{"id":76166,"date":"2025-12-04T19:10:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T19:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/76166\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T19:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T19:10:07","slug":"addison-will-remain-dart-member-city-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/76166\/","title":{"rendered":"Addison Will Remain DART Member City For Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Breaking a recent trend, Addison\u2019s city council rejected a motion to place the fate of the city\u2019s contract<\/a> with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) on the upcoming May general election ballot. Four other cities, Farmer\u2019s Branch, Highland Park, Irving and Plano, approved adding a similar measure to their city\u2019s ballots in special sessions in the last few weeks, presenting significant funding questions for the transit service\u2019s future.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Last month, Addison became the fifth city to schedule a special session to discuss placing the decision before voters in mid-2026<\/a>. Before then, Addison had remained relatively quiet compared to the other four cities, which have been outspoken critics of DART and the way it collects financial contributions from member cities since the start of the 2025 state legislative session.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Irving and Plano\u2019s mayors are ready and willing to cut ties with DART, Addison\u2019s mayor, Bruce Arftsen, is hesitant to back out of the contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of what we hear about the whole situation it\u2019s about the numbers, it\u2019s about the dollars,\u201d Arfsten said during the Dec. 2 meeting. \u201cThose numbers are compelling. I don\u2019t disagree with what\u2019s being said about the level playing field, the unfairness\u2026 I don\u2019t disagree with any of that. That\u2019s just part of the story, though. The other part of the story is the human factor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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However, several of the city\u2019s council members are dissatisfied with the quality of service provided by DART, given the high costs of remaining in the contract for city residents. Council member Darren Gardner pointed out that, based on the amount Addison residents pay to DART through the one-cent sales tax deal, calculated at $16.3 million for the 2023 fiscal year<\/a>, compared to the city\u2019s population, roughly 17,000, each resident is paying about $1,000 per year for DART, whether they use it or not.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cSomething has to change,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cIf it means that we\u2019re going to stand up with Plano, Farmers Branch, Highland Park and Irving, I\u2019m all for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The council member warned his colleagues that similar moves were rumored to be expected from the seven remaining member cities, excluding Dallas, which had remained mostly silent on the issue. Gardner implored the council to delay their decision to the second week of January, following a working session. Most members agreed that the issue deserved a working session before a vote could be held.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI will take the time to get there with the town\u2019s input, residents\u2019 input, and the people that aren\u2019t here tonight. There are thousands of people that are not here represented tonight, that are equally tax-based, and they should have a say in this,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The council rejected his motion, instead delaying the decision until an undetermined time after the May general election, when other cities\u2019 constituents have made their choice. It\u2019s unclear whether Addison can add the measure to their November election, but member cities must renew their contracts every six years. Therefore, if Addison chooses to wait, another opportunity to dissolve their deal would not arise again until 2032.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Beyond The Horseshoe<\/p>\n

The DART exodus has created panic for the transit system, and its leaders and proponents have fought a hard battle to keep it afloat. The special council session was packed with angry Addison residents and workers, as well as several of DART\u2019s most prominent members. But it wasn\u2019t just DART stakeholders, or even the daily riders, who expressed their discontent with Addison\u2019s surprising and quick move.\u00a0Sharon Hirsch, a longtime Plano resident, retired in Addison. She can drive, but she also likes being close to DART. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust a few weeks ago, I learned that the Plano City Council voted to hold an election regarding the fate of dark in their community,\u201d said Hirsch. \u201cAs a result, I sent listings from my condo building to my Plano friends, inviting them to move to Addison, where we were just a couple of blocks from the brand new Silver Line. I was so surprised and disappointed when I received a meeting notification that you were considering doing the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

For years, Plano led the charge in getting out <\/a>of their deal with DART, but as other cities join the fight, the system\u2019s higher-ups have joined the frontlines.\u00a0Newly minted DART Chair Randall Bryant spoke to the council, urging them to hold on to hope under his new leadership.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cDART has delivered on our promises. Will you deliver to your residents?\u201d Bryant said, \u201c\u2026 You\u2019ll hear questions about what comes next for Addison and its public transit. It\u2019s a fair question to ask, and one that I, as a DART board member or the staff that\u2019s present here tonight, cannot answer. What I can tell you is that\u2026 we will continue to negotiate in good faith, and this city and all of our cities that are within the DART system currently have to provide transportation solutions that best fit the needs of our riders.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Gary Slagel, who represents Addison on the DART board and formerly served as the chair, noted the pressure to follow the herd, but emphasized that if Addison were to end its contract with DART, the newly opened Silver Line, a $2 billion project that runs from Plano all the way to Irving, would run straight through the city without stopping.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a difficult situation because of the cities that impact you to the north,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s not fair\u2026 We\u2019ve got to work as a region together to find solutions that are more than just, \u2018let\u2019s get rid of DART,\u2019 because that\u2019s a pretty easy target. Let\u2019s really try to solve the problem, because with the growth we have coming forward in the region, we need transit.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breaking a recent trend, Addison\u2019s city council rejected a motion to place the fate of the city\u2019s contract…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[3084,110,160,162,161],"class_list":{"0":"post-76166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-city-hall","9":"tag-development","10":"tag-plano","11":"tag-plano-headlines","12":"tag-plano-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76166","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=76166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}