Subject: Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority

• Get on the Bus

  July 20, 2006

• DART Strikes Back

  April 12, 2006

• Throwing a DART at Google

  August 24, 2007

• "With Mixed Emotions," Lynn Flint Shaw Steps Down as DART Board Chair

  January 30, 2008

• Meet the New DART Board Chair

  January 31, 2008

• Independence Matters. Sure, Fine. Just Tell That to the DART Board.

  February 11, 2008

• Well, We Were Getting Tired of Lynn Flint Shaw's Old Mugshot

  February 14, 2008

• Sinking Ship? What Sinking Ship?

  February 21, 2008

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

  April 9, 2008

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

  May 21, 2008

• Edward Okpa on Why He's Not on DART Board. A Hint: Um, "Al Lipscomb"?

  May 29, 2008

• Statler, Deep Ellum and Crozier Tech Among Preservation Dallas' Endangered

  May 30, 2008

• Dunno What'll Happen to Deep Ellum. But At Least There'll Be Sculptures.

  May 30, 2008

• More Evidence That Dallas Is Headed Down the Road to Ruin

  June 4, 2008

• DART: The Feel-Good Bond Sale of the Year! Or Not.

  June 5, 2008

• A Suburb That's Unhappy With DART

  June 6, 2008

• On KLIF Tomorrow Morning, Jim Schutze Will Toss DART(s)

  June 23, 2008

• Jim Schutze: Now With More Talking!

  June 24, 2008

• DART, Now More Like The Jetsons!

  June 25, 2008

• Bloke on the Tracks

  July 1, 2008

• An Arts Magnet By Any Other Name

  July 22, 2008

• One Step Forward, Ten Steps Backward

  August 1, 2008

• DART Hearts DART

  August 6, 2008

• The Love Field Airport Chunnel

  September 22, 2008

• Foreman on Fantroy

  October 27, 2008

• 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 Environment Committee discusses the second downtown light-rail alignment for Dallas Area Rapid Transit this afternoon, it'll also bat around the idea of downtown streetcars.In the briefing doc, which also

  December 8, 2008

• Look, How Much Regional Government Do We Need, Anyway?

  The Dallas Morning News this afternoon posted an editorial urging people not to worry about so-called new extra levels of government and taxation being created to make their lives hell. The editorial also castigated Chicken Little types who spread rumors of new extra levels. My bumper sticker, incidentally, reads, "Chicken Little and Proud."Yes, I have written about new extra levels of regional government that people want to create so we can have even more stuff like Dallas Area Rapid Transit

  December 9, 2008

• DART President Asks Feds to Consider Turning Second Downtown Rail Line Into Pilot Project

  As mentioned yesterday, Dallas Area Rapid Transit president and exec director Gary Thomas testified today in front of a U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs subcommittee hearing concerning Federal Transit Administration grants and oversight. For those who might have missed it -- and I'll assume that's every single one of you, and I don't blame you, really -- here's a link to his prepared testimony, which many of the Friends will find interesting, as it deals with the funding of the Gre

  June 3, 2009

• A Desire Named Streetcar

  Schutze's fourth-favorite subject, streetcars, goes before the Dallas City Council's Transportation and Environmental Committee this morning, where council members will be joined by Dallas Area Rapid Transit's board of directors. They've got a lot to consider, as in: Where will the streetcars go, who'll govern the operation, how much will it cost, who'll pay for it, and how will the project be funded? (Because, as we noted last month, "Funding for Streetcar Program is not in DART's 20-year Fina

  January 26, 2009

• Because, Look, Sometimes There's Just Too Much Sideboob For the Side of a DART Bus

  DART opted not to run this ad, which you can click to enlarge. The ad, I mean. Wha?Saw a "story" in the no-relation New York Observer this morning concerning the "yanking" of a "racy" movie ad from the side of Dallas Area Rapid Transit buses, and I thought it might be a good idea to ask DART spokesman Morgan Lyons the ol' what-the-what. Dutifully, he researched the back story and returned with the full story: No, sorry, the ads for the movie The Last International Playboy weren't pulled, he says

  June 4, 2009

• 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 return from a so-called "streetcar workshop" in May '08, "It looks like the best idea since Mad Max Goldblatt's scheme for a downtown monorail." In January of this year, the Dallas City Council's Transpor

  June 5, 2009

• Attention, DART Riders, That Proposed Fare Hike is Rapidly Approaching ...

