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Garland council signs onto DART position: asks agency to reengage member cities and reconsider fare, governance and mobility program
Summary
Council instructed staff to send a formal resolution to DART urging meaningful reengagement with member cities on governance, the general mobility program, fare increases and service decisions. Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution/letter.
Garland’s City Council instructed the mayor and staff to send a formal resolution to Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) urging that agency leadership meaningfully reengage member cities as partners, reassess the design and impacts of the General Mobility program, and re‑evaluate proposed fare increases and service reductions.
City Manager Judd Stevens reviewed a draft position statement compiled with input from the mayor and several councilmembers. The draft lays out five principal concerns: perceived politicized decision making, declining system performance and accountability, safety and access problems, the fiscal impact of fare increases and the General Mobility funding mechanism, and DART’s service model that some member cities find inflexible.
Stevens told council that DART had recently sent an ultimatum to a group of member cities participating in the General Mobility pilot: one city staff summary said DART required signed commitment not to pursue legislative remedies in order to receive funding under that pilot. Council members described recent DART communications and actions as misleading and said Garland — along with several other member cities — has repeatedly sought remedies through working group discussions that the city manager said were not acknowledged in DART’s letter.
Council debated the form of the response and approved by consensus and then formally accepted a resolution/letter to DART. Councilmembers said they want DART to better account for city‑by‑city differences in demand, improve safety and accountability and address governance issues so member cities have a stronger voice. The council indicated it prefers a formal adopted resolution to a staff letter and staff said they will transmit a resolution under the mayor’s signature.
Council agreed the next steps are to present a formal resolution, coordinate with other concerned member cities and use that resolution in advocacy before the Regional Transportation Council and in legislative venues if needed.
