DPatel304 wrote:
So, after the Silver Line is built, what, do you feel, is the next step for DART? This is why I struggle with the Silver Line because it just seems like a short sighted expansion. I get that people live in the suburbs and they all want rail, I'm just not sure how to feasibly provide it to them. Personally, I'd rather see way more investment into public transit in the urban core. Make it much easier to live a car-free lifestyle, and maybe ridership numbers will really start to pick up then when you have more people who solely rely on DART to get around. Use that additional revenue to slowly expand outward from Downtown, to the greater Downtown area, and so forth.
Isn't that the formula DART started with since the mid 1990s, start in the inner city and build out to the suburbs? The Silver Line has miles of track within the city limits of Dallas. So even it is being served by the Silver Line.
When almost half of DART's sales tax revenues come from the suburbs, do not be surprise that the suburbs actually expect a minimum level of service.
Here's the latest sales tax revenues I can find tonight. Read page 54.
https://www.dart.org/ShareRoot/debtdocu ... Report.pdf
FY2017
Dallas $284,150,000 (50.1%)
Plano 79,462,000 (14.0%)
Irving 63,852,000 (11.3%)
Carrollton 35,454,000 (6.1%)
Richardson 34,800,000 (6.1%)
Garland 27,581,000 (4.9%)
Farmers Branch 13,861,000 (2.4%)
Addison 13,288,000 (2.3%)
Rowlett 6,665,000 (1.2%)
University Park 4,059,000 (0.7%)
Highland Park 3,368,000 (0.6%)
Glenn Heights 516,000 (0.1%)
Cockrell Hill 362,000 (0.1%)
Total $567,418,000 (100%)
Here are some other fun facts great for a discussion.
Red Line cities %DART = 50.1 + 6.1 + 14.0 = 70.2%
Blue Line cities %DART = 50.1 + 4.9 +1.2 = 56.2%
Green Line cities %DART = 50.1 +2.4 +6.1 = 58.6%
Orange Line cities %DART = 50.1 + 11.3 = 61.4%
Silver Line cities %DART = 11.3 + 6.1 + 2.3 + 50.1 + 6.1 + 14.0 = 89.9%
D2 Line cities %DART = 50.1%
And some wonder why the Silver Line has such great political support?
Will it ever achieve the same ridership as the D2 Line? Probably not.
But as with most things in this world, money talks.