TX: Park Cities ministers oppose possible DART service cuts, urge public to get involved

Interfaith leaders in the Park Cities are urging residents to fight proposed service reductions by Dallas Area Rapid Transit, saying the cuts could leave workers, low-income worshippers and people with disabilities without reliable access to jobs, services and churches.

Highland Park and University Park are going forward with May elections to ask voters whether to remain in the public transit system. If voters choose to leave DART, service would end immediately.

The group, which includes clergy members from Christ Lutheran Church, First Unitarian Church of Dallas, St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church and University Park United Methodist Church, released a statement saying DART services are vital for congregants who use wheelchairs, workers commuting to jobs in the Park Cities and residents who don’t own cars. They are asking residents to attend the March 5 public meeting hosted by DART and advocate for preserving equitable transit options.

“We stand in utter disbelief at the prospect that the very foundation of one of the most important human rights movements in the last century — bus service — will not simply need to be fixed or made more fair. It could vanish,“ leaders said in the statement.

The Rev. Daniel Kanter, senior minister and CEO of First Unitarian Church of Dallas, said there is a broad range of people who use DART to get to the Park Cities.

“I think we’re going to all suffer if it goes away,” Kanter said. “We have members who take the bus all the time to come to church, and they’re worried about it.”

Kanter said these sorts of public services should be available to everyone and privatizing them shifts the shared public responsibility onto those who can least afford it.

“As a community, we need to think about how we are responsible for one another,” he said. “For the residents of University Park to ignore the fact that there are people who can’t afford to get here without public service would be a shame.”

The Rev. T.J. FitzGerald, minister of worship and community engagement at First Unitarian Church of Dallas, said the proposed service cuts would have an impact on a greater scale, affecting not only people who come to church but also employees who rely on public transit to get to work at Highland Park Village and Snider Plaza.

FitzGerald said between now and the election in May, his goal is to make sure everyone understands what they’re voting for.

“We’re going to have a strategy meeting about a way to meet whatever unmet need is,” FitzGerald said. “That is not something new to faith communities that are turned aside from goals they have out in the world, who have to make other plans.”

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