Several Dallas suburbs considered dropping out of Dallas-Fort Worth’s largest public transit agency, threatening the primary means of transportation for tens of thousands of residents.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit transports over 171,000 passengers daily across a 13-city region. Many people depend on the services to travel across the metroplex. Without it, many would be unable to make it to work or school.
Plano, Irving, Farmers Branch, Highland Park, Addison and University Park considered pulling out of their partnerships with DART, claiming that ridership was consistently declining, and the investment costs far outweighed the returns.
The argument was that the current arrangement is unfair because Dallas ends up receiving more money in returns than they invest, while these suburbs spend more than they earn back in benefits.
Only Addison, Highland Park, and University Park will hold elections in May allowing their taxpayers to make the final decision. All other suburbs dropped their original intentions to call for withdrawl elections.
Aniya Robertson, a student at Dallas College Brookhaven, said that without DART she would not be able to get to school. “I think they want more money in their pocket. I don’t really think they care about the actual citizens,” Robertson said.
Students would not be the only demographic disproportionately affected by the abandonment of DART. Citizens who cannot afford a car, residents who are too young or old to drive, and disabled people who require DART’s accommodations are all at risk.
So far, the only proposed alternatives to DART have been microtransit options which would be funded by each city independently.
Despite the lack of concrete alternatives, many are still in support of discontinuing DART partnerships in these suburbs.
“I think that homeowners and car-owners don’t always think about the people who use public transit and they don’t even know they too can benefit from public transit,” Laura Rosen, intercultural and global student engagement coordinator at Brookhaven, said. “Without DART services, I would have to resort to Uber every time my car is in the shop. Everyone knows that Texas roads are crazy and there’s always stuff in the streets that gives me a flat at least a few times a year.”
The vote is meant to take place one month before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where millions of tourists plan to travel to Dallas to watch the soccer tournament sponsored by The Fédération Internationale de Football Association.
Without these DART partnerships, it will be harder for these tourists to access public transport. The busy and D-FW will only become more congested.
If any city withdrawals, taxpayers will still have to pay any outstanding debt the city has with DART until it is settled, even though the transportation services would cease immediately.
DART has offered public transportation to Dallas residents for over 40 years and has acted as an essential service for many in the metroplex. It has allowed many citizens to access healthcare, economic and academic opportunities that wouldn’t be available to them otherwise.
Sheila Gachau, a Brookhaven student, said she believes DART is integral to the identity of Dallas and its citizens.
“I think that taking down a public transport service such as DART would be a great disservice to the citizens of Dallas, as many people rely on DART as their main means of transportation,” Gachau said. “DART is Dallas, there is no Dallas without DART.”
