Kindergarten lesson
Re: “DART could be target for voters — Transit system faces possibly fatal cuts if sales taxes are derailed,” Nov. 9 news story and “Ready for takeoff — CEO Chris McLaughlin, now at helm of DFW, plans to transform the world’s third-busiest airport,” Nov. 9 Business story.
The contrast was jarring between this front-page article on Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the lead business article on DFW International Airport. The airport is an outstanding example of regional cooperation and long-range foresight that brought the Dallas-Fort Worth region to where it is today: a world class metropolitan region competing with the likes of London, Dubai and Singapore, as pointed out by Javier David.
DART is a patchwork of cities attempting to support a regional transit system, with several threatening to pull out since it’s “not fair” that DART doesn’t spend as much in their city as they pay in.
Virtually every world-class city of which I am aware has an extensive regional transit system. Generally, all parts of the region contribute since it is recognized that transportation is inherently regional and essential for the support of the whole.
Opinion
And it’s a certainty that there are geographic portions in all of them that contribute more than they receive. The D-FW area (and the state) need to recognize the necessity of a regional approach to transit, rather than further atomization from individual cities pulling out of the little we have now. The kindergarten lesson that everything is not always fair needs to be remembered.
Ronald Briggs, Richardson
‘Failure to communicate’
Re: “DART Pullouts Would Haunt Region — Cities preparing to cut ties would pay in many ways,” Nov. 5 editorial.
Farmers Branch is one of the cities that has voted to hold an election in May that would allow residents to pull out of DART. When I queried my Farmers Branch City Council member with basic questions about the number of our citizens who use DART facilities daily, I was advised that despite multiple requests over many months, DART has not been forthcoming with basic ridership data.
How can we possibly quantify the impact on our citizenry if we vote to pull out without basic information about utilization? Why is DART not willing to share these basic facts with member cities?
Even without the data, the citizens who will be most impacted will be those who can least afford it. If we vote to pull out of DART in May, utilization of DART facilities in our city will terminate as soon as the election results are certified.
However, due to the debt obligation, our citizens would continue to pay the one penny sales tax to DART until 2036. How effectively has that fact been communicated to voters? The back and forth between member cities and DART recalls a famous line from the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke, “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”
David Alan Jones, Farmers Branch
Regional approach needed
The region has to work together to solve transit. A city-by-city approach will not solve a regional issue. A Dallas-dominated board will not bring regional solutions. Solutions like buses that work in Dallas may be inefficient in a suburban low-density housing environment.
Yet a DART train stop in Dallas has value to Plano residents when it’s connected to a train station in Plano, and vice versa, for example. A trip to Frisco though, is just not possible via DART because it isn’t a member.
John Haller, Plano
Praise for Plano’s decision
I applaud the city of Plano’s decision to put the DART question up for a vote. It is wonderful to see that Plano‘s governing body will allow the people to decide how they want to spend their hard-earned money.
As long-term Plano residents, my wife and I decided to try the DART a number of times and were so disappointed as to the unruliness and aggressiveness of some of the passengers, we decided to never use it again.
If DART is ever going to be successful in cities like Plano, people are going to have to feel safe without questioning why they took the system to begin with.
Dale Strimple, Plano
Ignoring the problem
Re: “Vote to keep DART,” by Enrique MacGregor, Nov. 9 Letters.
MacGregor’s letter ignores the DART problem that has some cities considering getting out of the system. Ridership is low compared with capacity and the system is performing poorly economically, unable to provide cost-effective service to several of the member cities. Ridership is so low that fares cover only about 6% of DART operating cost.
Why is ridership so low? Many reasons have been provided, with crime, schedule and cleanliness often cited. I believe the biggest problem is the decline in employee trips into downtown Dallas. A lot of the DART system was designed to move people into and out of downtown, mainly for work.
With trips downtown declining, there is little chance of ridership improving. For those who do travel downtown, the highway system has been greatly improved, giving workers a time-efficient alternative to DART.
DART management, especially Dallas board representatives, need to recognize the inefficient operation and develop a plan that addresses low ridership, substantially reduces costs and satisfies all member cities.
DART has projected a mere 3% reduction for 2026. Perhaps a reduction of 25% would keep everyone in the system and be good for all member cities.
Bill Pritchard, Farmers Branch
Coordinated attack
Where is the money coming from? There is clearly a coordinated attack on DART. What major donor is behind this effort?
David Randolph, Plano
Where was Plano?
I attended many of the Silver Line festivities, including the opening ceremony on Oct. 24. There were city and community leaders from all over the region, even from places that wouldn’t directly receive Silver Line service like Garland.
However, no city leader from Plano was to be found at the ceremony, not the mayor nor any of its DART board representatives.
Thanks to the Silver Line, Plano now has three rail lines in its city, more than any other city except Dallas. Despite recent funding squabbles at the state Legislature, Plano is a tremendous beneficiary of the Silver Line and DART in general.
A friend of mine reported that the only Plano community leaders they saw while volunteering that opening weekend were from Douglass Community Center.
I do not understand why Plano leadership was not present at one of the most significant transportation developments in their recent history. Where were they?
Funding battles aside, it is extremely petty and in poor taste to not send at least someone to speak and participate in the opening of a $2.1 billion investment. Shame on Mayor John Muns and his City Council.
Tyler Wright, Addison
Expand DART
I have been reading the articles about the cities wanting to not fund DART any longer and think how backward this thinking is. They should be looking for ways to expand DART, not destroy it.
I live in Corsicana and will drive a 100 miles out of my way to stay out of Dallas area traffic. I’d love to go to the Perot Museum, but don’t want to deal with the traffic. If I could park my car south of Dallas and ride public transportation to the Perot and other places in Dallas, I would.
What about the people who use DART to get to work? They depend on DART.
I went to New York City in January 2001. We parked our car and rode the subways to things we wanted to see. I never could have done it in one day if we had to drive around.
To destroy DART is to make it worse. No, let’s stay in the 21st century and expand DART, not shut it down.
Dwight Rogers, Corsicana