TX: What could transit look like in North Texas as cities consider withdrawing from DART?

Alex Flores takes DART trains from Plano to downtown Dallas every day for work. Flores worries they’d be in a bind if voters next spring decide to withdraw from the transit system.

“What is our plan?” Flores asked.

“One of the whole reasons DART works the way it does is the fact that it’s a multiregional transit network,” Flores said, adding that cities seemingly “want to do something completely independent on their own, which would break that connectivity.”

Four of DART’s 13 member cities — Plano, Irving, Farmers Branch and Highland Park — have called elections on May 2 to allow voters to decide if they want to stay in or leave the transit system, citing inadequate service for the amount of sales taxes they contribute.

If voters decide to leave DART, services would stop immediately, leaving a transit gap that has concerned residents with disabilities or without a car. As a result, leaders in the four cities are looking at alternative public transportation options to meet needs they say DART has left unfulfilled.

Plano officials said the city would cancel its May 2 referendum if DART agreed to refund hundreds of millions of dollars in sales taxes to the city over the next six years. Under the agreement, DART would continue providing rail service and express buses but would discontinue standard bus routes, as well as other nonrail transit services by 2029.

DART is evaluating the feasibility of the request, according to Chief Communications Officer Jeamy Molina.

Regardless of how the May 2 elections play out — if they are held — Plano leaders say funding is already set aside to implement microtransit in the city, a technology-based form of public transportation that provides on-demand services with more dynamic routes than traditional bus and train systems.

“We want to be able to create more connectivity with our neighbors to the north and neighbors to the east,” Plano Mayor John Muns said. “We’ve got to, at some point, look at what’s best for not just Plano, but to be able to connect our residents in a better way.”

Plano is also forming a citizen’s committee to look at the future of its regional transit. The Collin County Connects Committee will explore alternative transit options and providers, according to Plano’s transit site. Each of Plano’s eight City Council members will appoint one Plano resident to serve on the committee to find the “best fit” for Plano’s transportation options and providers.

The group is intended to give residents a “direct voice” in the future of local transit, including from older residents and people with disabilities.

“As Plano continues to grow, our community’s needs are evolving,” said City Manager Mark Israelson in a statement. “We need transit solutions that evolve with us to provide flexible and responsive options for everyone who lives and works in Plano.”

City leaders in Plano, the only Collin County city that contributes to DART, decried the city’s lackluster return on investment in their decision to hold a withdrawal election. Although Plano is behind only Dallas in the amount it contributes to the transit agency, it gets less in service for its money.

Other agencies are exploring regional transit north of Dallas. The North Central Texas Council of Governments completed a Collin County Transit Study alongside a corridor study from Irving to Frisco in 2021. The reports recommended a more structured approach to governance and funding to improve public transportation in Collin County, including a common transit governance model and joining an existing transit authority.

Muns said Plano would love to still have access to DART’s rail service, but envisions a door-to-door car service for Plano’s transit future. City leaders have meetings scheduled with representatives of Via, the service Arlington uses for on-demand rides.

Irving’s City Council has also discussed alternative transportation like Via and other rideshare-style transit alternatives. If Irving residents vote to leave DART, the city will fund “an effective and efficient microtransit solution tailored to the community’s transportation needs,” according to its website.

Flores, the DART passenger from Plano, sees microtransit as a great option to connect between bus routes and train lines.

“But it’s definitely not something that can sustain an entire city,” Flores said. “Especially not for cities that move people to the scale … that Plano and Irving do.”

Using Via in Arlington, Flores has found the service inadequate in rush-hour traffic.

“The evening traffic hits and all of a sudden it becomes impossible,” Flores said. “It’s just so much demand for a small system and it becomes very apparent that it is not enough to support the amount of people that need the service.”

Earlier this month, Israelson was scheduled to attend a presentation on microtransit options including Uber and RideCo, on-demand transportation companies, city documents obtained by The Dallas Morning News show.

Former DART board chair Paul Wageman represented Plano on the transit agency’s leadership body since 2012 before resigning earlier this year. He faced criticism for pushing for more on-demand rideshare services in Plano while employed as an attorney for the national business law firm Winstead PC and listed as a lobbyist for Uber Technologies Inc. He denied wrongdoing.

The mayor said Plano would work to find solutions that won’t disrupt travel for the World Cup or to health care facilities in other North Texas cities. DART does not serve Arlington, where the World Cup matches will be held.

Plano leaders have been unsatisfied with DART’s GoLink services, the agency’s on-demand transit option. DART currently contracts with companies like Uber and Lyft to provide microtransit services at a lower rate.

Farmers Branch “will continue working toward mobility solutions that meet community needs and strengthen regional connectivity,” according to its website. The city is conducting a community survey to guide transportation plans and shape mobility in the city.

“Should voters decide to withdraw from DART, the city will be prepared with mobility options for our community, informed in part by the survey’s findings, to ensure that all residents, especially our most vulnerable populations, have access to the mobility resources they need,” Christian Grisales, spokesperson for Farmers Branch, wrote in a statement.

Plano’s citizen committee will meet five times in December to learn about available transportation options and potential vendors and evaluate factors like accessibility, safety, cost, wait times, connectivity and cleanliness. They’ll share their recommendations with the City Council.

Residents can apply to join the committee through Plano’s transit website by Nov. 20.

DART and feuding member cities could still come to a compromise on sales tax and service as late as 45 days before the May 2 elections, the deadline for cities to call off the elections.