Randall Bryant is a lifelong Dallasite who grew up in the Hamilton Park neighborhood of North Dallas. Riding the Red Line train to the Dallas Zoo with his family is one of his earliest memories of Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
"From then on ... I was an avid user of the system growing up," he said.
He was appointed to lead the DART board of directors in October, becoming the youngest board chair in the agency's 42-year history. He previously served with the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce and the Dallas Citizen's Council. His appointment to the DART board comes during a pivotal time: Four of the 13 member cities have called May elections to let voters decide whether or not to keep DART running in their city.
Bryant sat down with KERA's Pablo Arauz Peña to talk about the elections and what he hopes for DART's future.
Pablo Arauz Peña: We have a lot going on with DART right now. Leaders in five member cities have considered calling DART withdrawal elections, and four have. What do you think is behind this push to call withdrawal elections from DART?
Randall Bryant: We're at the point where state statute allows these cities to contemplate withdrawal elections every six years. This just so happens to be the sixth year. And it's good governance, I believe, for them to think about all the options for them. I'm not against them for that. I think we don't necessarily share the exact same viewpoints on what the outcomes should be, and I think it's up to us to continue to show the value of transit for those leaders and for the residents. And figure out, you know, what solutions that we can develop that works for each other.
They're also talking about the value of DART and sort of what it brings to them. What do you say to city leaders and also residents who say DART isn't good enough?
We've built out a system that the first 25% of the penny that comes to DART, that first 25% goes to debt. That's $2 billion for a new Silver Line, right? That's 476 new busses that we've just purchased. That's in two or three years from now, replacing our entire light rail vehicle fleet, right. We have to maintain state of good repair. That keeps us in due bounds with the federal laws, but also keeping high quality, technologically driven products on the market that attracts our customer base. That's where the first 25% of our funds goes to.
So now that the Silver Line is complete, is it time to try expanding DART into new cities?
DART right now needs what I'll quote as a "new shiny object." We need something that our current cities and potentially new cities can hope for for the future. I think we have opportunities. There are potential rail corridor studies for an expansion north with right of way that we already own. There are expansion opportunities for the Red Line into Duncanville and Cedar Hill in the southern part of the system.
So I think, you know, of course, funding to build that, you know, to construct those projects is always key but then funding of the operations on a long-term basis from, you now, either potential new cities or contracted cities, however we develop that plan.
It's unfortunate that we're trying to be proactive and grow the system, but also be dealing with the potential withdrawals of cities at the same time, which will change the dynamics. It changes the value of not necessarily transit, but it changes the value of DART.
Where do you see the future of DART and transportation in the region going if these cities leave and if these don't?
I think my focus right now is to ensure we don't even have elections. I think that there are potentials that, there are proposals that they've submitted to us. We are reviewing them feverishly because we understand that time is of the essence for that. But I think, you know, regardless of which cities are within DART or not within DART on the day after the election, I think DART has been and will always be one of the leaders in the region, in the state, and across this country as it relates to moving people fast, moving them safe, moving to where they need to go to.
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org.
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