DART to change bus routes in 2022
December 6, 2021
Major changes are coming to the bus routes serving Dallas College Brookhaven Campus beginning Jan. 24. Bus routes 488 and 486 will stop running and a new route, 64, will replace them. Along most routes, signs have been placed over existing stops notifying riders of stop closures coming in 2022 as well as how to find information about new routes.
Jasmine and Josseline Carvajal, Brookhaven students, take the Dallas Area Rapid Transit bus from their West Dallas residence to campus. “We have seen signage in our neighborhood, but did not know bus routes numbers were changing,” Josseline said.
The two routes currently serving Brookhaven Campus move across town, from east to west. Both 488 and 486 move from Farmers Branch to Lake Highlands and the Garland area. The new route will move north to south with a smaller area of coverage.
Gordon Shattles, media relations contact for Dallas Area Rapid Transit, said in an email to The Courier the new route will start in Addison, go through Farmers Branch and on to Irving. “The college will also be served by the Farmers Branch GoLink zone which will be expanded,” Shattles said.
Alex Lyda, senior director of communications for Dallas College, said he reached out to his DART contact to gain more information about the route changes.
In response to inquiries, Hans-Michael Ruthe, a project manager at DART, held an Instagram Live event from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Nov. 15 at the Brookhaven Campus bus stop.
The event provided an opportunity for questions regarding the upcoming changes and can be viewed by visiting DART’s Instagram account, @dartdaily.
Ruthe said the most universal impact to riders will be the change to route numbers as well as increased allocation of the on demand GoLink service.
ROUTE CHANGES
The bus route changes are part of a blank-slate redesign of all routes in the DART service area, according to DARTzoom, DART’s project website created to communicate these changes.
The goal of the redesign was to provide greater frequency, longer service hours and improved access to destinations, according to an Aug. 24 press release.
The transit system serves Dallas and 12 surrounding cities and consists of DART Light Rail, Trinity Railway Express commuter rail, fixed bus routes, on-demand ride share and paratransit services. These combined transit systems move more than 220,000 passengers per day across a 700 square mile service area, according to DART.
The changes will not only affect students, staff and faculty, but also any nearby residents using the campus stop as a transfer point transporting them to other areas of North Texas.
Terjion Xavier, a local resident, said he uses the Brookhaven Campus stop to transfer to the Royal Lane station before heading on to his job in Grand Prairie. Xavier said he was aware of the changes because he noticed the covers on other stops. He said, “I hope the changes help because sometimes I have to make an extra transfer to get where I need to go.”
With the large service area and increasing population, DART began reviewing bus routes in order to provide better service to its passengers. They began experimenting with new bus routes in April, according to writer Alex Macon in a D Magazine article. Macon said DART ran more buses on seven routes to see what would happen and they saw an immediate gain in ridership.
Rob Smith, DART’s assistant vice president of service planning and development, told D Magazine riders also had difficulty understanding the maps. “When we’ve talked to riders, we keep hearing the same stories,” Smith said in the article. “They’re looking for routes that are more direct and easier to understand.”
INCREASED FREQUENCY
The DARTzoom website includes an interactive map showing frequency times for existing and future routes. As of Nov. 3, the new Brookhaven route showed a 40-minute frequency during midday, rush hour and weekends.
Currently Route 486 runs on a 30-minute frequency during midday and rush hour and a 60-minute frequency on weekends. Route 488 runs on a 60-minute frequency for midday, rush hour and weekends.
Increased frequency of buses means riders will have more access to transportation, the goal of DART’s changes. According to DARTzoom, the changes to bus routes create more direct bus routes, focus on major transit corridors and reduce the number of stops. Ultimately, the changes should make the DART bus service faster.
GOLINK SERVICE
The blank-slate approach created new and more direct routes at the expense of existing routes. However, to make up for the loss of some routes, DART is adding 13 new GoLink zones to supplement the routes that have been eliminated or changed. With the new added zones, DART will have 30 GoLink zones.
GoLink is an on-demand neighborhood shuttle service located in specific service zones. To request a GoLink service, riders can use the GoPass app or call 214-515-7272. All 30 zones will be active beginning Dec. 6 according to the DARTzoom website.
The effort to create a better transit service will be tested when the plan goes into effect in January. Interactive maps and information are available now for riders.
