North Texas suburb Plano will stay in the DART regional public transit system

The Plano City Council canceled an election that would have allowed residents to decide whether the North Texas suburb should have exited Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), the region's largest public transit system. The council also voted to repeal an earlier resolution supporting capping DART’s tax revenue collections.

The Plano City Council led an aggressive push to dismantle the DART system. The suburb reached an agreement with the agency earlier this year to claw back some tax dollars and other concessions. The agreement follows months of negotiations between DART and several member cities that have pushed for changes in DART’s funding and governance. Plano City Council members passed a resolution expressing support for the reform and “requesting state legislative action to implement a new governance structure.”

Plano is one of six cities that called withdrawal elections that would end bus and train service within their city limits. As part of the new deal, DART will give $360 million back to all of its member cities over six years. It also plans to restructure its board of directors so each city has a representative, expanding the board and reducing voting power for the city of Dallas. DART CEO Nadine Lee will find other revenue streams to keep operations running. The Regional Transportation Council earlier this month approved a plan to help DART pay another $75 million to cities. “There’s nobody who wants to improve services more than more than DART and we will endeavor to do that,” Lee said. “If we can do that in partnership with the cities and if the cities are working with us in good faith we think that can be accomplished.”

As part of the deal, Plano leaders agreed to cease legislative efforts to defund DART. The city will receive more than $61 million over the next several years. “I understand we’re not getting everything we want, I understand our riders want additional things, but one step at a time,” said Mayor Pro Tem Maria Tu.

The council also approved an alternative micro-transit service that it had already allocated money for called “Plano Rides.” The service will be run by Via, a rideshare company that operates in other North Texas cities such as Arlington and Irving. Some residents say they opposed the new service, calling it “duplicative.”

At least three other cities are considering calling off DART withdrawal elections.

Source: Plano City Council