43 replies to this topic

[eastsider]

On Tuesday, a study was released done by Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the University of North Texas stating that $3.3 billion in new projects have either started or been announced along the rail line since 1999. The figure includes projects planned along the rail line in Fair Park, Irving, and Carrollton which will come on line between 2009-2013. By 2013, the DART rail system will be 90 miles long and have 45 stations.

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In a 2001 study, Dr. Weinstein found that property values for office buildings along rail lines grew at twice the rate of comparable office buildings not near transit. Residential properties near transit lines also grew at a substantially higher rate than in nontransit areas during the 1997-2001 study period.

Dallas Morning News: Study: DART driving billions in development

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The city of Dallas is working with DART now to revamp its zoning code to streamline development and make it easier to get projects on the ground around future stations, said Theresa O'Donnell, director of planning for the city. Dallas, which has 27 stations today, will have 45 by 2010, O'Donnell said.

"The competition for those new stations is very fierce," she said. "Everyone wants their station done next."

Dallas Business Journal: DART spurs $3.3 billion in development, new study says

[Spades]

Here's the new map

Construction  starts in just a few months I believe. I believe the line to the airport will be a huge thing for Dallas.

[eastsider]

With gas prics increasing, ridership on the DART system is also going up.

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Ridership on DART's light-rail and bus service is up 9% to 10% over the same time a year ago, according to Doug Allen, DART's executive vice president of planning and development.

"I think it has a lot to do with the price of gas," Allen said.

The impact is being felt throughout DART's 13-city network, he added, as a number of the agency's transit parking lots have begun filling up.

Dallas Business Journal: DART ridership increasing along with gas prices

[NCB]

DART is a great transit system.
I was not able to use the light-rails when I was in Dallas last year, but I know that the system is doing very well.

Edited by NCB, 03 October 2005 - 09:30 PM.

[eastsider]

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A proposed north Arlington rail station was added to the region's long-term transit plan Thursday, but the city must figure out how to pay half the cost.

The Regional Transportation Council approved $32 million in Tarrant County rail and bus projects through 2012, including $3.75 million for a new Trinity Railway Express stop along Farm Road 157 (Collins Street). The station would be within walking distance of the Lakes of Bird's Fort residential and commercial development.

Arlington will try to raise the money without a tax increase, possibly by donating land. The Collins Street Station would be used as a drop off point for the new Cowboys Stadium with buses taking fans down FR 157 in bus only lanes.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: TRE plans Collins station

[eastsider]

DART is set to begin work on a $18M project that will straighten a curve at he southern end of the Cityplace tunnel, making for a smoother ride for passengers.

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It will mark the unofficial start of southeast rail line construction to Fair Park and Pleasant Grove, and it will be the first part of a project to lower more of the old Central Expressway to ground level, creating a new gateway into downtown Dallas.

Work to remove the curve should be completed in late 2006, and the southeast line chould be complete to Fair Park in September 2009 and to Pleasant Grove by late 2010.

Dallas Morning News:
DART straightening the curve at downtown tunnel

[eastsider]

Between July and September 2005, public transit use was up 14.9% in Dallas and 18.5% in Fort Worth while the national average was up 3.3% compared to the same months in 2004. This is how other cities across the country compare:

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The American Public Transportation Association said that more than 25 transit systems showed double-digit ridership increases from November 2004 to November 2005, including Houston (14.9 percent), Kansas City, Mo. (13 percent), Reno, Nev. (12.4 percent), Salt Lake City (17.7 percent), and Tulsa, Okla. (22 percent).

Dallas Morning News: Mass transit use jumps

[eastsider]

The northern suburban cities are begining a push to have a future light rail line that will run along the Cotton Belt corridor which runs through Plano, Richardson, Addison, Carrollton and then down to DFW International Airport. They are argueing for a line that will serve the outlying business centers and the airport without having to go through downtown Dallas. Early estimates for a Cotton Belt line are $1.5 billion.

Dallas officials would like to have the east-west light rail line run along or under LBJ Freeway. When it reached Addison, it would then continue along the Cotton Belt to DFW Airport. Their arguement for this route is that it will serve more riders and spur more development. This plan could cost about $2 billion.

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Both plans are part of DART's review of potential projects that could be included in its 2030 system plan. The 2030 plan outlines projects that will be built after the transit agency finishes construction on its rail lines to Fair Park, Pleasant Grove, Irving, D/FW Airport, Farmers Branch, Carrollton, Rowlett and South Oak Cliff.

Dallas Morning News: Rail route to D/FW has leaders at odds

[bigboyz05]

Do you think light rail will one day be extended to the Sherman/Dennison area?

[monsoon]

DART has to be one of the most successful light rail projects in North America.

[UrbanLifter]

Metro, Yes, DART is rather successful.  The irony of it all is that Dallas and the surburban cities fought DART for years.  It was amazing to watch DART ridership numbers greatly exceed even the most optimistic numbers predicted by DART.  And to think that Dallas and Collin counties are truly the most spread out and sprawled out of any city, short of LA, that I can imagine.  I am fairly confident that when the South LRT opens in Charlotte, that the ridership numbers will exceed the planners imaginations and desires.  At least, I am hopeful that Charlotte will be as succesful with LRT as Dallas.

