With two low-performing DART bus routes in Irving axed this month, some residents are concerned about their ability to get to work, attend medical appointments and reach services like a local inclement weather shelter.
City officials say they’re in talks with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit agency, trying to work out a solution. That comes even as voters prepare to weigh the fate of DART in Irving this spring.
Lana Hansen leads the homeless services nonprofit Many Helping Hands. She told the Irving City Council in late January about the potential burden on local nonprofits and first responders to support residents who used these bus routes.
“These routes are not just lines on a map. They are lifelines,” Hansen said. “Our neighbors experiencing homelessness rely on the 225 and 255 routes to access essential services.”
“Without these routes, many of our most vulnerable residents will simply not be able to get help,” she added.
One resident, Bill Gies, outlined how he used the now-cut bus routes to reach medical care.
“I got multiple doctor's appointments coming up, possible surgeries on my legs,” Gies said. “If you take away my bus, I can't get to none of my doctor's appointments at all.”
Gies noted that he “can’t afford Uber” or other microtransit alternatives like GoLink to access services.
“I use that DART program to get where I need to go,” he said, adding that if services disappear, “it’s going to be a hassle.”
In a presentation to the city council, Irving Traffic and Transportation Director Dan Vedral said DART hasn’t communicated with the city on how they may have attempted to address low ridership.
“They haven't told us what they've done to try to increase ridership to keep these two routes going,” Vedral said. “Whether they've talked with the users of the facilities, how they get to and from, I don't know if they've even talked with people.”
Following a question from Council Member David Pfaff, Vedral confirmed the route cuts were not made in response to Irving’s potential withdrawal from DART.
Later in the meeting, Mayor Pro Tem John Bloch pointed to the council’s Oct. 23 resolution objecting to DART's decision to cut the 225 and 255 routes.
“This is something that we have been aware of and fighting for a long time,” Bloch said. “May is its own thing, but while we're in, we should fight for the service that we pay for.”
Pfaff noted that the city sent a letter to DART in November with 13 requests looking to negotiate the board’s governance model and “make sure our ridership increase[s], that the system is robust and that we have a little bit more say in the system.”
DART identified the 225 Nursery Road and 255 Story Road routes as low performers with “alternative transit options nearby,” like GoLink. Other bus routes were cut this month in Dallas, Plano, Addison and Garland, in addition to frequency service reductions for some bus and light rail lines.
Irving will hold a May 2 special election on whether to remain in DART. It will be the city’s third referendum on the issue since joining the regional transit agency in the early 1980s.
The city website reads, “If the residents vote for Irving to leave the DART system, the city will ensure funding is set aside to implement an effective and efficient microtransit solution tailored to the community’s transportation needs.”
Other cities holding spring referenda on DART membership are Farmers Branch, Highland Park, University Park, Plano and Addison. These constitute just under half of all DART member cities.
Cities are still within the timeframe to cancel their elections.
DART will hold a community meeting on service changes in Irving Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. in the University of Dallas SB Hall Multipurpose Room. Comments and questions can be submitted via email to ServicePlanning@DART.org.
The Irving event, one of 14 community meetings scheduled across six weeks, leads up to a March 24 public hearing on potential 2026 services changes at the DART boardroom in Dallas.
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