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DART creator Walt Humann poses for a photo while riding a DART red line train through downtown Dallas on Thursday, April 9, 2026.<\/p>\n
El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Seated at the\u00a0SMU\/Mockingbird Station waiting for the Red Line on a sunny April afternoon, Walt Humann, the man credited as the father of DART<\/a>, ran into a friend on the platform.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMay the 2nd,\u201d Humann said. \u201cAre you going to go to the poll?\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Just as Humann advocated in the 1980s for the transit system, he\u2019s now lobbying in his own town, University Park<\/a> \u2014 one of three cities moving forward with an election to end DART service and funding next month.<\/p>\n After nearly half of DART\u2019s member cities punted membership to the ballot box, several were convinced by proposed reforms<\/a> and financial agreements to cancel their votes, which can only be held every six years. But leaders in Addison, University Park and Highland Park still held concerns that the one-cent sales tax they pay<\/a> to DART is too high for the services they receive.<\/p>\n Proponents of leaving DART say the system has failed as both a regional connector and a local provider<\/a>, especially as cities face financial pressures and could use their sales tax elsewhere. Advocates say pulling out of a wider network will further fracture the system, hurt transit-dependent riders and move the region further from being able to serve a growing population.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the Park Cities, service will end the day after votes<\/a> in the May 2 election are canvassed if the withdrawal is successful.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cDART is structured as a regional system, but its funding model relies almost entirely on a handful of member cities,\u201d said Highland Park Mayor Will Beecherl<\/a> in a statement last year. \u201cA truly regional transportation approach must be funded regionally.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what\u2019s at stake at the ballot boxes<\/a> in Highland Park and University Park on May 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n Not adding up \u00a0<\/p>\n The Park Cities have been members of DART since its creation in 1983 and contribute a one-cent sales tax to the agency<\/a>. For University Park, this totaled nearly $7 million in the 2023 fiscal year and for Highland Park, about $8 million, according to DART.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe could handle and do a better job with spending our sales tax than DART,\u201d University Park Mayor Pro Tem Mark Aldredge said of the council’s decision to keep their exit election. \u201cWe would rather keep that money<\/a> and spend it on police and fire and development to be able to have more money in our coffers.\u201d<\/p>\n For DART riders like Peter Young, 29, the value of the system is\u00a0more than its price tag<\/a>. Young lives in Highland Park and takes buses and trains every week to go to events in Oak Cliff, visit friends in Fort Worth, catch Stars games at American Airlines Center and go to class downtown at Dallas College.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the region grows and traffic worsens, Young said he believes it\u2019s counterintuitive to abandon DART.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s very vulgar to me to not pay into a civic service like DART,\u201d he said. \u201cFor Highland Park, the town budget is not hurting.\u201d<\/p>\n Peter Young, a Highland Park resident who is advocating to keep DART in the Park Cities, poses for a photo at SMU\/Mockingbird Station, Thursday, April 9, 2026 in Dallas.<\/p>\n Shafkat Anowar\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Riders like Francis Zalace, who lives in North Dallas and uses DART\u2019s paratransit services<\/a> to go to church in University Park, worry about a loss in broader transportation connections.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Park Cities are right in the heart of Dallas,\u201d Zalace said. \u201cDART provides a very valuable artery and connection through that center.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Cities that leave will continue paying sales tax to DART until debt associated with their contributions<\/a> is paid off, which could take years. University Park City Manager Robbie Corder said last year, the agency estimated the city would owe around $98 million. The city plans to hire a firm to help evaluate its financial obligation should voters choose to leave.<\/p>\n In a March letter addressed to residents, the Highland Park Community League asked townspeople to vote no to DART.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA vote to leave DART is not a vote against regional transit. Our town has been a committed partner for over 40 years,\u201d the letter states. \u201cBut good stewardship of our community’s resources demand that we act when the numbers no longer add up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n DART creator Walt Humann exits a DART blue line train at SMU\/Mockingbird Station, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Service cuts at stake<\/p>\n In 1989, University Park had nine DART bus routes, according to the city. Today, there is one fixed bus route along Preston Road in the Park Cities and three train lines converge at the nearby SMU\/Mockingbird Station, which lies just outside Highland Park and University Park city limits.