Jacob Vaughn
Audio By Carbonatix
A proposal that could see DART avoid withdrawal elections by member cities moved closer to a reality Thursday, following a meeting of the Regional Transportation Council.
The council, a 45-member policy body under the North Texas Council of Governments, voted overwhelmingly to commit $180 million in funding to DART, the Trinity River Metro and the Denton County Transit Authority at a meeting on Thursday afternoon. DART is set to receive $75 million under the plan, which will help the agency return funds to member cities to encourage suburban officials to reconsider exit votes planned for May.
Since November, withdrawal elections have been called in six DART member cities: Plano, Irving, Farmers Branch, Addison, University Park and Highland Park. Negotiations have centered on funding, especially the 1-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax contribution required of member cities to fund DART services. Cities such as Plano have sought returns on their sales tax contributions to support transit-oriented mobility programs that provide residents with localized transportation options.
On Monday, the Plano City Council voted to table discussion on a contract with microtransit agency Via, which could have served as a replacement for DART services in the event of a pullout. The decision to table the agenda item came after City Manager Mark Israelson told council members the city had received a proposal from the DART board after increasingly “focused” discussion.
The proposal was presented to the DART board at a committee-of-the-whole meeting Tuesday afternoon. Under the plan, DART would return 5% of sales tax contributions to member cities in fiscal year 2026, increasing to 10% by 2031. The plan also calls for a collaborative effort to identify and implement a new funding structure that would return 25% of future sales tax contributions to cities. Board members expressed approval at the meeting.
Returns to member cities would initially be funded almost entirely by DART sales tax revenue. However, under the proposal, Regional Transportation Council dollars would increasingly help offset that cost, with a quarter of the 10% return in 2031 to be contributed by the RTC.
The plan also calls for an expanded DART board, with each member city appointing a dedicated representative and votes weighted by population. Dallas would appoint seven representatives, who would wield a 45% overall weighted vote under the plan.
RTC members voted overwhelmingly to fund the proposal on Thursday. Funds were also earmarked for the Denton County Transit Authority and Trinity River Metro after Denton County Judge Andy Eads called for an approach that funds all area agencies, not just DART.
Suburban Needs Met
Following the meeting, Plano Mayor John Muns said that if the agreement holds, he plans to place a measure calling off the city’s planned May 2 withdrawal election on a Feb. 23 council meeting agenda.
“We felt good about it, and we felt good that the governance issue was agreed upon, and that that’ll go to the legislature next year, and and we felt like the funding structure was fair, and at the same time, was one that we could live with,” Muns said.
Muns said the return of sales taxes will enable the city to improve intracity connectivity for residents and give Plano greater flexibility in the future. He also said that while transit leaders still have work to do in creating a more balanced and efficient system, he’s grown more optimistic about the future of transit in North Texas.
“It’s in a lot better shape than it was yesterday,” Muns said. “So I think we’ve made some real progress today. As I said earlier, I think we need to continue to work on our service levels, our ridership and understand who’s riding and why are they riding, and how can we improve that?”
Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer, who also represents the city on the DART board, has said he will also ask his City Council to reconsider a May withdrawal election, according to The Dallas Morning News. Plano and Irving have played a leading role in the suburban coalition as the largest member cities with scheduled withdrawal elections.
Cities have until March 18 to call off elections, although Collin County finishes creating ballots on Feb. 23.
Several points of the proposed plan, including governance reforms and securing additional funding through potential avenues such as vehicle registration fees, will require approval from the Legislature. Muns, whose city led several unsuccessful legislative efforts in recent sessions to reform the system, said effecting change in Austin will likely come easier with consensus found under the plan.
“Even just last spring, we had several cities that were united, and we made a lot more progress as we became more united,” Muns said. “If we, as a group of member cities, or even member and non-member cities, go to Austin in 2027 as a united front, I think we’re going to get a lot more accomplished.”
The path to governance reform, a sticking point for suburban cities, some of which share representatives with up to three other municipalities, became clearer Wednesday after the Dallas City Council voted 13-2 to approve the expanded, “one city, one vote” board structure.
District 14 council member Paul Ridley, who chairs the council’s transportation committee, said that he supported the new governance framework and thinks it will help make the agency more accountable to member cities, which he believes is key to avoiding another potential exodus.
“They need to do a better job of listening to their member cities and including them in their decisions about their priorities with regard to service, funding, etc.,” Ridley said. “I heard even today at the RTC meeting that member city representatives were unhappy with the way that they have been requesting things from DART for years and never got any kind of response from them. So they need to be more responsive.”
Transit for North Texas
Regional considerations have become a major theme in negotiations. In addition to answering questions surrounding future funding and governance structures, the agreement calls for the creation of a regional transit authority to operate commuter rail lines, including the DCTA A-Train, TEXRail and Silver Line.
The creation of an independent regional transit authority, as outlined in the plan and supported by an RTC subcommittee, would be a first for North Texas, an area projected to have nearly 12 million people by 2050, according to a NTCOG report. It would also need legislative approval to become a reality.
A regional scheme would have on-demand services provided by individual cities, with each city able to select the desired services from transit agencies. That flexibility may help a potential regional transit agency or DART expand services into newer areas, something the agency has failed to do over the past three decades and has been criticized for by cities like Plano.
“We need to continue to be able to create an à la carte menu for cities, because we’re not all the same, we don’t have all the same needs,” Muns said. “And if we can get to a formula that works for cities to our north, south, east and west, then that connectivity is going to really promote ridership, and we’re really hopeful that by creating that regional rail transit, that that’s going to be the start of being able to create a connectivity throughout the metroplex.”
Muns said that connectivity will be vital in one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the U.S.
“I think we’re all aware of the growth that’s going on and the metroplex, and we’re running out of time, and we certainly can only build so many roads, right? So the reliance on transit authorities throughout Dallas and Fort Worth is essential, and so I think we’ve always been aware of that,” Muns said. “I think we disagreed on what’s a fair price to pay for those services. I think this was a first step in being able to compromise on what we think is fair.”