  Come September 14 (and certainly year's end), Dallas Area Rapid Transit is looking to up the price of everything, from a local single ride fare (from $1.50 to $2) to a premium weekly pass ($25 to $35) to a two-zone commuter rail annual pass ($800 to $1,050) and so forth. DART's also looking to add some stops and cut some days, and the board of directors will vote on the increases and alterations in a mere two months -- but not before holding 11 community open house on the issue, the schedule for

  March 17, 2009

• DART Doing Fuzzy Math

  DART: What billion dollar shortfall?

  January 31, 2008

• Billion Dollar Babies: Build America Bonds to Build Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Light Rail and Maybe the Convention Center Hotel

  Dallas Area Rapid Transit The Martin Luther King Jr. station, part of the Green Line expansionNo doubt you've heard of the Build America Bond -- "the financial crisis equivalent of war bonds," says this BusinessWeek explainer from last month, if you haven't. Dallas Area Rapid Transit has certainly heard of 'em, as today it sold $830 million worth of the suckers to expand light rail service. And, on top of that, DART sold $170 million in tax-exempt bonds for a grand total of $1 ... billion

  June 16, 2009

• DART Launches "Where's My Bus?" to Make Riding "Less Intimidating." And, Less Sweaty.

  Morgan Lyons at Dallas Area Rapid Transit sends word today of a new cell-phone "customer service tool": the "Where's My Bus?®" app, which allows bus-riders to track their rides to and fro with "a near-real time estimate." Lyons tells Unfair Park it was an in-house creation -- "so we're pretty proud of that" -- that'll allow folks to steer clear of their bus stops till just before it's pick-up-thirty."On one of our typical 104-degree July days, I'd like to wait in the air-conditioning as long as

  July 6, 2009

• 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 Economic Development and Research on the expansion's economic impact on the city. Said Thomas: "Our project's about more than destinations. It's about economic development." According to the study by Terry

  July 24, 2009

• Dallas Area Rapid Transit Is Clearly Gearing Up for Its Very Own Video Festival

  Brad Oldham talks Traveling Man in a DART video.​In recent days, Dallas Area Rapid Transit's been awfully busy posting videos to its YouTube page -- most of 'em having to do with the Green Line, which is scheduled to open September 14. I've put four of them after the jump: Two feature interviews with Brad Oldham and Reel FX's Brandon Oldenburg, who are, at this very moment, installing their Traveling Man sculpture series in Deep Ellum. You'll also find a two-parter in which DART gives the Fair

  July 29, 2009

• Lord, He Was Born a Traveling Man

  ​Ah, good ol' Morgan Lyons over at Dallas Area Rapid Transit. He noticed that we'd posted a few of the agency's very well-done in-house videos and very kindly sent over the very latest: this time-lapse featuring the construction of the Traveling Man sculptures Brad Oldham and Brandon Oldenburg are building for DART Deep Ellum. Well played, Mr. Lyons. And, again, very well done. Jump for it.

  July 29, 2009

• No Later Than October, Harwood Street Will No Longer Drive Over Woodall Rodgers

  ​While I was at City Hall today, Joanna Singleton sent word that the Texas Department of Transportation has selected Archer Western, which has done work on the rail expansion for Dallas Area Rapid Transit, to handle construction of the $43-million-plus Woodall Rodgers Deck Park. Her press release also notes the groundbreaking on the public-private project -- which received $16.7 million in Obamabucks in March and $265,000 from Keep Dallas Beautiful in June -- will be held September 14.But when

  August 3, 2009

• Kay Bailey and Ray Hutchison, Putting the "Green" in DART's Green Line

  Ray Hutchison​"Did Kay Bailey Hutchison cross an ethical line by supporting a rail line that is a payday for her husband?" That's the question addressed in this morning's Texas Watchdog piece written by former Observer-er Matt Pulle, who examines the Texas gubernatorial candidate's involvement in procuring funds for Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Green Line -- for which Ray Hutchison's law firm, Vinson & Elkins, served as co-bond counsel when DART sold a $740 million revenue bond in July 2008

  August 20, 2009

• The Jolly Green Line Giant

  Angela Hunt​Three months ago we were introduced to Brad Oldham and Brandon Oldenburg's Traveling Man sculptures, which will greet Dallas Area Rapid Transit light-rail riders as they enter Deep Ellum in coming days -- Green Line media ridealong is Tuesday, as a matter of fact, in advance of the "Super Saturday" public preview on September 12. (More details on that Tuesday, we've been told.) So those who haven't been down to Deep Ellum in a little while might not have seen this big fella, whose

