Another North Texas city plans to hold an election in May to let voters decide if Dallas Area Rapid Transit should keep running in their city.
During a University Park City Council meeting Tuesday evening, leaders voted unanimously to call a withdrawal election. It's the fifth member city to do so; Farmers Branch, Highland Park, Irving and Plano will also hold elections this spring. Addison City Council discussed it but ultimately voted against the measure.
"While I understand and believe in the value of safe, clean, and reliable regional public transportation, I'm concerned about DART's model and DART's model in particular about how it applies to University Park," said council member Phillip Philbin.
He and other city leaders say the city contributes too much in sales tax revenue while getting little in return for DART services.
Paige Reudy, spokesperson for University Park, said in a statement to KERA prior to Tuesday's meeting that the city has been in ongoing discussions with DART about the value of transit within the community and its overall sales tax contribution. The agency gets a penny for every sales tax dollar from each of its 13 member cities, including University Park.
“These conversations date back to 2015, which resulted in the Transit Related Improvement Program (TRIP) that provided a partial reimbursement of the City’s sales tax contribution,” Reudy said. “Given the financial hurdles facing all cities in Texas, the City of University Park continues to evaluate the value gained by membership in DART.”
A report from the consultant Ernst & Young showed that University Park contributed more than $6 million to DART in 2023 while the agency spent $1.8 million on services in the city. It's one of several cities that contributed more that year than they received in services.
Philbin said that DART has "systematically dwindled" bus service in the city. When service first began there over 40 years ago, the city had 9 bus lines.
"We don't have bus service to Snyder Plaza," he said. "We don't have bus services to Miracle Mile, the two areas we've just invested in to generate sales tax."
Meanwhile, several residents expressed concerns with getting rid of public transit in their city.
Resident Kim Roosevelt spoke to the council with her disabled daughter Caroline. She said she's worried city leaders didn't provide specific alternatives to DART.
"There is no consideration for how they're going to provide these services," she told KERA. "That's really concerning to me that it went to vote without actual any specifics on how they're going to meet this need."
Roosevelt said if voters decide to abandon DART, her daughter won't have the option of accessible paratransit.
"Ultimately it's gonna hurt our our families, it's gonna hurt our community, it's going to hurt the greater DFW economy," Roosevelt said. "There are long-term repercussions."
DART leadership, including CEO Nadine Lee, ha said the end of service in any city will negatively impact the entire system.
Roosevelt said city leaders aren't thinking about the "ripple effect" of potentially withdrawing from DART.
"You drop a rock in a pool and it puddles out, and so I don't think they're looking at the puddling effect that this decision's gonna have," Roosevelt said.
University Park voters will now decide on whether to stay in DART on May 2.
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org.
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