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The Dallas Area Rapid Transit authority (or '''DART''') is a transit agency based in Dallas , Texas ( USA ) that operates Bus es, Light Rail (including an underground station), Commuter Rail , and HOV lanes in Dallas and 12 of its suburbs. It is the largest light rail operator in the state of Texas. HISTORY Precursor agencies The Dallas Transit System (DTS) was the publicly owned Mass Transit service operated by the City of Dallas , Texas ( USA ), from 1964 to 1988 . DTS resulted from a consolidation of various privately owned transit companies and streetcar lines. Prior to DTS, the company was formerly known as the Dallas Railway and Terminal Company when Dallas had an extensive streetcar system that spanned from Oak Cliff to North Dallas . The name was changed shortly after the last streetcar ran in January of 1956. DART formally took over operations of the DTS in 1988. In 2000 , DART employees restored a 1966 DTS bus to its original state.http://www.dart.org/news.asp?ID=15 DART Breathes Life into Retired Dallas Transit System Bus Creation of DART DART was created on 13 August 1983 as a regional replacement for the DTS. Citizens of 15 area cities had voted to levy a 1% Sales Tax to join the system by the time it began transit services in 1984 (though formal acquisition of the Dallas Transit System wouldn't be complete until 1988 ). In 1985 , member cities Carrollton and Farmers Branch held elections to pull out of DART, though the measures failed. But shifting suburban politics and a loss of confidence in DART management after voters declined to support DART's measure to incur long term debt in 1988 led to 7 more pullout votes, two of which ( Flower Mound and Coppell ) were successful. Just one suburb joined DART — the tiny community of Buckingham , which was later annexed by DART member city Richardson . DART also assists in the operation of the M-line Streetcar, with a joint operating subsidy given to the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority along with the Uptown Improvement District. DART'S LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM in Downtown Dallas ]] Before the 1983 election, DART had a plan for of rail. After the election, the plan was pared down to miles when Duncanville , Grand Prairie and Mesquite , who would have had rail lines, didn't opt to join the agency. DART chose Light Rail Transit as its primary mode of rail transportation in 1984. The plan was pared down again to miles before the 1988 bond vote. After the vote, the agency again pared down the regional rail system to miles; light rail miles and 18 miles of commuter rail. That plan would be amended after the starter system finished to the current plan that continues to evolve today, with current plans for miles of completed light-rail, an additional recommended, and with rail plans still in development regarding the proposed Cotton Belt alignment from Plano to DFW Airport, which would be approximately miles in length. Presently, DART's Light Rail system has a daily ridership of 58,200 {Link without Title} and is the Ninth Most-ridden Light Rail System In The Country , ahead of Sacramento's 49,800 and behind Denver's 60,400. The TRE commuter line has a daily ridership of 8,700 {Link without Title} and is the Eleventh Most-ridden Commuter Rail System in the country. The following lines are currently active, under construction, or in the final planning stages:
Starter system After 6 years of scandals involving finances, delays in construction of the rail system, a failed bond election and nine pull-out votes, the year 1990 was a turning point for the agency when DART broke ground on its Light Rail system in October. The light rail system began service on time and on budget in June 1996 , inaugurating the first light rail system in Texas and the Southwest . Commuter Rail service to Irving began in December, after some delays. To the surprise of critics, who expected the low ridership of some other systems, the new light rail system was embraced by Dallasites, with ridership exceeding expectations. The suburbs' confidence in DART was also expressed at the ballot box: five cities held highly publicized pullout elections in 1996 (with the financial assistance of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/1996/07/22/editorial2.html Keep DART in Irving - Dallas Business Journal), but DART won handily in all five. The starter system opened on 14 June 1996 , which spanned from the Westmoreland Station on the in Dallas (West Oak Cliff) through Downtown Dallas to Pearl Station . There were also two stations on the , Morrell and Illinois that opened on that date. The next stage of the starter line opened on 10 January 1997 when the was extended from Pearl Station to Park Lane Station . It includes the underground portion of the line between Pearl Station and Mockingbird Station , also the site of Dallas's first modern transit village. The northern terminus of the was still Pearl Station .http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/Dallas/DART/ The starter line was completed when the was extended from Illinois Station to its current southern terminus at Ledbetter Station . This came on 31 May 1997 , nearly one year after the first part of the starter system opened. The final change to the starter system came on 18 December 2000 when DART opened Cityplace Station , the first subway station in the Southwest (excluding the Tandy Center Subway , a small private subway in Fort Worth, Texas between a downtown shopping/business center and a parking lot. It ceased to operate in 2002). Commuter Rail on the old Rock Island right-of-way began during the series of openings of the light rail