TX: Before expanding rail in Collin County, DART needs to succeed at home

This month, the Regional Transportation Council — a body of local officials who lead transportation planning for North Texas — voted to move ahead with a study that would explore the possibility of a rail line in Collin County. The line would run from Plano to McKinney and would be operated by Dallas Area Rapid Transit or a new regional rail authority.

DART narrowly avoided a crisis with a last-minute scramble to refund some sales tax back to its member cities to convince them not to pull out of the agency, a decision that if successful would have threatened the funding and daily operations of the rail system. Against that backdrop, the region’s quick dash back to the table to talk about expanding rail feels premature.

If all six cities that threatened to cut ties with DART had followed through, the agency would have lost nearly half its members and roughly a third of its sales tax revenue, this newspaper reported. This would have been a big blow to the system.

But just weeks after DART breathed a sigh of relief as Plano, Farmers Branch and Irving called off their elections, the conversation about rail expansion is back on track as if nothing had gone awry.

The push to look at expanded rail services feels tone deaf given DART’s narrow escape and the precarious balance with its member cities.

Thinking about the future of rail isn’t inherently misguided, and as the region continues to grow, moving more people with public transportation will require big ideas. The plan has some promising aspects, like the fact that DART already owns the land for a possible line to McKinney and the potential for a connection to the agency’s Silver Line that opened last fall. But these long-term ambitions risk getting ahead of DART’s immediate concerns.

Before expanding rail, regional leaders should have a clearer understanding of how travel patterns have changed since the pandemic. Commuting is no longer as centralized or predictable as it once was, and transit planning should reflect that reality.

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s 2025 Urban Mobility Report offers some insight. Its data shows people moving between multiple activity centers rather than primarily into downtown corridors. In fast-growing suburban areas, these patterns may shift in the coming years.

Before asking new communities to buy into DART or entertaining the idea of spinning commuter rail into a separate regional authority, DART should focus on rebuilding trust with its existing members.

There’s also little incentive for more cities to join under the current structure, and any meaningful expansion would likely require legislative changes for stronger regional governance and new revenue streams beyond local sales tax. These reforms do not appear to be imminent.

If DART can get service right for the cities already paying into the system, it will be in a much stronger position to make the case for expansion later down the line. Until then, DART already has a lot on its plate.

©2026 The Dallas Morning News.
Visit dallasnews.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.