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Streetcar lines grew and prospered in Dallas from 1872 until
the 1920s. Automobile competition siphoned many of their
riders away, but ridership soared again during World War II .
After the war, the trolleys entered an era of gradual attrition, and
they were abandoned by 1956. Amazingly, in 1989, the nonprofit
McKinney Avenue Transit Authority (MA TA) returned restored
vintage trolley cars to the city in the Uptown neighborhood near
downtown. MA TA evolved from a tourist attraction into a true
transit company and became the M-Line. Since then, the area
has experienced rapid growth and is now home to midrise office
buildings and upscale apartments.
About the author
Phil Cobb, the driving force behind MATA's startup, was chairman of the board for several years and is now the M-Line's president. Jim Cumbie, a volunteer since 1988, edited the company's newsletter for 10 years and is now the M-Line's webmaster and unofficial historian. Judy Smith Hearst, the president of Friends of State-Thomas, led a scrappy little neighborhood against signisficant odds to rezone, intiate a historic district, reroute traffic using the Maple-Routh Connector, and partner with developers to envision the future.
