NCTCOG Honors Top Partners for Mobility and Clean Air Initiatives
12/30/2024
Air North Texas Partner Awards, DFW Clean Cities Fleet Recognition Awards and Federal Discretionary Grant Projects announced at Dec. 12 luncheon
PRESS RELEASE
Brian Wilson
Malcolm Mayhew
The Air North Texas Partner Awards recognized four regional cities for their dedication to a cleaner North Texas:
Air North Texas is a public awareness campaign dedicated to helping improve the region’s air quality by encouraging individuals, businesses and governments to become involved in the process. For more information, visit AirNorthTexas.org.
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The DFW Clean Cities Coalition recognized 27 local fleets for their efforts to reduce petroleum use and improve air quality, as part of its annual Fleet Recognition Awards. Through operating alternative fuels instead of conventional fuels (i.e. gasoline and diesel) and adopting other emission reductions strategies, these fleets contributed to a regional reduction of 33.8 million gallons of gasoline equivalent, 323,100 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and 60 tons of nitrogen oxides, which contribute to local nonattainment of the federal ozone standard. The winners included nine Gold, eight Silver and 10 Bronze recipients:
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) was awarded Gold status for the sixth consecutive year, while the cities of Carrollton and Dallas, along with Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, earned Gold for the fifth straight year. Other entities bringing home the top honor were Trinity Metro and the cities of Denton, Grand Prairie, Irving and Southlake.
The winners of the Silver recognition were the cities of Arlington, Fort Worth, Frisco, Lancaster, Lewisville and North Richland Hills, along with Dallas ISD and Lazer Spot Inc.
The following were honored with Bronze status: Birdville ISD, Span Inc., Bimbo Bakeries, Tarrant County, Denton County, the towns of Flower Mound and Addison, and the cities of Benbrook, Mesquite and Plano.
In addition, six cities were recognized for a decade of fleet reporting: Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Lancaster, Lewisville, Rockwall and Watauga. For more on the fleet awards including the entities also recognized as Shining Stars, visit DFWCleanCities.org.
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NCTCOG also announced at the luncheon distinguished examples of Federal Discretionary Grant Projects awarded to the North Texas region in 2024. These grants will help fund critical transportation initiatives across the region, focusing on enhancing connectivity, safety and infrastructure. See the table below for grants recognized.
About the Regional Transportation Council:
The Regional Transportation Council (RTC) of the North Central Texas Council of Governments has served as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for regional transportation planning in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1974. The MPO works in cooperation with the region’s transportation providers to address the complex transportation needs of the rapidly growing metropolitan area. The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant and Wise counties. The RTC’s 45 members include local elected or appointed officials from the metropolitan area and representatives from each of the area’s transportation providers. More information can be found at www.nctcog.org.
About the North Central Texas Council of Governments:
NCTCOG is a voluntary association of local governments established in 1966 to assist local governments in planning for common needs, cooperating for mutual benefit, and coordinating for sound regional development. NCTCOG's purpose is to strengthen both the individual and collective power of local governments and to help them recognize regional opportunities, eliminate unnecessary duplication, and make joint decisions.
NCTCOG serves a 16-county region of North Central Texas, which is centered in the two urban centers of Dallas and Fort Worth. For more information on the NCTCOG Transportation Department, visit www.nctcog.org/trans.
About Air North Texas:
Air North Texas is a regional public awareness campaign that includes 39 partners pursuing environmental awareness in North Texas. It was formed by the North Central Texas Council of Governments with support of the Air North Texas Coalition. Partners support the campaign by encouraging residents to commit to actions that improve air quality, such as working from home, bicycling, or walking to the store and packing a lunch. For more information, visit www.airnorthtexas.org.
