Dallas Area Rapid Transit leaders are looking forward to improving the transit system after this weekend's mixed withdrawal elections in three member cities.
On Saturday, voters in Addison and University Park chose to stay in the DART system, while Highland Park chose to leave — the first city to do so since 1989.
During a press conference on Monday, DART board chair Randall Bryant and interim CEO David Leininger thanked residents of Addison and University Park for their confidence in regional transit. Bryant said the agency will work with leaders in Highland Park as the city transitions out of the system over the next 10 days.
He added the agency can now focus on planning for the future, including expanding service to other cities.
“North Texas is growing at a pace few regions in this country can match. More people, more jobs, more opportunities,” Bryant said. “With that growth comes a simple question, how do we move them?”
He said the future lies in plans to grow DART’s presence in the suburbs, including a potential new connection from Plano to McKinney as well as east-west connections in the southern suburbs.
“We must continue to look beyond our current boundaries to the Northern Corridor studies that are currently underway,” Bryant said. “As well as from the east to west connectivity problems in the southern sector for the cities of Mesquite, Lancaster, DeSoto, Duncanville and Cedar Hill.”
Leininger told reporters that while DART continues the search for a new CEO, his focus will be on the work the agency faces in the coming months.
“Obviously, that includes the FIFA activities, which are significant,” he said. “We also have a budget that is under development currently that we have to now focus on directly.”
DART estimates it will lose about 1% of its sales tax revenues when Highland Park exits the system.
Bryant said DART also looks forward to the next legislative session, where “all options are on the table” to boost DART's funding. That could include increasing the sales tax cap and vehicle registration fees and seeking state funding from the Texas Department of Transportation.
“There are a lot of different ways to go about it, which is why we put in place pretty much a six-year plan, which will give us at least three legislative sessions to work to create a plan,” Bryant said.
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org.
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