\n DART Promises No New Debt Before November | Image by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (Official DART page)\/Facebook <\/p>\n
Dallas Area Rapid Transit promised not to take on any new debt until after November, in a \u201ccompromise\u201d with member cities ahead of May withdrawal elections.<\/p>\n
Farmers Branch, Highland Park, University Park, Irving, and Plano called withdrawal elections<\/a> on May 2, in which voters will decide whether to leave DART, as The Dallas Express reported. <\/p>\n During negotiations, three of these cities sent requests to the agency, which it answered with a pledge not to take on new debt before the November elections.<\/p>\n DART announced<\/a> the compromise on January 21.<\/p>\n \u201cDART will agree to hold off on issuing more debt as North Texas residents head to the polls to vote on DART,\u201d said<\/a> CEO Nadine Lee in a press release. \u201cThis will delay some of the scheduled and promised updates the DART staff has been working on, but as good-faith partners in these negotiations, we will honor this compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n DART is negotiating with the member cities ahead of the March 18 deadline to cancel<\/a> the withdrawal election, as The Dallas Express reported. After that point, the elections will move forward.<\/p>\n \u201cOur priority has been to our riders from the outset of this process, and this allows us to release some of the urgency our member cities feel as they make decisions in the coming months,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n If voters decide to withdraw, DART would halt<\/a> services immediately after the election, as The Dallas Express reported. However, cities would still be required to continue paying off their share of the agency\u2019s billions<\/a> in\u00a0debt, which former Plano City Councilman Shelby Williams called<\/a> an \u201cexit barrier.\u201d<\/p>\n If voters decide to remain with DART, their next window to leave the agency will be 2032. <\/p>\n Member cities have been growing increasingly frustrated<\/a> with the agency\u2019s spending, governance, and services.\u00a0A 2023 study found many suburban member cities were paying tens of millions of dollars more<\/a> to DART than they received in services. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Dallas contributed just $407.8 million to the agency but received $690.5 million in services.<\/p>\n From 2020 to 2024, DART paid<\/a> its executives \u2013 including Lee \u2013 more than $2.4 million in bonuses, as The Dallas Express exclusively reported. But in fall 2025, the agency made historic service cuts,<\/a> citing a $42 to $43 million budget shortfall from a General Mobility Plan to compromise with member cities.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, DART ridership has still not reached<\/a> pre-COVID levels, The Dallas Express also reported. Recent growth had been flattening, and Dallas accounted for 75% of ridership.\u00a0<\/p>\n Before the cities called withdrawal elections, they and DART worked<\/a> with the North Central Texas Council of Governments \u2013 a \u201cmetropolitan planning\u201d group that orchestrates projects and funding \u2013 to find solutions, according to the release.\u00a0<\/p>\n DART Board Chair Randall Bryant said in the release that the recent promise<\/a> to avoid new long-term debt is an \u201ceffort to address the concerns raised by DART member cities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe welcome feedback from our partners on solutions that benefit all cities while ensuring DART continues to provide critical public transportation services for our residents and communities,\u201d Bryant said.<\/p>\n The next step of the negotiating process with NCTCOG will be a rate study, exploring<\/a> the costs of transit services by mode, according to the release.<\/p>\n