* 8th Traveler’s Aid to set up at U.S. transit center and first Texas expansion outside DFW Airport
FORT WORTH (November 9, 2009) – For the first time, Traveler’s Aid Dallas/Fort Worth will offer its emergency assistance and referral services for transit travelers with its official opening at The T’s Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC) in downtown Fort Worth.
Mayor Mike Moncrief, Dick Ruddell, president of The T, and Bruce Freeman, executive director of Traveler’s Aid Dallas/Fort Worth will launch the new Traveler’s Aid service on Thursday, November 12 at 2 p.m. at the Intermodal Transportation Center, 1001 Jones Street in Fort Worth.
The ITC Traveler’s Aid desk will be staffed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday in the lobby next to the Subway Restaurant.
Types of services might range from providing diapers to information on area medical facilities, or research assistance on most suitable travel mode to Chicago, where to go in Fort Worth to replace a lost cell phone or rent a car seat, and referrals and directions to available overnight accommodations.
“We are delighted and proud that Fort Worth is the first city in Texas to host Traveler’s Aid in order to provide a ‘helping hand along the way’ to the thousands of passengers who pass through our city. This will be a tremendous service to those using The T’s buses, the Trinity Railway Express as well as for those traveling longer distances on Amtrak and Greyhound,” said Mayor Mike Moncrief.
“The city also plans to work with Traveler’s Aid and The T to expand and enhance the local public transportation system for both Fort Worth residents and visitors,” Moncrief added. “We want to make it convenient for visitors arriving at the ITC to use our existing public transportation system. We want to make it easy to navigate the city and experience all that our Fort Worth has to offer, from the Stockyards, to the Cultural District, to the Zoo and more,” Moncrief said.
Traveler’s Aid has provided information and emergency assistance to stranded passengers at DFW Airport since 1974, assisting over 50,000 clients a year. The organization also serves travelers in 47 cities in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and Australia, and is in 26 airports and five other train and two bus stations, according to Bruce Freeman, its DFW executive director.
“Our interest in the ITC was to expand service into Fort Worth-proper by adding services at a ground transportation center,” Freeman said.
Freeman explained that people generally call on Traveler’s Aid in three basic situations – emergency travel, need for information or direction, or in the event of a disaster. Life threatening emergencies are referred to 911.
“Our booth here will be a smaller, more public version of what we have at the airport,” said Freeman. “At this point, we don’t know what additional services will be added at the ITC until we see what the demand will be. One of our strengths is being flexible and being able to react to needs quickly and efficiently,” he said.
Traveler’s Aid Dallas/Fort Worth is a United Way agency, 501 C) (3) non-profit organization, governed by a volunteer board of directors.
Dick Ruddell, president of The T, explained that, “Traveler’s Aid would also be helpful to city residents who rely on The T for day to day travel to increase their self-sufficiency in using the wide array of public transportation services available in this region.”
