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DART CEO tells Rowlett council GoLink usage tripled; city and agency to study crossing gate fixes
Summary
DART President Nadine Lee told the Rowlett council that combined ridership in Rowlett (including GoLink) now exceeds pre‑COVID levels, GoLink trips have tripled since 2020, and DART has added security staff and service changes; council pressed DART on Rowlett Road crossing gates and local subsidy questions.
Nadine Lee, president and CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, briefed the Rowlett City Council on Sept. 3 about ridership trends, security measures and local investments tied to the Blue Line and GoLink services.
Lee said combined ridership in Rowlett — counting light rail plus GoLink — now exceeds pre‑pandemic levels, with downtown Rowlett ridership up about 3 percent. "GoLink usage within the city of Rowlett has tripled since 2020," Lee said, adding that the GoLink zone now generates higher ridership relative to resources and that the city’s subsidy per GoLink rider (~$10.27 per trip) is below the system average.
DART has increased onboard cleaning, added 100 contracted transit security officers and introduced multidisciplinary response teams (MDRTs) pairing a law enforcement officer, a mental‑health professional and a paramedic to respond to incidents on the system. Chief Charles Cato, DART’s chief of police for emergency management, told council members the agency is meeting its goal to keep priority‑1 response times below the National Emergency Number Association standard of eight minutes; the most recent quarter’s average was about 3 minutes, 38 seconds.
Council members pressed DART on fare enforcement, elevator and escalator reliability at regional stations, and the recurring malfunction of crossing arms at Rowlett Road. Lee said DART is monitoring the crossing and working with the railroad owner (DGNO) and city staff; she also described plans to upgrade signal systems and convene a grade‑crossing progress meeting with city leadership.
Lee said DART set aside surplus sales tax revenue for member cities and that Rowlett has approximately $5.3 million available for approved transit projects; staff noted the city previously allocated part of that amount to local street reconstruction near the downtown station. Lee warned councilmembers that a 25 percent reduction to the DART sales tax would reduce available funds and could affect service unless alternative funding is found.
Council did not take formal action; members asked DART to return with additional operational detail and welcomed further technical briefings on crossing‑gate fixes.
