A survey looking at customer satisfaction among Dallas Area Rapid Transit users shows improvements in the past year as it continues to rebound post-COVID.
DART surveyed more than 7,900 respondents about their satisfaction with the agency between April and June 2024. Almost half of respondents were considered “dependent” on rail, bus or DART's on-demand GoLink service.
The survey reports that 72% of respondents are “very or somewhat satisfied” with the agency. That’s a 10% increase over the previous year.
“We saw gains in our growth for overall satisfaction, which was driven largely by the improvements in the key areas such as personnel on the DART system,” said Jeamy Molina, DART’s chief communications officer.
Molina added that there was also an increase in riders’ likelihood to continue using the agency’s services. That rose by 6% over last year, nearing pre-pandemic levels. She attributed that to the agency’s focus on safety, reliability and frequency of service.
Satisfaction results have been rebounding since 2022 after declining beginning in 2018, but levels still aren't where they were almost a decade ago.
Molina also reported on the discrepancy in Hispanic or Latino riders. While Hispanic residents make up 41% of DART’s service area, they’re only about 20% of the agency’s ridership makeup.
“We did find a lot of areas where we could do better at educating our customers, getting to them and giving them more details on how to use a system, how to use all of the services that we do provide,” Molina said.
The survey results come as the agency is defending its funding from member cities that want to reduce their sales tax contributions.
DART depends on annual contributions from its 13 member cities, but six have passed symbolic resolutions to reduce those contributions by 25%. Some city leaders have said that DART needs to make improvements in several key areas, including safety and cleanliness.
For some on the board, the latest customer satisfaction results are encouraging.
“I am heartened by the customer satisfaction survey,” said director Michele Wong Krause. “It comes back to, you can have the best system in the world, but if the perception is that it's not safe, then that is a big concern.”
The agency is in ongoing discussions with the cities that want to cut funding. Last week, regional leaders called on DART and member cities to resolve the funding dispute by February.
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org. You can follow him on X @pabloaarauz.
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