{"id":179198,"date":"2026-02-25T05:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T05:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/179198\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T05:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T05:48:11","slug":"darts-future-secured-plano-votes-to-stay-other-cities-up-next-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/179198\/","title":{"rendered":"DART\u2019s future secured? Plano votes to stay, other cities up next"},"content":{"rendered":"

After months of uncertainty over its future with Dallas Area Rapid Transit<\/a>, Plano has voted to remain in the regional transit system.<\/p>\n

The Plano City Council voted Monday night to rescind a planned May withdrawal election and instead adopt a new interlocal agreement with DART, a move city leaders say reflects compromise and cooperation.<\/p>\n

For many riders, the decision brings relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cI use it about four to six days a week,\u201d said Tyler Wright, a frequent rider and vice president of the Dallas Area Transit Alliance.<\/p>\n

Wright said recent negotiations between DART and several member cities created concern among riders who depend on the system daily.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is some concern, but also some reason to be excited,\u201d Wright said. \u201cThe silver lining is that Plano does seem to be moving in the direction of cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the new interlocal agreement, DART will return 10% of member cities\u2019 one-cent sales tax contributions in phases over the next six years.<\/p>\n

The phased structure is intended to provide cities with additional funding flexibility while keeping them in the regional transit system. Plano Mayor John Muns acknowledged the agreement does not fully reflect the city\u2019s original funding goals but described it as fair.<\/p>\n

Muns said public feedback played a significant role in the council\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t just Plano or Irving, it was all 13 of us that are going to benefit from this agreement,\u201d Muns said.<\/p>\n

Plano is not the only city considering the revised agreement. Farmers Branch and Addison have scheduled meetings to vote on whether to adopt the same funding structure on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

The negotiations follow months of tension between DART and some of its 13 member cities<\/a>, several of which had explored holding elections to determine whether to continue funding the transit agency.<\/p>\n

Transit advocates argue the system remains essential to the region\u2019s mobility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to figure it out, because traffic\u2019s already bad enough,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n

For riders who rely on DART multiple days a week, the outcome is about more than the policy. It\u2019s about staying connected to work, school and daily life.<\/p>\n

City leaders now hope other member cities will approve the agreement, solidifying what they describe as a renewed partnership between DART and the communities it serves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After months of uncertainty over its future with Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Plano has voted to remain in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[18672,71996,2261,71995,32995,160,18650,162,71575,161,71994,71993],"class_list":{"0":"post-179198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-dallas-area-rapid-transit","9":"tag-dallas-area-transit","10":"tag-dart","11":"tag-interlocal-agreement","12":"tag-member-cities","13":"tag-plano","14":"tag-plano-city-council","15":"tag-plano-headlines","16":"tag-plano-mayor-john-muns","17":"tag-plano-news","18":"tag-regional-transit-system","19":"tag-tyler-wright"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}