  August 28, 2009

• In Richardson, the Proud New Owners of 220 Acres Surrounding DART's Bush Station

  View Larger MapSpeaking of DART stations ...What you see above is all that empty land up around Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Bush Turnpike Station at U.S. 75 and the G.B.H. -- 220 acres' worth, to be precise. For years, it belonged to the Hunt family, which wasn't in a hurry to develop the property; instead, H.L.'s heirs worked with Dallas, Richardson and DART to clear the way for the rail line and attendant station.But the Hunt trust has done sold the land, and its new owners, Lovers Lane-based

  September 2, 2009

• Why Just Hitch a Ride on a DART Bus?

  ​Didn't wind up with one of those Dallas Fire-Rescue pumper trucks up for auction last month, which is just as well -- wouldn't have had room for one of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit buses that went up for grabs late yesterday on my favorite everything-must-go Web site. Really, it just makes more sense to buy a bus. So much more practical.You can do what this feller did and transform an old bus into an eco-friendly RV. Or, you can use them to shuttle the elderly. Or, you can start your own fam

  September 9, 2009

• Soon to Be Dallas's Most Photographed Man

  Matt ClarksonIf you think this one looks nice, check out this much larger version.​Slowly but surely Flickr fills up with images of the Traveling Man who strides through Deep Ellum. Here, for now, are two of our current favorites; after the jump, a rare nighttime shot of his seated counterpart. Co-creator Brandon Oldenburg told our Patrick Michels not long ago he hopes the sculptures, commissioned by Dallas Area Rapid Transit to beautify the Green Line stops in Deep Ellum, become as photograph

  September 9, 2009

• Up on the Fair Park Line

  Speaking of Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Fair Park ...I was looking for something entirely unrelated on YouTube when I came across this vintage footage posted by DART a couple of weeks ago. Says the description of the footage that was kindly provided by one Johnnie J. Myers:Fair Park saw its last rail service on January 15, 1956, when the 12-Second line was converted to bus operation. This route ran from downtown Dallas through Deep Ellum on Main to Exposition, then past Fair Park in the same p

  September 11, 2009

• 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 from the authors of Street Smart: Streetcars and Cities in the 21st Century. But the questions remain: Where to put 'em, how to pay for 'em, how to govern 'em and, well, how to do even do 'em in the

  October 12, 2009

• DART's Still Sorry for Saturday's Snafu

  Flickr user: clockwerks​Many Friends of Unfair Park have sent word that they too missed kick-off of Texas-OU Saturday due to Dallas Area Rapid Transit's slow ride to Fair Park; DART spokesman Morgan Lyons spent most of his weekend apologizing and explaining ... and then explaining his apology. (Flickr user "Rayindallas" was there when the back-up occurred in downtown; our man Justin Terveen has a photo essay of the "clusterfuck" -- his word -- forthcoming.) Now comes DART's "Special Message to

  October 19, 2009

• Do You Dare Fish the Trinity?

  One day, of course, you will be able to fish the Trinity River from the comforts of a solar-powered water taxi.​When Jim's not designing Dallas Area Rapid Transit light-rail routes through downtown or lunching with John Wiley Price, he can be found most days fishing from the banks of the Trinity River; he's easy to spot, as his tin-foil cap is quite reflective on a sunny day. Hence, his enthusiasm for this event on November 6: the Trinity Commons Foundation's 2009 Carpe Diem Classic Fishing To

  October 21, 2009

• Texas-OU at Night? Doesn't Sound Like It.

  Danny Fulgencio​Maybe you saw Michael Lindenberger's story in The News this morning about the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board meeting yesterday, during which DART officials found that DART officials didn't do anything wrong during the Fair Park eff-up that resulted in folks missing a big hunk o' Texas-OU. And maybe you saw this line buried in the piece: "Next year, it's an evening game, with all 95,000 or so football fans letting out just about the time the final crowds from the State Fair wil

  October 28, 2009

• Thursday-Morning News Grab Bag

  ​Dallas Area Rapid Transit said yesterday that "for the third consecutive year more than nine out of ten Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) customers report overall satisfaction with the agency." Most riders surveyed believe the trains and buses run on time and as scheduled, are plenty safe and better than what was up and running this time last year; they also would recommend DART to their friends. One note: The survey was conducted in August. Which means, before Texas-OU...Editor & Publishe

  November 12, 2009