NCTCOG was designated by the Department of Energy as the host agency for DFWCC in 1995 and participates in the national Clean Cities and Communities partnership. DFWCC’s mission is to improve air quality by promoting cleaner, reliable, accessible, and sustainable transportation technologies. Dallas Fort Worth Clean Cities achieves this through providing guidance to fleets and other drivers about clean vehicle fuels/technologies, coordinating infrastructure planning and readiness, and facilitating best practices around transportation-energy integration. For more information, visit www.dfwcleancities.org
Brian Wilson
Malcolm Mayhew
The Air North Texas Partner Awards recognized four regional cities for their dedication to a cleaner North Texas:
- The City of Grand Prairie received the Partner of the Year award for consistently sharing Air North Texas’ advertising content through social media, billboards, newsletters and promotional items.
- The City of Plano earned Outstanding Education. The city informed residents about air quality and Clean Air Action Day with a variety of educational programs.
- The City of Dallas was awarded Outstanding Initiative. In addition to launching other efforts designed to address air quality and promote clean air practices in Dallas, the city held an Air Sensor Summit.
- The City of Cedar Hill was presented two awards: Outstanding Outreach and the Arlo Ambassador award. The city was commended for its outreach efforts for utilizing various methods to engage residents. The city was awarded the Arlo Ambassador award for its fun and creative use of Arlo, Air North Texas’ mascot.
Air North Texas is a public awareness campaign dedicated to helping improve the region’s air quality by encouraging individuals, businesses and governments to become involved in the process. For more information, visit AirNorthTexas.org.
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The DFW Clean Cities Coalition recognized 27 local fleets for their efforts to reduce petroleum use and improve air quality, as part of its annual Fleet Recognition Awards. Through operating alternative fuels instead of conventional fuels (i.e. gasoline and diesel) and adopting other emission reductions strategies, these fleets contributed to a regional reduction of 33.8 million gallons of gasoline equivalent, 323,100 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and 60 tons of nitrogen oxides, which contribute to local nonattainment of the federal ozone standard. The winners included nine Gold, eight Silver and 10 Bronze recipients:
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) was awarded Gold status for the sixth consecutive year, while the cities of Carrollton and Dallas, along with Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, earned Gold for the fifth straight year. Other entities bringing home the top honor were Trinity Metro and the cities of Denton, Grand Prairie, Irving and Southlake.
The winners of the Silver recognition were the cities of Arlington, Fort Worth, Frisco, Lancaster, Lewisville and North Richland Hills, along with Dallas ISD and Lazer Spot Inc.
The following were honored with Bronze status: Birdville ISD, Span Inc., Bimbo Bakeries, Tarrant County, Denton County, the towns of Flower Mound and Addison, and the cities of Benbrook, Mesquite and Plano.
In addition, six cities were recognized for a decade of fleet reporting: Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Lancaster, Lewisville, Rockwall and Watauga. For more on the fleet awards including the entities also recognized as Shining Stars, visit DFWCleanCities.org.
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NCTCOG also announced at the luncheon distinguished examples of Federal Discretionary Grant Projects awarded to the North Texas region in 2024. These grants will help fund critical transportation initiatives across the region, focusing on enhancing connectivity, safety and infrastructure. See the table below for grants recognized.
