1984 Daily Life and Impacts in Arlington

This year is the presidential election. We have been targeting Reagan during his presidency because of his loose grasp of reality. Optimism is not a cure for the issues we face. His attempts at cutting business taxes during the recession will help. However, we will gloss over that and focus on the high unemployment, inflation, and Iran hostage situation. He will also push an unacceptable relationship with the Vatican in January. We will also force the Republican party to abandon him over his decision to sell drugs to poor Americans to fund and provide military aid to communist and fascist rebellions. We suggest that Bush take over since the Democratic candidate isn't a good option. Thankfully, in this ideal world, all 3 branches of the government are balanced against each other, and it forces the politicians to compromise and embrace centrist policies instead of the extreme polarization of the politicians in my last life.

The nationalization of tracks was approved based on the policies we requested last year. The companies that own the tracks will get toll credits for their tracks. The tolls are mandated to be used for track maintenance, and the remaining money after yearly maintenance will go towards standardizing non-standard tracks when possible (sometimes terrain is the limiting factor). This will help the FRA simplify its monitoring of tracks and railroad equipment. The state control of the abandoned rail lines is already starting to decrease the cost of the new uses of the rail banks. Instead of purchasing the land, agencies only have to repay the money spent by the state to maintain the lines.

The following national initiative to push for is the removal of abandoned dams. Republicans can advocate as their 1-time removal cost is a saving over the maintenance of abandoned structures and the restoration of better fishing. The democrats can also support it as environment stewardship, allowing the fish and other animals to reclaim their historical habitats and pair it with flood management by planning wetlands along rivers and streams. Congress can propose fund matching for state and local governments and support based on cost-effectiveness metrics.

With state approval of the 10 cents per dollar maximum with 1 cent locked for mass transit, the original DART cities can now approve the remaining 1.75 per dollar to city funds, flood control, and/or economic development funds. The surrounding cities have also put votes to join DART on their ballots. This will allow DART to swallow multiple other transit agencies within the NCTCOG (North Central Texas Council of Governments) area, and follow through the NCTCOG transit recommendations when available.

Construction on the initial red and blue lines will start in 1986, 4 years earlier than in my original life. With the additional funding from additional cities joining DART, we can push the construction to progress faster and share more FEIS on more recommended transit options. The initial stops on the Red and Blue lines will open in 1991, 5 years early. i won't be in Dallas then, but the service will be well established and pushed out to more areas by the time i move back in 1998. We can also cause all the following rail improvements to follow quicker since we've already started all the FEIS analysis for them. With the additional member cities, DART should be able to self-finance (with the federal matches to supplement) until the 1988 election, when they can propose the same long-term debt agreement that allowed them to finance the Orange and Green lines.

We will push DART to use Bus Rapid Transit around the eventual rail locations established in my original life and connect between those locations to accustom the residents to where transit will be. Hopefully, transit-orientated businesses will line near future rail lines before the rails finish construction. Then DART can radiate buses down potential future rail lines, according to NCTCOG. The radiating transit style will be followed mainly in the metroplex. Then, in the suburbs, it will mostly be on-demand. Funding from DART will also go into HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes like in my original life. i don't want to change too much of their mission; i just want to help push the timeline up to make life more convenient by the time i return to Dallas.

For the Trinity River project, i can only donate to the city for the eventual levee expansion and the lakes and wetland plans to go through the FEIS process over the next few years. Any remaining funds should also be earmarked for the Santiago Calatrava bridge plans to be designed in this life.

During this period, nothing of note happened in my life. The only memory i had at this age was my dad drinking beer and smoking weed while watching porn. i will get Ms. Lee to get his company to force him to get a physical and take heart medicine and keep him from going to the dentist before his anniversary for the company. i don't think i can prevent his death next year, but i can at least try to change it to a more peaceful and less dramatic version.