Public Transportation

Arlington, Now with a Single Bus Route, Loses Crown as Largest City Without Mass Transit

Arlington is celebrating this morning. After decades as the largest U.S. municipality without mass transit, the city now has a bus service. So park your Ford Excursion and prepare to retire your warmed-over gibes about Arlington as the ultimate suburban wasteland. All done? OK, now bring them back ... More >>

Meet Dallas' New Oak Cliff Streetcars

If you need a reminder that Oak Cliff and downtown will soon be linked by street car, head over to the Houston Street and watch as drivers try to get across the viaduct, which is closed for construction. Another reminder: DART just announced that it's officially sealed a $9.4 million deal with Penn ... More >>

DART Scales Back Expansion Plans in Hopes of Improving Current System, Upping Ridership

When DART last sat down to update its long-range plan in 2006, the agency was thinking big. With the recession still beyond the horizon, planners envisioned 86 additional miles of rail and 121 miles of new bus routes. Since then, the agency has added the bus routes, opened up the Green Line (making ... More >>

Oak Cliff Streetcar Poised to Get $30 Million, Connect to Convention Center and Bishop Arts

When Jason Roberts and his crew at the Oak Cliff Transit Authority first began trying to fund a streetcar line connect downtown with Oak Cliff, they asked the feds for around $48 million. They got only half of that. They've scraped together a bit more funding from various sources, but not enough to ... More >>

Arlington Finally Invents a Public Transit System Voters Can't Reject: A Single Bus Route

In 2002, Arlington voters considered a proposal to establish a public transit system. The system would have been funded through a modest quarter-cent sales-tax increase that had the support of the City Council and every major business group in town but not, as the News reported at the time, the Con ... More >>

North Texas is Angling for a Light Rail Manufacturing Plant (Translation: Jobs!)

When the Denton County Transportation Authority was shopping for rail cars for its A-train commuter line in 2009, it settled on 11 diesel-electric vehicles manufactured in Europe by Stadler, a company based in Switzerland. The cars are quieter, more fuel efficient and more spacious than the light ra ... More >>

Shocker: DFW Public Transit Does a Terrible Job of Getting People To Work

Splashed across the front page of the Morning News today, large and above the fold, is an article detailing a new Brookings Institution study that measures how well public transit connects people and jobs in the nation's 100 most populous metropolitan areas: "D-FW among worst for getting to work on ... More >>

Denton County Transit Authority Kills Its Friday Night Service: What Does It Mean For Music Fans?

The Denton Country Transit Authority (DCTA) board met last night to consider a number of service and schedule changes, but no item they discussed will get as much attention as their decision on Friday night service. The board met to consider offering additional mid-day runs and extending service on ... More >>

Census Report on Transit Use Puts Dallas Area Near the Bottom of List. DART Explains Why.

​The Census Bureau released a lot of data this morning, including the 2010 American Community Survey Single Year Estimates; we'll get to that once we look over the charts and graphs -- fun! But among the docs dumped is Commuting in the United States: 2009, which says, among other things, it takes ... More >>

Transportation News is Bad, But the Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

​Straws in the wind: 1) Rick Perry, toll czar of Texas, still pushing private highways; 2) DART a dismal failure; 3) North Texas Tollway Authority still run by the good old boys. This could all be good. You know where we need to wind up with all this? A toll road from Dallas up to Lake Texoma ... More >>

Illegally Occupy DART's HOV Lanes, and Prepare to Pay. But Fare Evaders Catch a Break.

​There are several items of interest and note on the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board's agenda for today, but let's focus on two for now -- the ones on the Operations Committee's to-do list that'll impact drivers of cars and riders of mass transit ... well, the naughty ones, anyway. First up: HOV f ... More >>

Clang, Clang, Crunch: The Truth About Streetcars

Why should Dallas build a tiny, inefficient streetcar line when it's broke? Because trolleys are groovy.

DART's CFO and Linda Koop Talk About How Streetcars Will Be Funded and When They'll Operate (Weekdays Only, Unless ...)

This is for sale right now on eBay. Seven bids so far, up to $31, 23 hours left. Cheaper than a time machine.​So. David Leininger, Dallas Area Rapid Transit's chief financial officer, and council member Linda Koop just called to talk -- what else? -- streetcars, on both the DART board and city cou ... More >>

How the Love Field People Mover Project Fits Into Downtown-to-Oak Cliff Streetcar Project

Click to embiggen the current streetcar project alignment, which runs all of 1.6 miles​Here's a council committee briefing worth keeping an eye on today: Streetcar Planning Update, always a topic of interest but even more so as the Federal Transit Administration revenue-service deadline barrels do ... More >>

Jason Roberts's Thoughts on Last Night's Streetcar Town Hall at Methodist

​The city, North Central Texas Council of Governments and Dallas Area Rapid Transit held that streetcar town hall last night. Among those in attendance was Jason Roberts -- who, in addition to his myriad other titles and endeavors, is an Oak Cliff Transit Authority board member and the former head ... More >>

Let Countdown Begin, As DART's Set to Award Streetcar System Planning Study Contract

David Spence/OakCliff.com​The Dallas City Council and Dallas Area Rapid Transit board will hold a joint meeting this morning during which they'll discuss, among other things, DART's long-term expansion plans, the planned Blue Line extension to the University of North Texas at Dallas campus and tha ... More >>

"The Much Anticipated Downtown Dallas Streetcar Project Is a Step Closer to Reality."

