{"id":26519,"date":"2025-10-29T18:30:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T18:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/26519\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T18:30:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T18:30:29","slug":"plano-to-consider-special-election-to-leave-dart-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/26519\/","title":{"rendered":"Plano to consider special election to leave DART system"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPlano City Council will consider calling a special election at a special meeting Nov. 5 that will determine if Plano will remain part of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit<\/a>, or DART, system, according to a city news release.<\/p>\n

If council votes to call the election, Plano voters will decide in a 2026 election if the city should withdraw from DART in favor of alternative transit solutions or remain with the agency.<\/p>\n

What you need to know<\/p>\n

The release cites a 2023 study<\/a> from Ernst and Young Infrastructure Advisors that revealed a \u201cclear disparity in spending\u201d as a primary reason for the special meeting.<\/p>\n

According to the report<\/a>, Plano contributed $109.6 million in sales tax and saw $44.6 million in expenses within the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, the city of Plano has worked to hold DART accountable for the hundreds of millions of tax dollars contributed by our residents,\u201d the release states. \u201cGiven these circumstances, city leaders believe it is time to ask residents directly: Should DART continue to operate in the city of Plano?\u201d<\/p>\n

Some context<\/p>\n

DART\u2019s board of directors voted<\/a> Sept. 9 to approve service changes, including reduced train and bus route frequencies that will take effect Jan. 19.<\/p>\n

DART has faced increased cost pressure due to inflation, requests for new services and a new general mobility program that will launch in fiscal year 2025-26, as previously reported<\/a> by Community Impact.<\/p>\n

What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

City Manager Mark Israelson said in the release Plano needs transit solutions that evolve with the city.<\/p>\n

Mayor John Muns said in the release Plano is committed to ensuring safe, reliable mobility options that serve the best interests of Plano residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want our council and community to feel empowered to choose what transportation options work best for us,\u201d Muns said.<\/p>\n

According to the release, Plano officials recently learned DART awarded \u201cmore than $800,000 in executive bonuses last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the cities just reached that point,\u201d a city spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n

City Council members will meet at 5 p.m. Nov. 5 to consider calling the special election. Residents can find more information about the city\u2019s next steps at plano.gov\/transit<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plano City Council will consider calling a special election at a special meeting Nov. 5 that will determine…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[712,704,713,708,716,715,714,160,718,711,705,723,162,161,721,720,722,709,710,719,707,706,717],"class_list":["post-26519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-dallas-fort-worth","tag-dart-changes","tag-downtown-plano","tag-east-plano","tag-independence-construction","tag-park-and-preston","tag-parker-road","tag-plano","tag-plano-budget","tag-plano-construction","tag-plano-dart-changes","tag-plano-fire","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-plano-parks","tag-plano-parks-and-recreation","tag-plano-police","tag-plano-road-closures","tag-plano-road-updates","tag-plano-tax-rate","tag-plano-transportation-updates","tag-richardson-dart-changes","tag-us-75-construction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26519","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=26519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}