starter system. On 30 December 1996 the opened the first segment as the South Irving Transit Center was connected to Union Station in Downtown Dallas with a stop in the middle at Medical/Market Center Station . The agency had to lease rail cars due to a delay in the current stock until March. Suburban expansion After the success of the light rail starter system, voters approved DART's request to use long-term bonds to expedite the construction of the regional light rail system. While DART had originally planned single-track extensions of the Blue Line to Garland and the to Richardson and Plano , the starter system was so popular that the agency made plans to double-track the entire route. Work began on the extensions of the and the on 2001 , when the was extended from Mockingbird Station to the new White Rock Station . A little over a year and a half a year later, the debuted another station as light rail pushed outside the LBJ Loop when the LBJ/Skillman Station opened on 6 May 2002 . The first extension of the opened on 1 July 2002 when the line added 7 stations from a newly opened Park Lane Station to Galatyn Park Station . Richardson became the first Dallas suburb to be served by light rail. The was completed in its current form on 18 November 2002 when Garland became the second suburb to get light rail service. The two new stations of Forest/Jupiter Station and Downtown Garland Station were opened to the public. The final stage of the light rail expansion was completed six months ahead of schedule when Plano's first trains ran on 9 December 2002 , completing the north central and northeast expansion. In addition, the (TRE) commuter rail line connected downtown Dallas with downtown Fort Worth . The TRE, created by an interlocal agreement between DART and the Fort Worth Transit Authority, " The T ", connected the cities' centers by rail for the first time since the 1930s , excluding Amtrak 's Texas Eagle . Green and Orange Lines On , with the first new stations set to open in Fall 2009 in time to provide service to the State Fair Of Texas . When the project is complete in 2013 , DART's light rail system will have doubled to .http://www.dart.org/mis.asp?zeon=DARTRailDouble The new will run southeast from downtown to Fair Park and then to the Dallas neighborhood of Pleasant Grove . This line will also operate northwest from Downtown Dallas via Love Field Airport , and extend into the suburbs of Farmers Branch and Carrollton , where plans are to connect to a future rail line operated by the adjacent Denton County Transportation Authority . The first segment of the new line, serving Victory Station , was designated as a "Segment of Independent Utility" and was opened on 14 November 2004 . It currently is used for special event service to the American Airlines Center . It is scheduled for regular service in September of 2009 when the first stage of the Green Line opens. It will connect Victory Station to downtown Dallas, Deep Ellum and Fair Park . The second line, the , will run concurrently with the from in Downtown Dallas . In maps before 2006, DART labeled the Pleasant Grove to Carrollton route the "Orange Line", and the Irving route was the "Purple Line". Green was generally used on DART maps to denote the route of the . By the time construction started, DART was using the new "Green Line" designation as part of its marketing efforts, saying "Like the color green, this line is a symbol of our city on the move." Community Meeting/Public Hearing Notices - DART Green Line Expansion , 16 November 2006 2030 Plan In October 2006, the DART Board of Directors unanimously approved the following measures for the next round of rail expansion. {Link without Title} DART's 2030 plan
DART's 2030 plan also calls for a comprehensive network of enhanced and rapid bus corridors consisting of of enhanced bus service corridors and of rapid bus service corridors with strengthened and new express bus service. The plan also calls for additions to the current of high occupancy vehicle lanes to . The final 2030 plan included several changes from the draft plan released in July 2006. Removed from the final plan was a branch of the from Forest Lane Station to the Addison Transit Center , which would have included several miles of subway under Interstate 635 . DART officials cited the line's high cost, US$ 700 million, and lack of strong support from the city of Dallas. The extension to the Dallas Southport Center (intermodal terminal) was added after strong pressure from Dallas officials. Also, the proposed light rail line serving West Dallas was not originally considered as a priority for rail service. The Cotton Belt corridor plans continued to generate controversy right up to the day of the vote on the 2030 plan. DART leaned toward Diesel powered commuter rail for the Cotton Belt corridor, similar to the . However, the line would pass through affluent Far North Dallas neighborhoods. The neighborhood formed the Cotton Belt Concerned Coalition to fight the line in 1990. The group made a concesssion in 2006 to allow electric light rail vehicles on the line to avoid perceived air and noise pollution associated with diesel rail. The group also proposed that the line be placed in a below-ground trench. These proposals were accepted by the City of Dallas in June 2006 in a unanimous resolution. DART, however, balked at the cost of trenching the line, which they estimated at $250 million. This set up a confrontation between DART and the city of Dallas, which appoints eight of the board's 15 members. The final plan compromised by promising $50 million "to help address neighborhood concerns".http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-dart_25met.ART0.North.Edition1.3e3a81a.html