With higher gas prices fueling speculation that transit ridership will once again surge, DART is adding rush-hour trains beginning next month, officials said Tuesday.
But all the new trains - four during the morning and six during the evening - will be on the northbound Red Line, meaning that capacity on rush-hour Red Line trips to Dallas in the mornings will be unaffected, as will the new Green Line service between Carrollton and Pleasant Grove.
The plans, Dallas Area Rapid Transit spokesman Morgan Lyons said in a statement, will "create space for current customers and make room for new ones looking for an alternative to skyrocketing gasoline prices."
Gas prices have surged in the past several weeks, much as they did in 2008. Rush-hour light-rail ridership jumped 15 percent in that time, DART officials said, though the increase was not long sustained. Overall, DART ridership on bus and rail has fallen significantly since then. DART officials expect the new Green Line to add thousands of new riders, however.
Lyons said the new schedule will start April 11. The new trains will mean that during its busiest times, the northbound Red Line will see trains depart stations every 71/2 minutes, instead of the current 15 minutes.
DART increased the time between trains throughout its system in December to cut costs. This additional service was planned to begin in 2012 as the Orange Line service to Irving opened, but it is being implemented now because of the higher gas prices, officials said.
The release from DART Tuesday evening said "there are no plans to increase capacity on Red Line South, Blue Line or Green Line trains based on current and projected ridership. No bus routes are presently experiencing excessive loads, but staff is continuing to monitor ridership and will make adjustments as needed."
Other scheduling adjustments will be necessary, and DART said it will post new timetables and station information soon.
