Subject: Mass Transit Systems

• Get Rail: DART President to Testify Before U.S. Senate Tomorrow Concerning "New Starts"

  DART president Gary ThomasTomorrow, Dallas Area Rapid Transit president and exec director Gary Thomas will be in Washington, D.C., to talk -- what else? -- transportation. Specifically, he's been invited to appear before a U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs subcommittee, chaired by Chris Dodd, to address the Federal Transit Administration's so-called New Starts program, which is how DART partially funded the $1.8-billion Green Line expansion scheduled to get rolling come fall. And by

  June 2, 2009

• 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

• Hello, Dallas! DART Light Rail is here

  June 20, 1996

• Downright unneighborly

  December 18, 1997

• 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

• Highwaymen

  July 20, 2000

• Letters

  July 27, 2000

• Buzz

  June 21, 2001

• Best Sign That We're a Big City Now

  September 20, 2001

• Streetcars Desired

  September 6, 2007

• Downtown Train

  January 25, 2007

• Dodging a Bullet (Train): When DART's More About the "Area" Than About "Dallas"

  The concept of regionalism is a Trojan horse designed to gut the city in favor of the 'burbs. If you ever doubted that, take a look at the very close bullet that downtown Dallas just dodged yesterday ... we hope.For 26 years, ever since the founding of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, downtown Dallas has been waiting to get a direct rail link into Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. A month ago, DART announced it was thinking of not building a line into the airport after all. Maybe ... instead .

  June 10, 2009

• 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

• 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

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

  July 30, 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