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n DART reported about 4,400 rides on its services<\/a> in Highland Park from October to December 2025 and about 12,000 in University Park. In the same time frame, DART logged 10.6 million rides in the city of Dallas, which has 1.29 million more residents than the Park Cities.\u00a0<\/p>\n If voters in the Park Cities choose to leave DART, the bus will continue through the cities without stopping. GoLink, DART\u2019s on-demand service, will end in the Park Cities zone, and DART\u2019s paratransit services will be eliminated.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Town is prepared to implement transit service options designed to maintain access to destinations currently served, provide on-demand service within the community, and ensure continuity of paratransit services,\u201d Highland Park officials said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n In February, University Park leaders vowed to continue providing paratransit services in the event voters choose to leave DART. The city is considering services from the microtransit provider Via, the same service Arlington uses<\/a> for on-demand rides.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Zalace, 42, lives in North Dallas and attends First Unitarian Church of Dallas in University Park. As a quad amputee, she relies on DART\u2019s paratransit service to get to her church<\/a> several times a week, and is concerned how a change in service would cut her off from her community.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat just creates even more of a hassle for people like me,\u201d Zalace said. \u201cDART provides a more interconnected network.\u201d<\/p>\n Aldredge said he\u2019s confident the city can provide transportation more efficiently and for a lower price tag than DART membership.<\/p>\n University Park is also home to Southern Methodist University, which has express shuttles operated by a third-party vendor that run on two DART lines.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Peter Young, a Highland Park resident who is advocating to keep DART in the Park Cities, poses for a photo at SMU\/Mockingbird Station, Thursday, April 9, 2026 in Dallas.<\/p>\n Shafkat Anowar\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n In a statement, DART acting CEO Gene Gamez<\/a> said if voters in University Park choose to leave DART, the agency will end the SMU shuttle service. SMU and DART contribute to the cost of operating the shuttle service, he said, and the current agreement would not allow the partnership to continue if the city wasn\u2019t part of the system.<\/p>\n \u201cSMU and DART are working in partnership to develop a solution that could allow the service, or a modified service, to continue,\u201d Gamez said. \u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement, the university said its focus “remains on providing reliable transportation options” for students, staff and visitors.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n This year\u2019s election will be the first chance for voters in the Park Cities to vote against DART since the cities joined the system. A city has not joined the agency in decades, and Coppell and Flower Mound voted to leave in 1989.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aldredge said DART\u2019s attention is focused on Dallas and larger suburbs. He supports better public transportation, but does not think DART is the solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are for a regional system,\u201d Aldredge said. \u201cWe don’t like the way this one’s set up.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Key dates<\/p>\n Early voting<\/p>\n Monday, April 20, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Election day: Saturday, May 2, 7 a.m. – 7\u00a0p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\nTuesday, April 21, No voting will take place\u00a0for San\u00a0Jacinto Day
\nWednesday, April 22 to Friday, April 24, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
\nSaturday, April 25,\u00a07 a.m. –\u00a07 p.m.\u00a0
\nSunday, April 26, noon – 6 p.m.
\nMonday, April 27 and Tuesday, April 28, 7 a.m. – 7\u00a0p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nFirst day to canvass: Tuesday, May 5\u00a0
\nLast day to canvass: Wednesday, May 13<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DART creator Walt Humann poses for a photo while riding a DART red line train through downtown Dallas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,90556,88940,89304,93544],"class_list":{"0":"post-245319","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news","11":"tag-tp-dart","12":"tag-tp-highland-park","13":"tag-tp-university-park","14":"tag-tp-voter-resources"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245319","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=245319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}