatives to improve safety for cyclists, such as educational campaigns, engineering improvements, and law enforcement training.
Despite progress, Dallas still faces challenges in becoming a truly bike-friendly city. These include traffic congestion, lack of safe infrastructure in some areas, and public perception. Fletcher says that her organization is constantly pushing for the improvement of biking infrastructure in the neighborhood and around the city by advocating for enhancements such as a more comprehensive trail system and more bike lanes and racks.
By creating a more bike-friendly environment, Bike Friendly South Dallas hopes to encourage residents to adopt cycling as a regular part of their daily lives. This can have many benefits, including improved health, reduced transportation costs, and a more sustainable community.
Then, there is the issue of cost. Ashly says that Bike Friendly South Dallas is also committed to making cycling, as a reliable and legitimate means of transportation, accessible to anyone who’s willing to work for it. Fletcher says they do this through “sweat equity”, wherein residents can earn a bike through service. “A good way to earn a bike is, you come in, and say ‘I need a bike. This is a good bike. I think I’ll take this bike. This bike is five hours? I’ll sweep the parking lot. I’ll clean the bathroom. I’ll fix a couple bikes that need to be fixed.’”
This way, Ashly says, not only are members of the community gaining the agency that comes with reliable transportation, but they’re gaining it through labor that’s invested back into the community. “There’s a sense of pride that comes with earning your own bike, and a little more each time you come into the shop to work on your bike when it needs a little tune up.”
Volunteers like Anthony, a South Dallas community member, bicycle enthusiast and volunteer showcase this pride daily. Anthony, who happened to be working on several bikes as the Dallas Weekly interviewed Ashly, explained that he liked “being in the shop, just working on things for other people.”
Later in the evening, Anthony would get the chance to help another community member who would drift into the shop earn a bike of his own. Two rims, inner tubes, tires, and a new chain later, yet another South Dallas resident would leave with his own reliable mode of transportation – connecting him to an expanding world of economic, education, healthcare, and social opportunities in and around South Dallas.
The recent resurgence of cycling culture is breathing new life into the neighborhood. Bike-friendly initiatives, including dedicated bike lanes, repair stations, and community rides, are not only improving transportation options but also fostering a sense of camaraderie among residents.
As South Dallas embraces its cycling heritage, it’s clear that two wheels at a time can bridge the gap left by the city’s lost streetcars. Bike Friendly South Dallas is helping to bridge that gap by getting “more butts on bikes!”
Disclaimer: This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.