Residents urge Richardson council to oppose DART service cuts tied to proposed 5% general mobility plan funding shift

Multiple members of the public used Richardson’s visitors’ forum Monday to urge the city to oppose service reductions proposed by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) during the agency’s budgeting process.

Speakers and concerns Connor Hola, who said he lives in the City Line neighborhood and follows DART meetings, told council that a proposed 5% funding shift could drop some weekday train frequency (the Silver Line was cited) from 30 minutes to one hour, making the trains unreliable for airport trips and other uses.

Sham Ganeshram, speaking as a member of the Dallas Area Transit Alliance, urged Richardson to work with DART and to oppose service cuts and said the general mobility plan funding shift would result in major system reductions including bus routes. Ganeshram said local governments should seek alternatives that do not pull transit funding to finance other mobility programs.

Alexander Scott said the proposed 5% cut will “drastically reduce bus and rail frequencies” and urged the city council to ask DART to minimize service reductions. Speakers noted that the City of Plano’s actions and state legislative pressure were a central factor in DART’s budget calculations and that DART is considering reallocating roughly $20 million in operations to cover a general mobility program.

Why this matters Speakers argued that reduced frequency harms riders’ ability to use transit for daily commutes, airport travel and family trips, and that some bus routes could be eliminated. They encouraged Richardson’s council to communicate with the DART board and seek alternatives to service reductions.

Ending Council members heard the comments during public forum and the mayor noted the city would continue to follow DART’s budget process. No formal council action on DART funding occurred at the meeting.