University of Texas at Arlington LibraryMain and Akard, circa 1953​That headline is the very first sentence in a press release from the U.S. Federal Transit Administration announcing that on Thursday, it and the North Central Texas Council of Governments finally signed the grant agreement that wil ... More >>

Plan Ahead: Streetcar Town Hall in Two Weeks

​No doubt City Hall will send out a release sooner or later, or post it to the City Secretary's open-meetings page, but we like to plan ahead. So, in case you missed the notice -- buried in tiny type at the bottom of Page 4B in the morning paper, right next to the El Centro ad -- there's a public ... More >>

Putting the "Green" in Green Line, as Feds Give DART a Surprise Belated Christmas Gift

Dallas Area Rapid TransitThe North Carrollton/Frankford Station as seen during the early morning hours of Opening Day on December 6​A little while ago, the Federal Transit Authority announced that it's advancing around $182 million in New Starts grants to a handful of transit projects already unde ... More >>

DART Prez Makes Good on World Series Bet

DART via BART​Earlier this morning I came across this San Francisco TV report: "Texan to sing at BART station over World Series bet." Said Texan is actually Dallas Area Rapid Transit President and Executive Director Gary Thomas, who made a bet with his BART counterpart that involved the loser goin ... More >>

City Expects $2 Mil In Federal Money Will Spur Development Around Four Light-Rail Stations

The Hatcher Station, one of four light-rail stations identified as by the city as a recipient of the feds' grant announced this morning​This morning we've received several press releases from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation announcing ... More >>

Mayor Tom: "Dallas Is At the Heart of What is Happening in the U.S. Economy Today."

Chris Heinbaugh​On the other side is the final dispatch from Chris Heinbaugh, Mayor Tom Leppert's chief of staff, who's among the traveling party wrapping up that trade mission to Spain and France. The quote in the headline comes from the release that follows, in which Leppert says the Euros are r ... More >>

About That Second Downtown Light-Rail Line ...

​Last night, as expected, Dallas Area Rapid Transit's board signed off on that $1.25-billion budget and 20-year financial plan, which eliminates 150 positions and some rail service, as trains will now run every 15 minutes instead of every 10. The good news-bad news details follow for those who fol ... More >>

McKinney Avenue Transit Authority, Fort Worth Receive Millions in Urban Circulator Grants

​A couple of weeks ago, we were discussing the future of the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority -- specifically, its plans to create a "connector loop line down St. Paul and up Federal to Olive," in the words of MATA's chief operating officer, John Landrum. MATA and Dallas Area Rapid Transit were h ... More >>

In the Loop: A Closer Look at MATA's "Urban Streetcar Track Extension" Downtown

Click to embiggen: DART sends this map of the MATA's downtown loop​Morgan Lyons, Dallas Area Rapid Transit's spokesman, and Jay Kline, DART's streetcar liaison with the city, were kind enough to forward along this map of the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority's "0.65-mile urban streetcar track exte ... More >>

DART's Point Man on Streetcars Talks About Runnin' MATA Track Into Downtown

When the boy and I were on Rosie a few days ago, we were the only non-tourists on the trolley. Trust me, I asked for a show of hands.​In the comments to yesterday's item about stumbling upon those streetcars in the Dallas Area Rapid Transit's rail yards, a few Friends of Unfair Park got to wonderi ... More >>

A Very Quick, Incredibly Surface Look at the State of Downtown Transportation Wish List

Squire Haskins/University of Texas at Arlington LibrariesThe cutline from UTA: "Pedestrians, street cars and automobiles clog the intersection of Main Street and Akard in downtown Dallas, November 3, 1951."​The Girl on Top has asked to liveblog this afternoon's meeting of the city council's Transp ... More >>

Oh, Wonderview, "Car-Free" Kennedy Has Some Suggestions For You

Click to enlarge the Wonderview site plan from the March City Plan Commission briefing​Patrick Kennedy, the professional urban designer behind Walkable Dallas-Fort Worth, likes what he sees in Mark Cuban's proposed Wonderview development near Kiest Boulevard and Southerland Avenue. Only, he writes ... More >>

How At-Risk is Second Downtown Light Rail Alignment Given DART's Shortfall?

​One of the projects most threatened by Dallas Area Rapid Transit's sales-tax receipt shortfall, announced yesterday, is the second downtown light-rail alignment -- the so-called D2 that's been under consideration since at last the fall of 2007 and which, in January 2008, the Dallas City Council d ... More >>

DART Wants to Take You to the Super Bowl. But the Feds Have to Sign Off.

