DART officials ask University Park council to back continuation of 1% sales tax, outline service and governance plans

Gary Slagle, chairman of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board, and DART staff briefed the University Park City Council on Feb. 4 about regional ridership, proposed service additions and governance topics and asked the council to consider a resolution supporting continuation of DART’s one-cent local sales tax.

The presentation explained DART’s assessment that ridership is recovering to roughly 80% of pre-COVID levels and outlined near-term service ideas for member cities, including circulator services and expanded GoLink microtransit. Slagle said the DART board’s consensus was to “build more services” rather than return tax revenue to member cities. “I’m here tonight to ask you please to consider adopting a resolution supporting the 1%, sales tax,” Slagle said.

DART staff also described work to better use underutilized transit-center parking for economic development and to improve regional marketing and employer outreach to boost ridership. Kay (Kate) Shelton, representing DART service planning, cited proposals to enhance GoLink routes serving Snyder Plaza and to add targeted train capacity on game days to reduce congestion during Southern Methodist University events.

Council members asked for detail on local use and how DART counts riders. In response to a question about a cited FY2024 bus ridership number of 39,456, DART staff said that figure represented riders who boarded or alighted a transit vehicle within University Park city limits, based on vehicle passenger counters. Councilmembers pressed the presenters on local per-rider cost calculations and on how to show benefits beyond per-ride costs, including traffic relief, economic development and federal funding that supported regional capital projects.

DART representatives described governance concerns raised during outreach to member cities and said they are studying potential board-pairing and appointment rotation options to address smaller cities’ concerns about representation. Slagle referenced “Chapter 452” as the current statutory framework that governs board selection based on population and said DART is exploring operational and appointment approaches that would improve representation without immediate legislative change.

The presentation included a request that University Park consider a nonbinding resolution to support DART’s continuation of the one-cent sales tax while the board continues regional planning work. No formal resolution or vote on that request occurred during the Feb. 4 meeting; the item was a briefing and request for council consideration.

DART indicated next steps include follow-up with city staff on GoLink and parking strategies, participation in regional economic-development working groups and a DART board discussion of the approaches they presented.