DART green-lights 40 miles of new rail for 2030 The current freight line runs just south of the between Carrollton and DFW Airport; although no station locations are included in the plan, the promise of a future station could entice Coppell into rejoining the agency. DART'S BUS SYSTEM In 2006, DART operates 120 fixed-regular bus routes and several circular and shuttle routes. There are 32 local routes, which serve downtown Dallas. Some locals link the suburbs with downtown Dallas. There are 11 express routes which ferry passengers between two areas with no or limited stops in between. These utilize HOV lanes on freeways when possible. There are 29 suburban routes, whick link the suburban neighborhoods of DART to transit centers. DART has 18 crosstown routes which run through Dallas and its suburbs, but not downtown. The final fixed route category are the 30 buses that serve rail stations. Most trips in the DART system are carried by the bus system. In 2006, DART carried over 150,000 passenger trips per day. This makes DART the 2nd most used system in Texas, behind Houston Metro and ahead of VIA in San Antonio. DART numbers its bus routes according to the type of route:
In addition to the above regular fixed routes, DART will also contract with its neighbors or businesses and run circulators, like the Southern Methodist University or NorthPark Center circulators or shuttles for Texas Instruments or UT Southwestern Medical Center. The circulator routes are given number in the 700 range, while the shuttles are listed in the 800's. DART runs its bus system similar to the Hub And Spoke model that some airlines use. DART has several bus-only facilities, which include transit centers, transfer centers and park and rides. DART has 9 transit centers, which are:
There are 5 transfer locations in the DART bus system, which are:
Finally, DART has 3 park and ride locations:
In addition, to make transfers easier, most rail stations act as hubs for DART buses. DART ON-CALL SERVICE Prior to the bus and rail changes on 2003 . Areas served by DART On-Call Listed from North to South
PROPOSED FARE INCREASE The DART Board of Directors allowed public comments on a possible fare increase during the regular board meeting on 2007 , but the item was removed from the agenda and the DART.org website without comment shortly before the meeting.http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/showthread.php?t=6507 dallasmetropolis.com forum, "DART considers fare increase", posts #65 and #78 The DART BOD then approved the fare hike, and the following partial fare structure will go in effect on October 1.http://www.dart.org/about/farechange2007.asp DART Fare Increase Update
DART MEMBER CITIES In addition to the cities that voted to join DART at its creation, the legislation that created DART specifies that any city adjoining Dallas may join the agency. In addition, any city that adjoins a DART member city becomes eligible to join. Member cities fund DART with a 1% Sales Tax . This levy prevents some cities from joining, due to Texas laws that cap the total sales tax that may be charged. In 2003 , the Texas Legislature enacted new legislation enabling countywide transit districts in areas adjacent to major metropolitan areas (such as the Denton County Transportation Authority ), but DART's membership rules were not affected. List of DART member cities All of these cities joined the Dallas Area Rapid Transit authority when it was originally created in 1983 . All but Glenn Heights (and Flower Mound , which later withdrew) would also be eligible for DART membership because they are adjacent to the city of Dallas.
:Glenn Heights is the only one of Dallas' southern suburbs that has joined DART, besides Cockrell Hill, which is an Enclave of Oak Cliff .
:Includes Buckingham , a DART member city that was annexed by Richardson in 1996 . Original cities that declined DART The following cities had DART on the ballot in 1983 but voted the transit agency down. Only one city is in the affluent northern sector of the region.
Former DART member cities These cities withdrew from DART in 1989, after residents in the DART service area declined to allow the agency to take on long-term debt in 1988.
:In 2003 , voters also rejected membership in the Denton County Transportation Authority . Unlike Coppell, Flower Mound is no longer eligible to rejoin the agency. Eligible cities that are not members of DART These cities are eligible to join DART as they are adjacent to DART member cities (see below), but have not chosen to levy the required 1% sales tax required for membership and regular service. However, DART can establish service to non-member cities under certain conditions. In addition to the Trinity Railway Express interlocal agreements, DART serves destinations like Eastfield College , which is within the city limits of Mesquite .
:On November 7, 2006, Grapevine voters approved a sales tax to fund commuter rail service operated by the Fort Worth Transportation Authority by a 3-1 margin. {Link without Title} Grapevine transportation election results
:The City of Hutchins held an election in May of 1992, but the measure failed by 50 votes. :The adjacent suburb of Wilmer is not currently eligible, as it does not share a border with Dallas.
:In 2003 , Lewisville voters approved membership in the Denton County Transportation Authority , which levies a 1/2 cent sales tax.
:Murphy declined to introduce DART service in May of 2002 by a 2-1 margin.
AGENCY EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
CRITICISM OF DART Some people have raised criticisms of the agency.
SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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