Center of Development Excellence September 2025 Newsletter

The Rent-A-Bike Program was first launched in 2023 through the Library and initially provided 26 bicycles for students to rent at no cost for the entire semester on a first-come, first-serve basis. Multiple bike maintenance stands are located across campus and are available to students participating in the rental program. Over time, the program has grown through collaborations across the Office of Sustainability, Parking & Transportation, Library, and Police Department in order to meet student demand. Going into the current 2025 Fall semester, 75 bicycles are now available for rent. All bicycles were collected, evaluated for condition, and repaired to make them safe and usable by students. These are bicycles sourced from existing inventories from the Police Department acquisitions, as well as abandoned bikes left behind on campus.

The Bike Share Program at UT Arlington has continued to grow with the opening of the Bike Barn. Recognizing a demand for bicycle maintenance and a gap in bicycle services and supply due to there being no bike shops near campus, architecture students of the Community Design Build Lab began designing the Bike Barn in 2022. The Bike Barn was designed to fill the need for a local and accessible bike shop destination and serve as an on-campus resource for student and employee cyclists. The Bike Barn construction process finished in 2025 and opened this Fall semester as an on-campus resource for cyclists. Additionally, the Bike Barn has created employment opportunities for student workers, as well as learning opportunities to educate students on bike maintenance and repair.

The Bike Barn creates an opportunity to reuse valuable materials rather than dispose of them in the landfill while also filling a transportation need for students. Abandoned or damaged bicycles are now being recovered, repaired, and used to provide transportation for students. As the program continues to grow and gain visibility, the hope is that more students will donate bikes they no longer need which will, in turn, help grow the positive impacts to both students on campus and the environment.

The Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association has announced the winners of the 2025 APA Texas Planning Awards Program. The awards recognize individuals, organizations, and communities for their outstanding contributions to planning in Texas. Multiple awards were given in the NCTCOG region:

Community of the Year: Gold – City of Cedar Hill
Journalism: Gold – Sticking to the Plan: Telling the Story of Visionary Planning in Plano
Best Practice: Gold – City of Frisco’s Plan Your City
Best Practice: Silver – Southeast Denton Area Plan
Environmental Planning: Gold – Dallas County Open Space Plan
Grassroots Initiative: Silver – Mansfield Cultural Arts Master Plan
Historic Preservation: Silver – Historic Mansfield Preservation Plan 2035
Historic Preservation: Silver – Plano Texas Pool
Implementation: Gold – Celina Downtown Master Plan – Implementation
Implementation: Silver – City of Plano Future Land Use Map Implementation Tools
Public Outreach: Gold – City of Lewisville Backyard Cottage Design Competition
Public Outreach: Silver – Denton Area Planning Public Outreach
Transportation Planning: Gold – Fort Worth Eastside Transportation Plan
Urban Design: Gold – Design Downtown Denton

Congratulations to all the award recipients! See the complete list of awardees here.

A new solution to plastic waste is underway at UT Arlington, with engineering professor Sahadat Hossain and his team piloting a new plastic-infused asphalt mix for road construction. The addition of plastic to asphalt not only creates a more durable and better performing road but also recycles plastic that would have gone to waste.

The plastic-asphalt mix was first used on the UTA campus in 2023 to patch a one-mile section over two parking lots. This area has been monitored for the past two years with no issues in the durability of the road detected. Further research also indicates no significant difference in the impact to the environment, with the amount of microplastics released by this mix comparable to the amount released by traditional asphalt. The mix was more recently used by the team to replace a 3,500-foot stretch of roadway in Rockwall. Both projects used about 3.5 tons of plastic each, with the total estimated to be about 30 garbage trucks full of plastic.

Hossain and his team will continue to monitor the road in Rockwall and plan to continue expanding the pilot to other roads in Texas. In the fall, they will start work on a road project in Fort Worth, with hopes for this solution to eventually expand nationally into other states as well. Learn more about this innovative project here.

Texas Trees Foundation has received $25 million in funding from Texas Parks and Wildlife and federal transportation dollars to redevelop the Southwestern Medical District in Dallas. The district contains three medical institutions, which together serve about 3 million patients annually. A recent study found the Southwestern Medical District to be one of the worst urban heat islands in Dallas, indicating the need for a redesign. The funding will go towards remodeling a two-mile stretch along the Harry Hines Corridor, with the addition of trees and a park along both sides of the boulevard. The remodel is currently in the design phase, with construction projected to begin in 2026 and work on the new park in 2028. Click here to explore more about the redevelopment project.

After weeks of mediation, regional water planners in North and Northeast Texas have reached an agreement on the Marvin Nichols reservoir. The agreement pushes back the proposed reservoirs completion to 2070, as well as calls for an independent study on the impacts and benefits of the project.

Talks between Region C, representing North Texas, and Region D, representing Northeast Texas, began after a conflict between the groups’ 50-year water plans was declared by the Texas Water Development Board. The agreement also considers the existing Toledo Bend reservoir bordering East Texas and Louisiana as another option alongside Marvin Nichols with a directive for Region C to pursue a study comparing the two. The agreement has been approved by Region D, with approval from Region C pending. For further details on this agreement, read the article here.

For the past five years, volunteers with the Texas Conservation Alliance and local partners have been conducting bird-building collision surveys in Downtown Dallas throughout fall and spring migrations. These surveys are a part of the larger Lights Out, Texas! campaign that has been working to reduce light pollution in cities during peak migration, with the surveys serving as a method to assess the effectiveness of Lights Out efforts in DFW. While these survey results have helped raise awareness about light pollution, they’ve also highlighted another area of concern: glass windows.

