Pressure is increasing on Dallas Area Rapid Transit as a fifth city is now considering an election to withdraw from the agency.
The city of Addison has called a special meeting on Dec. 2 to address concerns from the council over funding for the transit agency. If the council votes to call an election, it would join four other cities — Farmers Branch, Highland Park, Irving and Plano — that will ask voters this spring whether or not to leave DART.
“Following the decision of four other cities to call DART withdrawal elections, the Addison City Council has decided to call a special meeting to determine the best path forward for our community,” Addison’s director of marketing and tourism Mary Rosenbleeth said in a written statement.
The city is identified as a “donor” city according to a 2024 report by the consulting firm Ernst & Young that showed the Addison contributed about $16 million while only receiving $9.5 million in services in Fiscal Year 2023. The report does not take into account the recently added Silver Line that began providing service to the city in October.
The decision to consider a withdrawal election is a blow to DART’s standing with the city, which earlier this year passed a resolution to support full funding for the agency after North Texas legislators filed a bill to reduce the agency’s funding by at least 25%.
When that effort in the legislature failed, the DART board of directors voted to approve a General Mobility Program (GMP) to return 5% of sales tax funds to donor cities, including Addison; DART later stipulated cities would need to cease efforts to leave the agency or reduce its funding in order to receive their share of the GMP.
According to a presentation prepared by city staff for the Dec. 2 meeting, Addison's legal team advised the council not to approve the GMP "as written and have made our concerns known to DART.”
If Addison residents vote to leave the agency, service would end the day after the election. A spokesperson for DART told KERA in a statement the agency is aware of the Dec. 2 meeting.
“DART remains committed to negotiating transparently and in good faith to ensure North Texans have access to transit solutions that work best for them,” the statement said.
DART CEO Nadine Lee has previously said that cities withdrawing from the agency would have a detrimental impact on the entire system.
“What I tell people is, you pay with your time or your money,” Lee said in a recent interview on WFAA’s Y'allitics podcast. “You’re going to sit in congestion and maybe you’ll have the option to work from home but in 20 years, who knows what’s going to happen?”
Addison City Council’s special called meeting is at 5:30 on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org.
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