| Project | Project Details | Grant Type & Cost/Award Amounts |
| Interstate Highway (IH) 30 Dallas-Farmers Market/Heritage Village Deck Park | Construct three decks reconnecting the Cedars neighborhood to the Farmers Market neighborhood in downtown Dallas via an extension of Old City Park. | Reconnecting Communities & Neighborhoods Program Project Cost: $60M Grant Award: $20M |
| Klyde Warren Park – Phase 2.0 | Expand Klyde Warren Park by 1.7 acres via a new deck stretching from Pearl Street to west of Akard Street. | Reconnecting Communities & Neighborhoods Program Project Cost: $79.8M Grant Award: $20M |
| Southern Gateway Park – Phase 2 | Expand Southern Gateway Park by 2.3 acres over IH 35E between Marsalis Avenue and Ewing Avenue. | Reconnecting Communities & Neighborhoods Program Project Cost: $67M Grant Award: $25M |
| McKinney SH 5 – Lower 5 Plaza | Construct an urban pedestrian crossing by reconstructing SH 5 on a bridge above a sunken plaza between Louisiana and Virginia streets. The plaza would create a safe bicycle/pedestrian connection between downtown McKinney, the future City Hall and East McKinney neighborhoods. | Reconnecting Communities & Neighborhoods Program Project Cost: $30M Grant Award: $15M |
| Dallas County Inland Port (DCIP) Multimodal Connectivity Project | Reconstruct Belt Line Road and Sunrise Road to serve rapidly urbanizing yet historically disadvantaged area within the Dallas County Inland Port. | Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) Program Project Cost: $87M Grant Award: $25M |
| Cotton Belt/Silver Line Rail Trail | Construct a 5.2-mile portion of Phase 2 for the Cotton Belt/Silver Line Rail Trail within Dallas, Richardson and Plano. | Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) Program Project Cost: $42M Grant Award: $25M |
| TX Hydrogen & Electric Freight Infrastructure Project | Proposed as a strategy to implement the Interstate Highway 45 Zero Emission & Corridor Plan, as well as facilitate the transition of freight trucking toward cleaner fuels, this project builds up to five hydrogen fueling stations around the Texas Triangle. | Charging & Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Program – Corridor Grants Project Cost: $87.5M Grant Award: $70M |
| MLK/Cedar Crest Boulevard Complete Street and Safety Upgrades | This project will construct new sidewalks, bicycle facilities, improved bus stops, traffic calming, upgraded signals and Wi-Fi-enabled streetlights. | Safe Streets & Roads for All (SS4A) Program Project Cost: $27.25M Grant Award: $21.8M |
| Alliance Texas Inland Port Project | Through addition of a State Highway (SH) 170/Intermodal Parkway Smart Connected Corridor, institute a seamless platform for elevating inland port physical/technological connectivity with the Texas Triangle. | Multimodal Projects Discretionary Grant (MPDG) Program – INFRA Grant Project Cost: $261.8M Grant Award: $80M |
About the Regional Transportation Council:
The Regional Transportation Council (RTC) of the North Central Texas Council of Governments has served as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for regional transportation planning in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1974. The MPO works in cooperation with the region’s transportation providers to address the complex transportation needs of the rapidly growing metropolitan area. The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant and Wise counties. The RTC’s 45 members include local elected or appointed officials from the metropolitan area and representatives from each of the area’s transportation providers. More information can be found at www.nctcog.org.
About the North Central Texas Council of Governments:
NCTCOG is a voluntary association of local governments established in 1966 to assist local governments in planning for common needs, cooperating for mutual benefit, and coordinating for sound regional development. NCTCOG's purpose is to strengthen both the individual and collective power of local governments and to help them recognize regional opportunities, eliminate unnecessary duplication, and make joint decisions.
NCTCOG serves a 16-county region of North Central Texas, which is centered in the two urban centers of Dallas and Fort Worth. For more information on the NCTCOG Transportation Department, visit www.nctcog.org/trans.
About Air North Texas:
Air North Texas is a regional public awareness campaign that includes 39 partners pursuing environmental awareness in North Texas. It was formed by the North Central Texas Council of Governments with support of the Air North Texas Coalition. Partners support the campaign by encouraging residents to commit to actions that improve air quality, such as working from home, bicycling, or walking to the store and packing a lunch. For more information, visit www.airnorthtexas.org.
About the Dallas-Fort Worth Clean Cities Coalition: |
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Arlington, Texas – The North Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) held a recognition luncheon on Dec. 12 to celebrate its partners’ achievements in advancing mobility and clean air initiatives. The event featured the presentation of the Air North Texas Partner Awards and the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Clean Cities Fleet Recognition Awards and highlighted distinguished examples of awarded Federal Discretionary Grant Projects. Details about each presentation are below.