In an indication that negotiations between Dallas Area Rapid Transit leaders and its member cities are making progress, Plano leaders postponed considering a contract with an alternative transit provider Monday night as deadlines to call off scheduled exit elections draw nearer.
Plano City Manager Mark Israelson told the city council that DART Board Chair Randall Bryant has offered the city a “meaningful” proposal after months of discussions in an attempt to reform the agency’s service, governance and funding structures.
“Over the last several weeks, talks have become much more focused around a potential offer that we’ve heard from the chair of the DART board,” Israelson told the council. “There are several actions that would need to happen over the next two weeks for that offer to really materialize. Those are very meaningful actions that would be taken.”
Plano leaders did not disclose details about DART’s proposal on Monday in their decision to postpone a decision on alternative transit.
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Plano is one of six of DART’s 13 member cities that has called a May election to ask voters to reconsider membership in DART. But cities could still call them off, and have until Feb. 23 to finalize ballots.
“We’ve had some productive conversations over the last couple of weeks with the chair of DART, and we hope that we have a structure of an agreement,” Mayor John Muns told The Dallas Morning News following the council meeting. “But a lot has to happen.”
Moving forward on an alternative transit option, he said, felt too soon.
Plano leaders were scheduled to consider a nearly $4 million, six-month initial contract with transportation software company Via, the same company Arlington works with to provide on-demand, rideshare-style service.
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The council tabled the decision to its Feb. 23 meeting. “to allow more time to see if those actions actually come to fruition,” Israelson said of DART’s proposal, so the council can make a more informed decision.
The week ahead is stacked with key turning points in negotiations — including a DART board meeting Tuesday, a Dallas City Council meeting Wednesday and a Regional Transportation Council meeting Thursday, all of which will consider reforming the agency in attempts to appease dissatisfied member cities.
Nathan Adam, 24, lives and works in Plano and attended the city’s Monday council meeting as a member of the Dallas Area Transit Alliance, which advocates for DART. Adam was surprised Plano leaders tabled considering alternative transit.
“I am glad that Plano is actually following through,” Adam said. “They’re showing willingness to actually negotiate with DART, rather than just blocking them off entirely.”
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He hopes the compromise DART and Plano come to still includes retaining bus service in Plano.
In cities whose voters choose to cut ties with DART should elections remain scheduled for May, service will stop the day after votes are canvassed, but cities will continue giving sales tax to the agency to pay off debt associated with their contributions.
A 2024 report by the firm EY showed Plano contributed more than $109 million in fiscal year 2023, though DART spent about $44 million on services in the city. Plano staff have concluded that the city spends more on DART than police and economic development combined.
Plano’s Collin County Connects Committee, a citizen group the city created to evaluate transportation options and providers, didn’t come to a consensus on a recommendation.
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Some members expressed frustration with the scope of the committee and wished the council would reject alternative transit altogether in favor of remaining in DART. Options included Via and RideCo, an on-demand microtransit and paratransit software used in Houston, San Antonio and Round Rock.
Arlington, known as one of the largest cities in the U.S. without a mass transit system, has contracted with Via since 2017.
Until Monday night, Plano leaders were expected to follow Arlington’s lead. But Plano council members were not ready to make the call. The suburb was the first city to schedule an exit election last fall, an opportunity that comes once every six years per state law.
“All of us are hopeful … that we can come to a resolution that can end this,” Muns said.
Email tips on all things Collin County to lilly.kersh@dallasnews.com.