Passenger Trains > Dallas Area Rapid Transit may become undone in 2026

A recent article in The Texas Tribune documents problems with DART financing in several Dallas suburbs. Plano, Irving, Farmers Branch and Highland Park plan to vote in May on whether to leave the transportation agency because they pay more into the system for bus service and light rail than they get back in services. They complain that few riders use DART services and that tax money could be better used elsewhere. The move comes as state transportation planners say the state needs more public transit. The full article and discussion can be found at the free link:

https://www.texastribune.org/2026/01/05/dallas-suburbs-withdrawal-public-transit/

Many sides to this, and the issue has been brewing for years. DART has not delivered on some routes and promises as their focus has sometimes been political. More transit is available now across the region, but more integration is needed. Problem is though that the Dallas suburbs are exploding (like Plano), and traffic is already a nightmare in many places like Plano as companies flee downtown Dallas (like AT&T just announced). And Plano, for instance, has no alternative plan ready, though in all these cities they always think that most people will drive anyways and more new roads will be built, so what does it matter. Guessing most locals don't really care one way or another. Transit advocates recommend waiting, or developing a better realistic alternative plan, before rashly leaving as these decisions could leave their communities with unintended consequences. I never used transit much when I lived in DFW pre-2018 as options were limited in Fort Worth, but I'm glad I got out of the traffic mess when I had the chance...

JG



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/26 16:44 by jgilmore.

jgilmore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Many sides to this, and the issue has been brewing
> for years. DART has not delivered on some routes
> and promises as their focus has sometimes been
> political. More transit is available now across
> the region, but more integration is needed.
> Problem is though that the Dallas suburbs are
> exploding (like Plano), and traffic is already a
> nightmare in many places like Plano as companies
> flee downtown Dallas (like AT&T just announced).
> And Plano, for instance, has no alternative plan
> ready, though in all these cities they always
> think that most people will drive anyways and more
> new roads will be built, so what does it matter.
> Guessing most locals don't really care one way or
> another. Transit advocates recommend waiting, or
> developing a better realistic alternative plan,
> before rashly leaving as these decisions could
> leave their communities with unintended
> consequences. I never used transit much when I
> lived in DFW pre-2018 as options were limited in
> Fort Worth, but I'm glad I got out of the traffic
> mess when I had the chance...
>
> JG

I can only imagine what things are like in Plano and Frisco. We left 6 years ago and it was busy then! 

I lived in Argyle ( barely outside the DFW) where we raised our family
 and even my little town was getting massive new housing developments
when we left in 2012, and it's a wreck now.

i was born and raised in Dallas and I don't recognize the place now, it's so huge.

Me and Mrs Murphy moved to East Texas in 2012 behind the pine curtain,
where life is a lot slower, calmer and less expensive.

 

jgilmore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Problem is though that the Dallas suburbs are
> exploding (like Plano), and traffic is already a
> nightmare in many places like Plano as companies
> flee downtown Dallas (like AT&T just announced).
> And Plano, for instance, has no alternative plan
> ready, though in all these cities they always
> think that most people will drive anyways and more
> new roads will be built, so what does it matter.
> Guessing most locals don't really care one way or
> another. 

> JG

The locals should care if they want workers who do not/cannot drive to be able to get their employment sites.

RuleG Wrote:
> The locals should care if they want workers who do
> not/cannot drive to be able to get their
> employment sites.

Autonomous cars are becoming a thing, and will make employment+tourism+everyday use far more accessible to the traveling public (and less expensive given the road infrastructure already exists) than light-rail.   

Exploding suburbs in Dallas?   Aww.   They should read the history of greater Los Angeles.  I grew up there riding the PE before the explosion of freeways and suburbs.  Look at the mess there now.  We never learn.

Tha t one cent sales tax looks like a bargain compared to the scalping done in Washington State by Sound Transit.  If it wasnt so ridiculous, it'd be hilarious.  Some years ago, after Sound Transit lied their way into three county's pockets, I had coincidentally move twenty miles to be nearer our daughter in a county not appropriated by Sound Transit.  When I went to license my motorhome... this was even before their big money grab...my fee went from $749 to $136, because I was not now in a county "served" by Sound Transit.  Since then, it has gotten even more expensive.

masterphots Wrote:
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> Exploding suburbs in Dallas?   Aww.   They
> should read the history of greater Los Angeles. 
> I grew up there riding the PE before the explosion
> of freeways and suburbs.  Look at the mess there
> now.  We never learn.

LA showed Texas how to do it and it seems they learned their lessons well. Just look at the DFW Metroplex and that mass of suburbs that surrounds Houston.

PHall Wrote:
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> LA showed Texas how to do it and it seems they
> learned their lessons well. Just look at the DFW
> Metroplex and that mass of suburbs that surrounds
> Houston.

Exactly, and getting more and more filled with ex-CAer's fleeing unbearable conditions in the LA basin. Locals were always cursing about it when I lived there, but they loved taking their money and doing business with them...

JG

you can see the DART trains on the Tower 55 rail camera.

Posted from Android

F40PHR231 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RuleG Wrote:
> > The locals should care if they want workers who
> do
> > not/cannot drive to be able to get their
> > employment sites.
>
> Autonomous cars are becoming a thing, and will
> make employment+tourism+everyday use far more
> accessible to the traveling public (and less
> expensive given the road infrastructure already
> exists) than light-rail. 

If all DART riders were to shift their travel to autonomous vehicles. there are many places where roads would not be able to accommodate the additional traffic.  A forty-foot bus occupies as much street space as three or four vehicles.  Thus, when five or more people ride a bus, the street space is being used more efficiently.  Buses carrying more riders use street space even more efficiently. 

When I was in Dallas in 2006, I rode three of the DART's four light rail lines.  As I recall, all of the light rail lines outside of Downtown Dallas were located on separate rights-of-way.  Substituting autonomous vehicles for light rail trains currently operating on private rights-of-way would further worsen the metro area's traffic problems.

I've yet to see data proving that autonomous vehicles are less expensive to operate than conventional public transit.  If you have a link to a source which such data, I'd be interested to see it.

Finally, where in the Dallas area would all of those autonomous vehicles be parked when not in use?
 

As frequently happens, the Onion has nailed this with a (sort of) satirical headline:


​Report: 98 Percent Of U.S. Commuters Favor Public Transportation For Others

march_hare Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As frequently happens, the Onion has nailed this
> with a (sort of) satirical headline:
>
>
> ​Report: 98 Percent Of U.S. Commuters Favor
> Public Transportation For Others

"Frequently?"  The Onion article is over 25 years old.

As far as "nailng this," while I sometimes drive, the vast majority of my commutes are on public transit.
 

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> you can see the DART trains on the Tower 55 rail
> camera.

That's not entirely correct.  Those are TexRail and Trinity Rail Express trains that can be seen by the T55 camera.  TexRail is operated by Trinity Metro and nevers leaves Tarrant County (Ft. Worth side, Stadler equipment), and Trinity Rail Express is jointly operated by Trinity Metro and DART (standard bi-level commuter equipment).  I believe each run their operations on their side of the Tarrant/Dallas county lines, but I'm sure there is cooperation.  The trains that are in question in the voting dispute are DART light rail and Silver Line trains, neither of which approach T55.

As info, I saw a segment on local DFW news about a month ago that at least some of the cities are proposing to lose the buses, but keep the light rail and Silver Line rail, as mentioned in the article. The way it was portrayed in the segment was that DART thought it was a good compromise, and were studying it.  Pulling a bus line is one thing, having trains continue to run through your city but not stop at existing (even if mothballed) stations is another.