As a result, the messaging of the Lights Out campaign has shifted from simply turning off the lights to the role of glass windows. Since birds are unable to recognize the glass as a barrier, they may try to fly through, which when combined with the artificial nighttime lighting that disrupts their navigation systems often leads to fatal collisions. Advocacy has shifted to promote the need for bird-safe glass. With data collected through surveys now extensive enough to identify hotspots in Dallas, volunteers are beginning to focus on the advocacy of building changes as they work towards creating a safer Dallas for migrating birds. To read more about the evolving message of Lights Out and their ongoing work, check out the article here.

South California Edison is hosting a free online webinar on green building certifications on October 21, 2025. The webinar will explore the most relevant third-party green building certifications in today’s market and emphasize the importance of prioritizing sustainability in development plans and building design. It will also highlight how participating in these certification programs promotes industry-wide accountability and comparability, driving the built environment toward higher standards of efficiency. Design and construction professionals, green building professionals, and sustainability leads/managers are encouraged to attend. Registration is available on the program website.

Texan by Nature is hosting its annual Conservation Summit on October 21,2025 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. This summit brings together conservation and business leaders for rich, impact-focused dialogue and networking. Panelists lay the foundation for discussion by sharing success stories, best practices, lessons learned, and more. Come hear from those that are making an impact on Texas’ communities, the economy, and our state’s natural resources.

Those interested in attending can register to attend in-person or virtually on the Texan by Nature website, as well as view an agenda for the summit.

Registration is now open for the 2025 APA Texas Conference. This year’s theme is “Love and Happiness” and will invite attendees to reflect on the human side of planning: the relationships we build, the communities we build, and the shared force that drives us. This year’s conference will feature a robust mix of breakout sessions, mobile workshops, and speakers that reflect on the importance of planning in Texas.

The APA Texas Conference will be held in Bryan-College Station at the Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center on October 22-24, 2025. Further details on registration, as well as the agenda and keynote speaker are available on the program website.

The North Texas Regional Integration of Sustainability Efforts (RISE) Coalition works to engage interested local governments in peer-exchange opportunities to support sustainability and environmental initiatives. Coalition meetings are open to the public; local government staff working on sustainability, environmental, and climate initiatives are encouraged to attend.

The next RISE Coalition meeting is scheduled for October 29, 2025, at 9:30 AM. The meeting will be held in person at NCTCOG offices. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP here.

For more information about the RISE Coalition, visit the RISE Coalition website. The RISE Coalition website provides information about past and upcoming meetings.

The 23rd annual North Texas Facilities Expo will return for its 23rd annual show on October 29-30, 2025. The Facilities Expo brings together facility managers, maintenance managers, and energy managers seeking to discover innovative solutions, industry insights, and networking opportunities. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore the latest trends, connect with facilities experts, and connect with cutting-edge products and services that support organizational goals.

The Facilities Expo will be held at the Irving Convention Center. Registration for both attendees and exhibitors is currently open on the program website.

The Texas Energy Summit is a leading forum for advancing community decisions that reduce the energy and water intensity of the built environment and lower related emissions. This conference promotes collaboration and knowledge-sharing around effective energy efficiency policies at both the state and local levels, with a focus on the critical link between energy systems and air quality. Attendees from government agencies, private industry, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations are encouraged to attend and engage with a wide range of energy-related topics.

This year’s Energy Services Summit will be held November 4-6, 2025, at the Texas Capitol in Austin. Further information about the Summit can be found on their webpage.

The Federal Reserve Banks of Kansas City and Dallas are jointly hosting their 10th annual energy conference virtually and in Denver, CO, on Friday, November 14, 2025. This year’s agenda will focus on the outlook for global energy markets as well as energy trade flows and developing domestic energy infrastructure. Business leaders, central bankers, government, academics, and financial representatives make up the participants of the conference.

The target audience for this conference is mid- to senior-level leaders in the energy sector. In addition to in-person attendance, a live stream of the conference will also be available at no cost. Registration for the conference will be available soon on the Federal Reserve Bank’s website.

NCTCOG has opened the North Texas Vehicle Infrastructure Call for Projects to select public sector properties on which to build EV charging stations. NCTCOG received $15 million from the Federal Highway Administration as part of the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Community grant program to build up to 100 EV charging ports on public property in the NCTCOG region. Kimley-Horn and Associates has been procured by NCTCOG to serve as the Deployment Dream Team and provide support for application development and streamlining during implementation.

Eligible applicants are all public agencies located in the NCTCOG 16-county region. Eligible projects include both Level 2 and Direct Current Fast Chargers and can be located on any public property. Funds will be used for up to 80% of initial deployment capital costs and up to 20% of operations and maintenance costs. The Call for Projects will close at 5:00 PM CT on Friday, October 31, 2025. Further details and instructions for application submittal can be found on the Call for Projects webpage.

The application has been extended for the Texas Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Program (TxVEMP). Individuals, state and local governments, corporations, and any other legal entity are invited to apply for funding to replace or upgrade vehicles and equipment with electric alternatives. The following categories are eligible for funding:

Class 8 Local Freight and Port Drayage Trucks
Class 4-8 School Bus, Shuttle Bus, & Transit Buses
Class 4-7 Local Freight Trucks
Airport Ground Support Equipment
Forklift and Port Cargo Handling Equipment
Refueling Infrastructure

Unless the application period is suspended by TCEQ prior to the deadline, the new deadline has been extended to 5:00 PM CT on August 31, 2026. Grants are being awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. More information on eligible projects and the application process is available on the program webpage.

The Center of Development Excellence (Center) is a regional program in North Central Texas that is built on collaborative partnerships with a variety of stakeholders including local governments, businesses, private sector professionals and organizations, non-profits, and the public. The Center works to leverage opportunities and funding to create a North Central Texas region that is resilient, sustainable, and provides a high quality of life for residents. To learn more, visit the Center of Development Excellent website.