Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority

Former Cop Wants DART to Offer Domestic Partner Benefits

Offering benefits to the partners of LGBT workers is gradually becoming a standard thing for large public employers in North Texas. The city of Dallas included domestic partner benefits in 2004, DFW Airport in 2010 and Parkland this year. Dallas County is poised to follow suit at the first of next y ... More >>

"Station Domination," Paid Parking and More Money-Makers the DART Board Will Consider

Pulled up behind one of these two weeks ago. The 7-year-old in the backseat thought it was hilarious.​Last month we noted that the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board is considering selling ads for beer and wine on buses and light rail -- which, right now, is prohibited by policy just because. After t ... More >>

To Boost Revenue, Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board Will Consider Selling Beer, Wine Ads

Via.​Right now, Dallas Area Rapid Transit policy prohibits the sale of booze ads on its trains and buses for no reason other than earlier boards thought that'd just be a good idea. Or, as it was explained during a DART board meeting last month, its "predecessors determined that alcoholic beverages ... More >>

Everything You Needed to Know About That Downtown to Oak Cliff Streetcar Line

Click to embiggen the latest streetcar alignment map that will be presented to the DART board tonight.​On Friday, Keith Manoy, the chief transportation planning officer, spoke to Unfair Park about who will be responsible for what when it comes to the designing, construction, operation and maintena ... More >>

All Aboard For Your Latest Downtown-to-Oak Cliff Streetcar Update

Photo by Patrick MichelsThe council will take one more look at the Kinkisharyo ameriTRAM streetcar on Monday.​On Monday the city council's Transportation and Environment Committee will devote its entire meeting to the subject of streetcars. In fact, there's a field trip involved, as council member ... More >>

Drink Down The City of Dallas's Response to Dry Side's Motion For Summary Judgment

​The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission continues to dole out those permits to the would-be beer- and wine-sellers of Dallas. The 21-page of list of March sweepstakes winners alone, which follows, includes a handful of Aldi locations (from the one at Forest and Audelia to grocery at Illinois and ... More >>

Roach Clip, or: If You Hate Bugs, You May Wanna Steer Clear of Mockingbird Station

Via.​SlashGear this morning directs our attention to a press release issued late Friday by ad agency Publicis's Dallas office, which has found a rather ingenious way to garner attention for a billboard -- by filling the thing with "thousands of live cockroaches." You read that right. It's for Term ... More >>

Sandy Greyson Vows Not to Raise Taxes and Targets Quality of Life In Attempt to Take Back Far North Dallas City Council Seat

Friends of Preston Ridge TrailSandy Greyson (right) with Dallas County Commissioner Maurine Dickey​Back on February 11, former four-term city council member Sandy Greyson told us that she was "seriously considering" a run for her old District 12 seat now occupied by mayoral candidate Ron Nati ... More >>

Oncor, Dallas Really Wants Lights (and Heat) Kept On at City Hall and Convention Center

Justin Terveen​Personally, I'd love nothing more than to see the council chambers go dark during this morning's briefing. Need something to liven up that ho-hum agenda that includes runaway shopping carts and a look at the Mayor's Youth Fitness Initiative -- or MyFi, as it's called. Besides, ... More >>

Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Towing Buses and Trying to "Unstick" Light Rail

Daniel Rodrigue​Dallas Area Rapid Transit has suspended most of its light-rail service due to ice and wind. There is this update, though: "We are operating 4 trains on the Trinity Railway Express this morning instead of the usual 6. We are trying to operate trains out of Union and T&P about ev ... More >>

With $210-Million Purchase Order, DART Begins Transition to Compressed Natural Gas Fleet

DART provides this sneak peek at one of the 452 new CNG-powered buses due to hit Dallas streets in 2013.​In the fall of '09, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board inched toward spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new buses that would be powered by compressed natural gas -- as opposed to the ... More >>

First, a Better Block. Now, a Better App? An Effort to Open Source the City of Dallas.

​Take a moment and peruse the apps listed at CivicApps, a competition launched by the city of Portland last year for which cash prizes were handed out in such categories as Most Useful, Best Use of Data and Most Original. Portland's hardly the only city using apps to make city l-i-v-i-n better. Ne ... More >>

DART Ducks Out of the God Biz.

DART Says It Didn't Single Out Nontheists' Ad. It's Just Not Using Buses As "Public Forum."

