Dallas Area Rapid Transit leaders approved a new funding and governance model that restructures the agency in an effort to stave off withdrawal elections.<\/p>\n
Plano Mayor John Muns, who sits on the council, said the vote is a pathway to keep public transit running in his city. The return of sales tax contributions was the same request the city made last year through failed legislative efforts. Plano is one of six cities set to hold withdrawal elections in May.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re very happy that we’ve come and been able to negotiate with DART on a deal that hopefully helps us through the next five or six years be able to make sure we’re operating the transit authority in Plano in a way that really provides a benefit to our citizens,\u201d Muns said.<\/p>\n
DART CEO Nadine Lee said funding will still be an issue because much of the agency’s revenue will now be going back to cities. The agency has already had to make service cuts<\/a> in recent months.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously it’s money that’s coming out of DART’s funds, and so DART is going to have to scramble to figure out how we make that revenue available,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n In coordination with DART, the regional plan will provide $75 million to the agency to help pay for transit projects. It will also begin the process of creating a new rail authority that could create a seamless connection between commuter lines including DART\u2019s Silver Line, Denton County Transit Authority\u2019s A-Train and Trinity Metro\u2019s Trinity Railway Express and TEXRail.<\/p>\n That could mean creating a regional \u201crail freeway system\u201d similar to TXDoT\u2019s Transportation Commission for highways, Morris said. The RTC would collaborate with planning and funding the North Texas rail authority.<\/p>\n Camilo Diaz<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report<\/p>\n Residents aboard the TEXRail train at the Fort Worth Central Station March 29, 2024. <\/p>\n \u201cI think there’s lots of levers, the regional transportation subcommittee that’s working on a vision could go,\u201d Morris said. \u201cIf in fact Plano and Irving do withdraw their request for an election, then I think you’ll see the RTC speed up that conversation in the spring.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to the RTC vote, leaders from non-DART member areas wanted to make sure the plan was equitable to residents outside of Dallas to include transit in Tarrant and Denton counties.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s say next year, North Richland Hills or Grapevine or the City of Fort Worth no longer are satisfied with the level of service that we receive from Trinity Metro,\u201d Fort Worth City Council member Elizabeth Beck asked. \u201cAre we going to get a guarantee that we also are going to get a subsidy to our taxpayers that they are going to get bailed out by the RTC so that we can continue regionalism?\u201d<\/p>\n An amended motion added another $105 million to also help fund transit projects for Trinity Metro and DCTA. The measure passed 31 to 2.<\/p>\n Plano Mayor John Muns said his city still needs to review an interlocal agreement from DART before he calls off the May withdrawal election, but he\u2019s optimistic.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m very happy that we can kind of close the book on this and go on down the road. We still wanna talk about ridership and service needs and things like that,\u201d he said. \u201cIn regards to the funding and the governance issue, those are big issues that hopefully we have behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n Pablo Arauz Pe\u00f1a is KERA\u2019sgrowth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Residents](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771011968_663_.jpeg\"\/)
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