​I was looking at the meeting agenda for tomorrow's Dallas Area Rapid Transit board meeting and noticed a couple of items of interest on the planning committee sneak peak, chief among them: If DART wants to get folks from member cities to the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium come February, it'll have ... More >>

Downtown Dallas Streetcar Project Takes the TIGER By the Tail to Tune of $23 Million

One of the proposed alignments for streetcars through downtown Dallas. Here's the January City Hall briefing containing all the options.​Sooner than expected, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced the 51 projects across the country to receive Transportation Investment Generating Economi ... More >>

Oak Cliff Transit Authority Hopes City Will Still Consider Streetcars on Continental Bridge

​Like we said Friday, once upon a time the city had hoped to turn the Continental Bridge into a streetcar-pedestrian park mash-up -- that conceptual rendering you see above didn't come outta nowhere. But one anonymous $10-million donation later, and, as Jim noted upon his return from City Hall yes ... More >>

A Desire Named Streetcar, Part 281

Just in case you were wondering where those streetcars might go ... ​Streetcars have been on the city council and Dallas Area Rapid Transit's radar since well before the May 23, 2008, book-club get-together at Dallas City Hall, during which city officials and downtown stakeholders got a talking-to ... More >>

Tracks of My Tears, | Slumming It, | Critics’ Pick: Tool,

According to UNT Profs, DART's the "Economic Engine Making Dallas a World-Class City"

Click to expland the image if you actually want to peek at DART's 2030 Transit PlanThis morning at Dallas Area Rapid Transit HQ, president Gary Thomas lauded the rail expansion as "on time and under budget," and presented a new study by professors at the University of North Texas's Center for Econom ... More >>

"Very Exciting Stuff" as Dallas and Fort Worth Apply for Federal Money for Streetcars

Courtesy Justin CozartIn 1945, Dallas city and transit officials, among them Mayor J. Woodall Rodgers, introduced "the first of twenty-five new, silent, streamlined street cars."Almost two months ago, the Dallas City Council's Transportation and Environmental Committee got a peek at the proposed ali ... More >>

So, That Dallas Streetcar Grant Application? It's Really the Oak Cliff Transit Authority, Sorry.

Courtesy the Oak Cliff Transit AuthorityOne of the original streetcars that ran through Oak Cliff long, long agoJason Roberts -- a Happy Bullet, co-founder of the Art Conspiracy, Texas Theater-rehabber and, for the purposes of this item, Oak Cliff Transit Authority board member -- sends word that th ... More >>

We Know Where Those Downtown Streetcars Might Go. But How Will We Pay For 'Em?

Courtesy Justin CozartIn 1945, Dallas city and transit officials, among them Mayor J. Woodall Rodgers, introduced "the first of twenty-five new, silent, streamlined street cars."It's been a year since the word "streetcar" started circulating through the halls of City Hall; as Jim noted upon his retu ... More >>

The City's Considering Those Streetcars. But, See, They Cost Money.

Seven months ago, the word "streetcar" started showing up on Unfair Park -- seems Jim's plenty keen on the idea, along with other trolley-touters who look to yesterday's transportation option as tomorrow's development generator. Which is why, as the Dallas City Council's Transportation and Environme ... More >>

More Evidence That Dallas Is Headed Down the Road to Ruin

Ever wonder why Dallas gets screwed on things like mass transit but the suburbs always make out? Could it have anything to do with the fact that the leadership in Dallas has a basically suburban mentality? When I came here 100 years ago, the mayors of Dallas were major suburban real estate develope ... More >>

Clang, Clang, Clang Goes the Downtown Trolley, Just Maybe?

Johns Hopkins University Well, thank goodness for Morgan Lyons, that’s all I can say. A little birdie called to alert me to a very important meeting taking place Friday at City Hall to discuss building a trolley line through downtown and also to talk about the second downtown light-rail alignm ... More >>

DART Wants to Know How You Feel About those Downtown "Corridor Alternatives"

Dallas Area Rapid Transit Dallas Area Rapid Transit today extends the invite to find out how that Downtown Dallas Transit Study's a-comin'. Right, forgot -- what Downtown Dallas Transit Study? This one: "a comprehensive, multi-modal (i.e. buses, streetcar, street-running and subway-running light r ... More >>

Aunt Fannie's Butt|Smogville|Douchebaggery

Streetcars Desired

Party for trollies in Oak Cliff

Get on the Bus

Here's some good news for Dallas Area Rapid Transit: Late yesterday, the American Public Transportation Association released a report in which it showed that public transportation ridership in the United States grew by 4.25 percent in the first quarter of 2006. According to the study, Americans hopp ... More >>

Rolling History

Take a trolley ride in black and white

Letters

Rouging the Corpse

Miller wants to pretty-up a stinker on the Trinity River deal

Highwaymen

San Antonio conservatives and a professional road warrior try to hijack a DART rail election

Beaten paths

A plan for hike-and-bike trails faces gridlock