​This morning we received this photo and the accompanying press release, which announced: "Godless Ads Go on Ft. Worth Buses December 1." That's per the Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition of Reason, which says the campaign is "designed to raise awareness about people who don't believe in a god." Maybe yo ... 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 >>

Under Madrid With Mayor Tom, or: How a Tunnel in Spain May Hint at Dallas's Rail Future

Chris HeinbaughA postcard from Mayor Tom and the Dallas delegation from the tunnel in which they spent part of their first day in Madrid​Funny thing: Yesterday, in the comments below, longtime Friend of Unfair Park Montemalone asked this about the Dallas delegation's trade mission to Europe: "I wo ... 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 >>

Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board to OK Proposed Bus Route Changes Today

Click to enlarge: From DART's Planning Committee agenda concering bus-route changes being voted on today​Back in February, we directed your attention to forthcoming route changes being proposed by Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which is looking to delete "costly duplications," especially as the Green ... More >>

Everything You Ever Needed to Know About the Second Downtown Light Rail Line and Didn't Know Was Available

Click to enlarge: From the new D2 Alternatives Analysis and Draft Environmental Impact Statement​Late last night I was looking at the agenda for tomorrow's Dallas Area Rapid Transit board meeting when I noticed this: The Planning Committee is scheduled to be briefed on the Alternative Analysis/Dra ... More >>

Two Infrastructuralists Look at What Dallas Is (And Isn't) Doing. And Why.

​Below, a Friend of Unfair Park takes note of the cynicism aimed at the under-construction Woodall Rodgers Deck Park and wonders, "I wonder how this would have been received if the Trinity debacle had never occurred?" At the same time, urban planner Patrick "Car-Free" Kennedy has penned a sprawlin ... More >>

A Look at Some of DART's "Creative Concepts for Revenue Generation"

​We've already established this much: Dallas Area Rapid Transit, facing an "anticipated sales tax shortfall" this fiscal year, needs money -- pronto. So, with that in mind, we take a look at today's meeting agenda for the DART board's revenue committee: "Creative Concepts for Revenue Generation." ... 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 >>

Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Drop in Sales Tax Receipts Prompts "Review of Operations, Future Capital Projects"

​Dallas Area Rapid Transit's board of directors met this afternoon to discuss the ramifications of a significant decline in sales tax receipts. Originally, DART had budgeted for $387.8 million; the numbers, according to the transit agency, are presently looking $15 to $20 million short of that. Th ... More >>

To Avoid "Costly Duplications," DART Wants You to Know About Big Route Changes A-Comin' By Year's End

The Southwestern Medical District/Parkland Station, scheduled to open in December​When Dallas Area Rapid Transit completes the Green Line by year's end, it anticipates making dozens of changes to its bus service, among them: discontinuing service to the Bachman Lake area, shifting downtown pick-up ... More >>

Fired DART Officer Files Federal Suit, Claims "Malicious Prosecution" Over '07 Incident

​Back in July 2007, the tale of Dallas Area Rapid Transit police officer Susan Craig merited but a few sentences in the regional roundup. The story then: "Dallas Area Rapid Transit officials said Officer Susan Craig falsely claimed that a rider she arrested Monday had kicked her in the head during ... More >>

Pearl (Station) Jam

Justin Terveen​Because I can't go two days without posting something by the great Justin Terveen, his latest: a shot of Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Pearl Station. Actually, Justin explains, it's three shots in one: "Two were stitched, while the remaining shot was blended in to create the static ef ... More >>

Public Art Attack: Look, It's Good for Tourism

Dallas Convention & Visitors BureauIs Pioneer Plaza really "the best example" of Dallas's "iconic public art projects"?​Pretty sure Sam's heading to the city council's Transportation and Environment Committee meeting today, during which council members will meet with Dallas Area Rapid Transit pres ... More >>

Yes, Captain Underpants Would Like a Seat

Dylan Hollingsworth​Sure hope those convention planners were aboard Dallas Area Rapid Transit yesterday, when Improv Everywhere's No Pants! wingdingus made its Dallas debut. If not, our Dylan Hollingsworth was along for the ride and has the slide show to prove it. Bare-Legged Performance Art Terro ... More >>

Linda Koop: And Where Are the Promised Developments Around DART Rail Stations?

Dallas Area Rapid TransitThis is what DART says Walnut Hill Lane and Denton Drive will look like once the Green Line gets that far into Northwest Dallas. OK ...​We attended today's meeting of the council's Transportation and Environment Committee in the hopes of finding out from DART officials whe ... More >>

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 R ... More >>

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. (Fl ... 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 >>

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 r ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 "Su ... More >>

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 w ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 spokesm ... More >>

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, inci ... More >>

Foreman on Fantroy

One Step Forward, Ten Steps Backward

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

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

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

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

Sinking Ship? What Sinking Ship?

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

Meet the New DART Board Chair

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

Throwing a DART at Google