A Bicycle Society

Downtown Dallas Inc. promises public bike sharing 'sooner rather than later'

The recent appearance of a private bike-sharing stand in the Dallas Arts District leads us to wonder just how far off public bike sharing might be for the city of Dallas at large. According to Kourtny Garrett, executive vice president of Downtown Dallas Inc., that day is a lot closer than you may think.

Garrett says that Downtown Dallas Inc., the nonprofit group that works to improve downtown on a number of levels, has recently been working with the City of Dallas and various neighborhood organizations to develop an integrative bike-sharing system.

"We have been doing a tremendous amount of research on systems in other cities and talking to operators and trying to figure out how to get the job done," Garrett says. "Our goal is a system that would enable a user to, say, pick up a bike in Deep Ellum and drop it off in the West End. That entails finding one operator with compatible stations and the whole host of operational issues."

"If we were to get the funding that we need today ... you're looking at a 12-month timeline," says Kourtny Garrett of Downtown Dallas Inc.

Even though Garrett acknowledges that those issues are far from insignificant, she wants the public to know that solving them is one of the most important things they're working on currently.

"There's a huge economic component, and that's really where we are right now — working through the profit and loss, working through a balance of the number of stations and number of bikes, and then working with the city on a public-private partnership that would entail sponsorships and grants," Garrett says.

Still, even though public bike sharing is near the top of downtown Dallas' agenda, don't expect to see stands popping up next month.

"If we were to get the funding that we need today, in order to order all of the bikes and all the stations and have them installed in all the different locations, you're looking at a 12-month timeline," Garrett says.

And that's only if the group had secured the necessary funding, something it has yet to do.

"There's a plan in place — I wish I could give you a timeline, but I can't right now because it all hinges on the funding — but there are a lot of components in the works because bike share is obviously something that's very important to bring to Dallas and that we want to make happen with all of our partners," Garrett says.

But when they do find sponsorships and other funding for the project, Garrett sees few other roadblocks toward its implementation.

"The city conceptually is on board," Garrett says. "There are some things from an ordinance perspective that are already in place. But it's really finding the dollars."

While phase one of the project would focus on downtown and the surrounding area, Garrett envisions a time when it will become sustainable enough to go citywide.

"An important component of this is that you have all stations in a dense enough geography that it's usable," she says. "You don't want to have a whole bunch of very disparate stations throughout the city that aren't very usable."

Garrett knows some segments of the city are clamoring for bike sharing, but she's making sure they do their due diligence and not leaping before they look.

"What we don't want to do is come out with a system that isn't financially viable," Garrett says. "And we want to make sure that the system also is very cost-effective for the user. We want something that's accessible, that doesn't preclude anyone from being able to afford to pull a bike out.

"I do think it's important for the public to know that there are very serious conversations and very serious planning going on surrounding bike share, and that it will happen sooner rather than later."

unspecified

pet protection

How to protect Texas pets against the dangerous New World screwworm fly

MPhoto by Tran Mau Tri Tam ✪ on Unsplash

Make sure these guys are up on their flea and tick meds.

Two New World screwworm cases in dogs are among more than 30 confirmed instances in Texas and New Mexico, prompting warnings Wednesday, July 8 from veterinarians and humane societies that pet owners need to remain vigilant to protect their animals.

The parasite reappeared in cattle in the U.S. in June, more than 50 years after it had been largely eradicated from the country. The pest is actually the larvae of the New World screwworm fly. It eats live flesh and fluids rather than dead material, as the larvae of most fly species do.

Here is what to know about the parasite, the threat it poses to pets and how to protect them:

Screwworm fly larvae can infest any mammal
The fly's migration north from Panama starting in 2024, and through Mexico in 2025, has agriculture officials warning that it poses a threat to the $113 billion U.S. cattle industry, but the larvae can hatch and breed in any mammal, including wildlife, dogs, cats and occasionally humans.

The problem develops when a female fly lays its eggs in open wounds and mucus. After the eggs hatch, the larvae feed for about a week before maturing, dropping to the ground and continuing to develop into an adult fly.

The American Veterinary Medical Association says newborn animals and animals with open wounds or who have undergone surgery or other medical procedures recently are especially vulnerable. Even a tick bite can host an infestation, Aaron Grady, executive director of the Houston Humane Society shelter, said during a webinar on the screwworm.

Screwworm fly close-up The goal is to stop these flies from successfully breeding. Photo courtesy of Texas A&M AgriLife

Infestation signs include restlessness and bad smell
Animal health experts say pet owners in areas where the screwworm is present — southern and southwestern Texas and southeastern New Mexico so far — should watch their animals closely and examine them for wounds, cuts and bites regularly.

Pet owners should look for any maggots or movement in a wound. Other signs include a foul smell and restlessness or anxiety in an animal, or an animal “hyper-fixating on looking or chewing in a certain area of the body," said Melissa Stansell, a veterinarian at the shelter Austin Pets Alive!

Any one of those is reason enough to go to a veterinarian. The affected animal is likely in a great deal of pain, and that can cause death from shock. The larvae also can cause death if they move into vital organs or by causing infections that turn deadly.

Flea, tick medications can stop an infestation
Humane society officials and veterinarians said shelters across Texas are trying to prevent infestations in animals by giving them prescription flea and tick medications. They recommend that pet owners do the same.

“It will kill the larvae as they ingest the blood and tissue,” Stansell said. “The chemical compositions of those products are what kill the actual larval stages of these flies.”

Veterinarians also can treat infestations and animals can recover if pet owners contact them quickly. Stansell said the treatment could include antibiotics.

“It is only fatal if left untreated,” she said.

An effort to eradicate the fly again is underway
The New World screwworm fly is a tropical species and decades ago would disappear each year when colder weather arrived with the fall or winter.

But state and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials aren't waiting for the weather to turn. They've returned to an eradication method that worked decades ago, breeding sterile male flies and releasing them into the wild. The female New World screwworm fly mates once in her monthslong life, and if her partner is sterile, her eggs won't hatch — causing the population in an area to drop and then disappear.

For years, the only factory breeding sterile flies in the Western Hemisphere was in Panama, but the USDA invested $21 million to convert a site in southern Mexico from breeding fruit flies to recently start breeding screwworm flies. The agency also plans to spend $750 million on a new fly factory in Texas, set to open next year.

screwworm fly pets