Page 553 - Fort Worth City Budget 2019

City Profile

active/announced international destinations. For seven consecutive years, DFW has ranked in the top ten for
customer service among large airports worldwide in surveys conducted by Airports Council International.

In addition, the city owns three general aviation airports, each with all-weather capability. Meacham International
Airport is centrally located 5 miles from downtown Fort Worth and is equipped with parallel runways, the longest of
which is a 7,500 ft. runway. Fort Worth Spinks Airport, a general aviation airport located along I-35 in the south
portion of the city is equipped with a 6,000 ft. runway. Alliance Airport is located on I-35 to the north, serves the
needs of industrial, business and general aviation users, and is equipped with a 9,600 ft. runway and an 11,000 ft.
runway. Alliance Airport is home to the annual Bell Helicopter Fort Worth Alliance Air Show. These three airports
combined handled 331,714 operations in fiscal year 2017.

Three interstate highways (Interstate 20, Interstate 30 and Interstate 35), combined with five federal and four state
highways provide all-weather routes within the Fort Worth area and the rest of the nation. Interstate 820, which
encircles the city, allows quick access to all parts of the Fort Worth area. The Texas Highway Commission has
completed a master highway construction plan for Tarrant County to provide for transportation needs through the
foreseeable future. The relocation project was completed in 2001 and will promote redevelopment of Lancaster
Avenue, the south end of the Central Business District and the Hospital District southwest of downtown.

Fort Worth is served by six major railroad systems, one of which, BNSF (Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Railroad), has
its corporate headquarters in Fort Worth. Rail passenger service is provided through Fort Worth, including AMTRAK
service on the Texas Eagle to Chicago, St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas, San Antonio and Los Angeles and on the Heartland
Flyer to Oklahoma City. Fort Worth’s position as a major southwest distribution center is supported by the presence
of 75 regular route motor carriers with over 750 schedules. Local transit service is provided by the Trinity Metro,
operated by the formerly known as Fort Worth Transportation Authority. Greyhound Lines, Inc. furnishes Fort Worth
with transcontinental bus passenger service.

EDUCATION

The Fort Worth Independent School District serves a major portion of Fort Worth. The 143 schools in the District
operate on the 5-3-4 plan in which the elementary schools (83) teach grades 1-5; middle schools and sixth-grade
centers (24), grades 6-8; and senior high schools (19), grades 9-12. The District also has 17 special campuses. The
Fort Worth School District employs 5,816 classroom teachers (full-time equivalents) to instruct over 86,000 students.
Special education programs are provided for the blind, handicapped, mentally disabled, brain-injured, emotionally
disturbed, and those who require speech and hearing therapy in seven special schools. Vocational training is
provided at the secondary level for the educable mentally disabled. Bilingual programs are also offered at the
primary and secondary level. While Fort Worth is served primarily by Fort Worth Independent School District, it is
also serviced by eight other districts. Aledo ISD serves the new Walsh development in west Fort Worth, and the Mary
D. and F. Howard Walsh Elementary school opened in August 2017.

Tarrant County has 42 college and university campuses with an enrollment of more than 100,000 students in both
undergraduate and graduate programs. Included in these colleges and universities are: Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary; Tarleton State University-Fort Worth Campus; Tarrant County College- Trinity River, South,

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