DART DeliveRs Thirty years in existence, 18 of those with light rail transit, Dallas Area Rapid Transit has established itself as a stellar U.S. rail transit operator. By DouglAs John Bowen, Managing editor
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n just three decades, or roughly one generation, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has smashed numerous “conventional wisdom” shibboleths—Texans won’t use public transit, won’t use light rail transit, won’t support LRT, won’t choose to live in urban centers—as it continues to succeed, and grow. And for those skeptics (in North Texas and elsewhere) who still hold to those beliefs, DART President and CEO Gary Thomas notes, “Our biggest challenge today is addressing the question, ‘How can we get this [DART service] in our community?’” Thomas, overseeing DART since August 2001, says DART’s growth reflects the drive by hometown Dallas to meet its 21st century needs. “It’s been a very fast 30 years, and it’s amazing to think of where we started, convincing the region to vote for something that it had no idea what we were going to
deliver,” he says. “People had confidence and trust of the leadership at that time, and they had a vision.” But it was, he acknowledges, a leap of faith for many as DART sought to employ a 1% sales tax among 13 North Texas municipalities “when we didn’t know what was going to happen.” What happened was growth in Dallas, which necessitated growth in bus and LRT service. Says Thomas, “Thirty years ago, traffic wasn’t as bad, and we weren’t yet the fourth-largest metro region in the country.” Airport access, downtown doings
And grow DART has, with current daily ridership hovering between 100,000 and 110,000 customers on its four LRT lines, stretching over roughly 85 miles, larger than many other highly touted (“and often equally excellent,” Thomas notes) U.S. LRT operations. April 2014 RAilwAy Age 49