The Richardson City Council on Monday voted to support full funding for Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
The vote makes it one of the only cities to openly support DART in a resolution. This comes as the transit agency has been at odds with other member cities over its funding structure.
Richardson City Manager Don Magner told KERA that DART is an asset for the city’s residents and the resolution is meant to formalize the city's support.
“[The council] felt at this critical time as DART’s board continues to work on its governance and adjust other policies and procedures that this was the time, it was an appropriate time to make that resolution action,” Magner said.
DART has a major presence in Richardson, with four light rail stations, several bus routes and some GoLink service in the city’s northeast corner. One of the busiest routes in the DART system is the UTD Comet Cruiser route 883, which provides service to UT Dallas students, faculty and staff in and around Richardson.
Magner said part of the success of DART in Richardson is due to the council’s planning around transit-oriented developments, like Galatyn Park and Cityline on the city’s east side.
“I think the way that we have tried to be deliberate about leveraging DART has resulted in the city experiencing a high level of success at stations,” Magner said.
The unanimous vote came a week after DART board chair Gary Slagel spoke to Richardson City Council members about the agency’s efforts to save its funding from potential legislative action by Plano and five other member cities that signed resolutions to change DART’s funding structure.
“We are trying to get some cities that signed that resolution to back off and see if that works,” Slagel told the council.
Magner said the council is interested in solutions when it comes to working with other DART member cities.
“I look forward to working with any city that's a member of DART as well as the DART staff themselves on ways that we can leverage DART for the whole region, like the city of Richardson has leveraged DART,” Magner said.
The Regional Transportation Council (RTC) last fall gave DART and member cities until the end of this month to solve the funding dispute. The RTC plans to discuss the topic at its meeting Thursday.
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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