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PLANO, Texas – The City of Plano has a new proposal that could keep it from completely leaving the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system.
It comes after the city council approved a plan to let voters decide if Plano should leave the transit system.Â
Updated Plano DART plan
The latest:
If DART agrees to the new six-year deal, the City of Plano will take down the election and stop all efforts to change DART’s governance and financial structure.
The city’s new proposal would keep the rail lines and express buses but remove city bus routes. In the proposal, Plano also hopes to discuss an option to keep paratransit services.
The proposal includes a new financial structure to increase the percentage of sales tax that’s returned to Plano. The mayor says this money would go to fund Plano’s transit options.
Plano is also considering a steering committee focused on plano transit, which will be a topic of discussion at the upcoming city council meeting.
FOX 4 sat down with Plano’s mayor, who said the city discussed a proposal like this before the decision to hold a special election in May. However, the mayor said the city council still used the special election option because of timing.
Possible ride-share options
What they’re saying:
Mayor John B. Muns says the city is still talking with ride-share apps like Uber to create another option for people within city limits.
“What we’re trying to do is to create the ridership that is being used right now and then add to that,” said Muns.
At the special meeting on Nov. 5, more than 100 people spoke. The majority were in support of keeping DART services.
“The people who spoke that night helped us understand it was a lot more complicated than just creating a door-to-door service for our residents,” Muns said.
Still, the city council approved the special election to potentially leave DART, because the window in the DART contract to take action was closing.
NTX cities plan DART elections
Irving, Farmer’s Branch and Highland Park also approved special elections. The cities collectively feel that the penny sales tax they give to DART outweighs the services they receive. FOX 4 asked Muns if this was a strategy to get DART to come to the table.
“I don’t know whether the strategy was that, but it’s certainly hopeful that they will understand that it’s not just Plano that’s upset,” Muns said.
DART shared a short statement saying it’s reviewing the feasibility of the request.
Muns said the city hasn’t received a response from DART yet, but he hopes this is a model that other cities will follow.
“We’ve got to be able to have a model that everyone wants to ride the buses or the rails to get to work or to go shopping or to go to the doctor. And right now that’s not happening,” Muns said.
The Source: Information in this report comes from the City of Plano and Mayor John B. Muns.