 Where is Scott? Scott, you notice I don't have my red boots on today. The running joke was that if he didn't deliver this by New Year's Eve of 2018, my red boot was going to be on his backside. So I didn't wear him today. He does have 14 hours. You know, we really have been, all jokes aside, waiting on this for a long time. As Fort Worth has grown and grown and grown, 15th largest in the nation, soon to be 13th in the fourth largest metropolitan region, directly behind Chicago. And we will eclipse Chicago more than likely in the next 10 to 15 years. We need great transit. And we need transit that connects to the airport. A $37 billion economic engine for us at DFW. Dart has been there for some time. This is just a great opportunity for us to move this forward. Trinity Metro has worked so hard. All you board members, would you raise your hands for us? Let's give them a round of applause. Thank you all for your service. The prior board and this board have been committed to this project for some time. We've had a few hiccups, but we've gotten there. A record, 9.1 million visitors come to Fort Worth every year. And this gives them a golden opportunity to take the train and come in. If you could take the dart to Dallas for about five bucks or you had a $70 cab ride if you're a visitor coming in to get to Fort Worth, where were you going to go when you were just a tourist? Now we're on equal footing, and I think that means more and more people will come and visit all of us. It's an exciting time. It's really fun to be here to kick this off at the North Side Station. Community effort, this region is just poised to really take off, is we invest nearly $3 million in this neighborhood. This will be the cornerstone. As transit oriented development comes around it, I'm very excited. But mostly I'm excited about this train and what it brings. The city deserves and will have innovative and progressive transportation. The kind that my grandsons are with me today here at 10 and 11 that in 20 years, no, not that one, these two younger ones, that they can look back and go. Fort Worth was a very innovative city that the Trinity Metro got behind it. This will give us a golden opportunity to look at expanding the rail, potentially going south towards the medical district where there are nearly 40 million jobs in that medical district. What a great way to move people from tourists, to locals who want to get to job, to just those who want to take their weekend. Why? I don't know, but might want to go to Dallas. Or better yet, our Dallas friends who want to come to Fort Worth to eat and see Sundats and experience what we have. It's a great time to be in Fort Worth and it's an exciting time for Trinity Metro to deliver on this rail project. I want to thank all our friends at Trinity Metro, the FTA, the Federal Transit Authority, our Tarrant County, Judge Whitley, you're going to hear from in a few minutes, and certainly the City of Fort Worth for their support of this project. There's just almost too many people to thank. It's my pleasure now to introduce the champion for this region who followed another champion, Salas Pino, who now serves with Trinity Metro. Carlos Flores, where's Carlos? There you are. Carlos has worked long and hard for this region. Carlos, this is a great start for your area. Wow, what an introduction. Another round of applause for Mayor Price. And I want to thank her, and I think all of it should, for her leadership in making this day possible. This is a very exciting day, needless to say, for Fort Worth and District 2. This new station and the text rail service that it's going to provide to Fort Worth, Dallas Airport, that one's for you, Mayor Price. It's just one of the many attributes and advantages that this new service is going to provide to this city and to the greater north side area. In January, the City Council is going to consider a $2.87 million funding to provide the north side its target area for neighborhood improvements. The funding comes from a half-cent allocation of municipal property tax rate to provide capital projects, improve public safety, and attract necessary investment to keep our city growing in the right direction. Now, railroads in their history help build our nation. They also help build our city, and they continue to be a vital part of our local and national economies. So I think it's very interesting that history is relied upon from time to time again, but we have to use history to project our future. Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him. And I think that's very appropriate here in this case, because well, ladies and gentlemen, the train of our future has arrived. Tech's Rail is more than just a faster way to get to DFW Airport. It's an investment in our community, and it offers greater connectivity through public transportation. Commuters are going to have opportunities to get to their jobs without using their personal vehicles, and that equates to savings in time, money, and increased productivity. Additionally, visitors will be able to visit you know, various cities here in North Texas, including our very own Fort Worth, and attractions like the historic stockyards. So this Tech's Rail station will also spur transit-oriented development. If you look around this area, you'll see that this was one of the earliest parts of our city. Well, I think it's time that we revisit it and start putting into it some new vision. Their older industrial uses is here that I think can be re-envisioned with this transit-oriented development. Connections between the station, the surrounding neighborhoods, will also be utilized to their fullest potential. Including the stockyards redevelopment, all this will tie in and equate to a wonderful future for the Northside area. So I want to thank Tech's Rail. I want to thank the former and current board members of Trinity Metro, staff, the engineering and the construction teams, and the elected officials who helped move this project and Fort Worth forward into our future. So without further ado, I haven't seen her in the audience yet, but I'd like to introduce, I believe, Nicole Collier, who might be here. I hope so. Nicole, she's going to say a few words for us. So again, thank you very much. This is an exciting time for me, as Council Member for District 2. Nicole? Well, thank you so much. It's such an honor to be here at this momentous occasion. And on behalf of the State of Texas, I want to say congratulations. Congratulations on such a wonderful event. This is such a very special day for Fort Worth, for Tarrant County, to spur this type of economic development right here. And we want to say that we're very proud of what you're doing. Thank you so much for the board members. Thank you so much for the vision that you have had. You know, this is, the Mayor said that this is the top four city, the fastest growing city, one of the top four growing cities. And you're going to take you to the fifth growing, the fifth largest airport in the nation. And that's going to spur more development right here. And it's going to, it's going to be affordable for people. And I really came because I needed nowhere to go to get to the airport on Monday when I go back to the session. So thank you so much for doing this. We're just so proud of everything that you are doing here, right here in our home city of Fort Worth. And I have a pleasure of introducing my next partner that's going to help us do even more, not only for Textrail, but for the city of Fort Worth, for Tarrant County, and all of the people right here in the great state of Texas. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce to you our next Senator-elect for Senate District 10, Ms. Beverly Powell. I'm a latecomer to this party, but no less excited than all of you are today to have this inaugural ride on the Textrail. We are celebrating the next chapter in regional transportation here in Tarrant County. And people across this county are excited about the addition of affordable transportation to and from DFW International Airport. The opening of Textrail is about more than just affordable transportation to the airport. It's about a new commitment to public transportation infrastructure. And it's about ensuring the economic vitality of our region through job creation of both indirect and direct new jobs. It is about our commitment to the future of regional transportation. So this morning, it is my privilege to say congratulations to Trinity Metro and the visionary leaders that are here today that made this possible. I look forward in the future to being a regular rider of the Textrail, but more than that, I look forward to being your partner as we move forward in our future to create new public transportation opportunities for all of our region. Thank you so much Tarrant County and it is my privilege now to introduce to you our judge, our county judge Whitley. Thank you so much. It is a great day to be here and it's a great day to be able to get on the train and go to DFW airport. You know, in 2006, the county passed a bond issue and we had approximately $20 million in there to assist with intersections along the route. We're excited as we've seen this go forward and as we are now going to end, I can think of no better way to end 2018 and to begin 2019 than with this new Textrail. You've heard a lot of things mentioned today. You've heard economic development. You've heard transportation alternatives. I am very excited at what this is going to mean for the future of this area. It's going to give other cities outside of just Fort Worth an opportunity to see development and what that development can occur around one of these rail stops. We're going to be stopping in North Wishing Hills and in Grapevine as we go forward toward the airport. Each one of them have embraced this and are excited about it. We've got a lot of new people that are continuing to come here every year. They are looking for alternatives than just to drive to and from wherever they're going. And I think this is one of the alternatives that everyone is very excited about. So as we get on the train today, I again can't think of a better way for us to end 2018 and to begin 2019 and I want to thank again all those people who have been focused on this project for over a decade and are now seeing it all come to fruition and we're very very excited about it. Thank you all very very much.