“The Silver Line is a major step forward in building a stronger, more connected region,” said DART board of directors chair, Gary Slagel in a press release. “It is an investment in both today’s riders and future generations. We are proud to open its doors and welcome the community aboard.”
The Silver Line was initially conceptualized in the ‘80s, land was purchased in the ‘90s, and construction was delayed many times in the ‘00s and ‘10s. Finally, in 2021, ground was broken, and after a few more delays, North Texans, excluding Dallasites, have a fast track to the airport. A 3-hour pass for the line costs $3, and an all-day pass will run you $6.
Deemed “the region’s most anticipated rail expansion in decades,” DART anticipates 1,240 daily riders on the line by 2040, and most of them will come from the uppermost section of the region, where thousands of airport and airline staff stationed in the aviation hub have made a forever home.
“Maybe I use the airport a few times a year, but it’ll be great for people who go there for work, for sure,” said Tyler Wright, vice president of the Dallas Area Transit Alliance (DATA). “Underrated transit riders are flight attendants and hospital staff, like nurses and such, so we'll probably see a lot of them. I'm sure anybody who lives [in the suburbs] will be happy to have it.”
Silver Line Completed As Suburban Tension Grows
Empty DART buses and rail cars, especially in the downtown periphery, are not uncommon, but the Silver Line hopes to change the status quo by carting millions to the airport each year.“Empty buses are reflective of how our community is using those services,” Plano Mayor John Mums told KERA. “For us, it’s important that we have services that match the needs and the wants of our community.”
An independent study of all thirteen member cities’ contributions found that Plano gave $109.6 million to DART, but received approximately $44.6 million back in services. The Silver Line was partially funded by member city tax contributions and a $908 million federal loan from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Estimates from DART in 2019 predicted $3.5 million in annual revenue from the line, but that number is based on much higher, pre-pandemic, use predictions that calculated almost 2 million passengers per year. Either way, the airport directly employs 60,000 people, and supports the employment of 228,000 people total, so thousands of pilots, flight attendants, TSA agents and airport baristas will no longer be waiting in bumper-to-bumper traffic to get to work; instead, they can catch the Silver Line.
But the line isn’t just for the airport. It offers a thoroughway across some of the most populated suburbs, most of which expressed their interest in reducing their contributions to DART just as the first train prepares to leave the station.
“It's hilarious.. there's no doubt it's all connected,” said Wright, who rides DART buses from his home in Richardson to his office in Plano. “Admittedly, [they’re] lacking bus service in Plano. That does need some work. But [Plano’s] going to look for money wherever they can until they keep running out, and they will run out. They've got to change how they develop, how they tax, how they develop around transit, specifically, or else this isn't going to get any better for them, in my opinion.”
Wright notes that on Sept. 8, the city of Plano approved its first property tax increase in over a decade. The average city resident will now pay 43.76 cents per $100 of assessed value, or an average of $195 more in property taxes each year. The new property tax rate will support the recently approved $798 million annual city budget.
“Plano raised their tax funds because they're a pretty tightly run city,” said Wright. “It's a nice place to be for sure. But all that niceness and all that infrastructure and all those corporate tax breaks, that quality of life doesn't come cheap.”
How We Got Here
The suburbs have had a tumultuous relationship with DART, led by the loudest critic, the city of Plano. For years, the city has been looking for ways to substantially reduce its tax contributions and has indicated an interest in withdrawing from membership completely. Either would be catastrophic for the transit system, resulting in hundreds of millions in losses, but a withdrawal would require a city-wide vote.Plano Rep. Matt Shaheen has filed several bills to reduce his constituents' contributions to DART by 25%, redirecting the money to other mobility-related improvements, which could include road repairs and sidewalk construction, through the city budget. The bills have never passed, but a version in the last session, House Bill 3187, got scarily close to a House Floor reading after passing the Committee on Transportation with flying colors.
Concurrently, DART formulated appeasement deals to walk Plano from the ledge under a new general mobility program that hiked fees, eliminated bus lines, and reduced fixed-route frequencies to pinch a few pennies. The city of Plano’s main criticism has been that it contributes far more than it receives back in services.
“Our bottom line is accountability to our residents/taxpayers," Plano City Manager Mark Israelson told KERA in a written statement. "Plano pays over $100 million to DART annually. We want to justify to our residents how those funds are being used."’
In July, the mayors of Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Highland Park, Irving and Plano penned a letter to the governor requesting that HB 3187, or similar legislation, be explored during the Legislative First Special Session. The governor did not add the item to the agenda, but it marked growing support for the initiative among other member cities.
“We believe the proposals outlined in HB 3187 and SB 2118 … offer a strong foundation for needed change,” the mayors wrote.
Still, Wright is hopeful that the Silver Line can create a change in perspective.
“As DART improves and you see the Silver Line, we're gonna see more people in the suburbs realize that the rail actually works,” he said in May after the original bill passed committee.
There’s never been a better time to hop a ride on the city’s largest transportation system than Oct. 25, when all rides on the entire system will be completely free of charge in celebration of the Silver Line opening. The line itself will remain free until Nov. 8, so book your flights now.
