Six months after Highland Park left Dallas Area Rapid Transit, riders who used to take the bus to town are adjusting to an on-demand van service as the community rethinks its transportation.

Roughly 70% of voters in Highland Park, an affluent enclave tucked about five miles north of downtown Dallas, voted to leave the transportation system after 43 years. The town paid about $8 million to $9 million annually into the system and had one bus route along Preston Road.

“DART’s service has reduced, reduced, reduced, and Highland Park was paying in a fair amount of money,” said Lucy Washburne, 72, a lifelong resident who voted to cut ties with the transit agency.

The town rolled out an alternative for bus riders on May 13, DART’s last day of service. Highland Park On-Demand, which is currently free, and its $3.50-per-ride paratransit service consist of four rideshare vans hailed on an app, similar to Uber or Lyft. The service covers the town plus a one-mile radius outside its borders. The paratransit service can be scheduled in advance and extends across DART’s service area.

Town Administrator Tobin Maples said the service has been “a tremendous success.”

Some riders say it’s an added inconvenience to traversing the region and a blow to the connectivity of a broader system. Others find that it’s a sufficient alternative to DART.

Highland Park On-Demand is “a really good service,” said Garland resident Millicent Williams, who uses the free service around 10 times a month.

“It takes a little bit of financial burden off of the people who are traveling from here to Highland Park Village,” she said at the SMU/Mockingbird DART station.

When Highland Park’s council considers renewing its contract with transit software company Via next month for the service, Maples said the town may add a fee, but town staff is working on a recommendation for how to avoid double-charging DART riders who have already paid a fare.

‘Astronomical savings’

Since the launch of the pilot program in May, town policy development director Letecia McNatt said Highland Park provided over 8,500 rides with the on-demand service, and nearly 1,800 accounts have been made.

Before the election, Maples said the town spent nearly $600 per public transit ride.

“Now we’re providing more rides at about $32 per ride,” he said. “That’s an astronomical savings of taxpayer money.”

The town administrator said the service is not just fulfilling needs formerly met by DART — town residents are using Highland Park On-Demand to run errands, go to restaurants and get around town.

Some riders are not pleased with the added demand.

Patricia Hernández is a housekeeper in Highland Park and uses the on-demand service to get to work. But with more town residents using the service instead of their own cars, Hernández said wait times have increased.

“The people who have to go there to work for them, now we can’t get there,” she said outside of a DART train station Friday. “Or we have to pay.”

Unable to wait, Hernández booked her own rideshare to get to work.

The town has four vans, two of which are wheelchair accessible, but all are not deployed at all times. The service operates from 5 a.m. to midnight and has an average wait time of 11.7 minutes on weekdays and 12.1 minutes on weekends, according to Maples.

McNatt said if the town notices a trend in longer wait times, they can adjust how many vans to put on the road based on data from Via.

The town is also still working on plans for a shuttle service for construction workers. Maples anticipates contracting with Via for the service if it comes to fruition.

Protecting regional connections

Transit advocate Peter Young lives in Highland Park and campaigned against the town’s exit. His concern has little to do with the effectiveness of the on-demand service, but more with his town’s role in the greater region.

“People are very satisfied with the quality of it,” Young said. “But the concerns about traffic and everything that is part of the DART equation are still issues that don’t seem to be resolved.”

Highland Park’s on-demand service extends one mile beyond the town’s borders, which reaches a DART train station, in an effort to keep regional connectivity, the town administrator said.

“Regional transportation is critically important,” Maples said. “But we don’t have regional transportation today. You have a system that encompasses 12 members.”

Highland Park will continue to pay sales tax to DART until debts associated with its contributions are paid off. Maples said he has not been told yet how much the town owes.

Staff photographer Juan Figueroa and events producer Alyson Rodriguez contributed to this report.

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