Dallas Area Rapid Transit's staff is preparing for the worst case scenario as voters in four cities are set to decide whether to leave the agency next year.
Rob Smith, vice president of service planning and scheduling at the agency, told DART's board of directors Tuesday that staff has only begun to look at the potential loss of service if elections are successful.
"If any city were to withdraw, shortly after May 2nd, service would end," Smith told the board. "That's why we are preparing for the possibility of this now."
Those service changes include closing light rail stations across DART's service area, contingent on which cities withdraw.
If Farmers Branch leaves DART, for example, the single light rail station in the city would close and bus routes 200, 202 and 233 would pass through the city without stopping. The agency's staff recorded more than 450,000 boardings in the city last fiscal year across light rail, bus, on-demand GoLink service and paratransit.
Plano could also pull out of DART, which would close its three light rail stations at 12th Street, downtown Plano and Parker Road. Bus routes coming from Dallas and Richardson would cut off south of Plano city limits. The new Silver Line stations at 12th Street and Shiloh Road would also close.
"About 90% of the transit trips to or from Plano are coming from another city," Smith said. "There are some significant impacts outside of these cities."
A similar scenario would play out in Irving, which has the 2nd highest ridership in the transit system behind Dallas with more than 2.8 million boardings last year, according to DART. Eight train stations would close, including two stops on the Trinity Railway Express between Dallas and Fort Worth.
Highland Park would lose its single bus, Route 237, which runs directly through the town on Preston Road and recorded more than 12,000 boardings last year.
Smith added that federal law requires public meetings be held to inform residents throughout the DART service system of any changes.
DART board director Mark Enoch, who represents Garland, Glenn Heights and Rowlett, asked Smith if those meetings can be held in cities that are holding withdrawal elections.
"We would be wanting to reach out to factually let people know what potentially would happen to services in that," Smith said. "We ... generally try and make sure that we have good geographic distribution so people can get to meetings in the different communities."
Smith said dates for hearings have not yet been set but DART is required to begin holding public hearings on potential service changes between January and March.
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org.
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