Big Boyz:  I doubt DART will extend Light Rail to Sherman/Denison.  One day, perhaps, there iwill be commuter rail service from McKinney or Plano to Sherman/Denison.  I suspect that is still 25 years out.

[eastsider]

DART is working on deals to sell air rights above the Mockingbird station parking lots to developers for future projects.

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At least two firms – FirstWorthing Corp. and Prescott Realty Group – are vying for the chance to develop on top of the transit station parking lots, real estate brokers familiar with the deal say.

The mixed-use projects and parking garages would replace more than six acres of surface parking between Mockingbird Lane and Yale Boulevard, just east of North Central Expressway.

Dallas Morning News: DART parking: Can they top it?

[eastsider]

The Federal Transit Administration announced that it will support DART's $700M funding request. The money will go toward construction of the northwest and southeast lines.

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The 21 miles of light rail that will be built with the help of federal money is less than half of DART's planned expansion over the next seven years.

By 2013, if DART's schedule holds, rail lines also will reach Carrollton, Irving, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Rowlett. When those phases are complete, DART's existing 45-mile rail network will double in size. Three more miles of rail are scheduled to open in south Oak Cliff in 2018.

When complete, the new rail lines will connect with the current system to provide access to two major airports, Dallas' hospital district, American Airlines Center, downtown Dallas, Fair Park and many businesses in surrounding suburbs.

The money will be paid out over a number of years with $80M coming in the next fiscal year. The FTA sould be sending the funding request to congress in the next few weeks.

Dallas Morning News: New DART lines get $700M pledge

[eastsider]

Article about how developers are buying up land near future DART light rail stops. Westdale Asset Managment is planning TOD projects at the future Baylor Hospital and Deep Ellum stations. Trammell Crow Co. is also planning to begin construction on 3 TOD projects in the next two years.

Ridership is also increasing. In the past six-months an addition 21,000 daily riders are useing DART trains and busses which is a 10.6% increase.

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Currently, 218,924 people ride DART every weekday. A 2004 study by Oakland, Calif.-based Reconnecting America, a nonprofit firm partially funded by the U.S. government, said that the Dallas metro area, with a medium-sized but growing mass-transit system, will see 364% growth in households using mass transit by 2025.

Dallas Business Journal: Developers rushing to DART projects

[Aporkalypse]

monsoon, on Jan 25 2006, 04:58 PM, said:

DART has to be one of the most successful light rail projects in North America.

It's clean and safe.  The stations are open-aired and visible and DART police are very active in deterring crime.  I'm a fan but, like MARTA, the problem right now is not enough routes.

[kayman]

Too bad Birmingham didn't vote for the BARTA project, it was very similiar to DART LRT but to a scale comparable to Birmingham's size.  Unfortunately, that plan has been scale back to just downtown streetcars.  I wish people here would have more sense and try to improve this area like DART has for Dallas.

[PghUSA]

I hope Dallas can see that expansion as well, I know Pittsburgh is trying to expand their subway system to the northside and University district.

[Aporkalypse]

PghUSA, on Jun 7 2006, 11:27 PM, said:

I hope Dallas can see that expansion as well, I know Pittsburgh is trying to expand their subway system to the northside and University district.

The federal funding is in place, they just got a big chunk of it in a recent bill.  This new line will be very important because it will connect the airport to the DART system.  Currently, there is no connection.  DFW, though, is pretty far from downtown Dallas as far as airports go.

I didn't realize Pittsburgh had a subway system.  That city is one of the top on my "must visit" list.  I've hear nothing but good things about the urban renewal that city's been experiencing.

[eastsider]

Today is the ten year anniversary of the first DART light rail line going into service.

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The trains are meeting original ridership forecasts by carrying almost 70,000 passengers each weekday along a 45-mile-long network. Dallas Area Rapid Transit has become the fifth-largest light-rail system in the United States behind Los Angeles, New Jersey, San Diego and Portland, Ore.

Ridership has grown from 1.4 million in 1996 to 17.5 million in 2005. This article is a good write up of the history of the DART light rail.

Dallas Morning News: Reflecting on a decade of DART

Another article about the future of the light rail system. Communities such as Carrollton, Farmers Branch, and Rowlett which have been members of DART for many years will see lines extended to their cities. To new lines will also connect Love Field, DFW Airport, Las Colinas, Fair Park, Parkland Memorial Hospital, and Baylor University Medical Center. Construction on the light rail lines will begin this month, mostly moving freight lines and then starting to install to new tracks early next year.

Dallas Morning News: DART turns attention to rail growth

Edited by eastsider, 14 June 2006 - 07:48 AM.

[txstate25]

That's great news for Dallas. I like the Dart System. I just wanted to know if any subways exist in Dallas too?

eastsider, on Jun 14 2006, 07:47 AM, said:

Today is the ten year anniversary of the first DART light rail line going into service.
Ridership has grown from 1.4 million in 1996 to 17.5 million in 2005. This article is a good write up of the history of the DART light rail.

Dallas Morning News: Reflecting on a decade of DART

Another article about the future of the light rail system. Communities such as Carrollton, Farmers Branch, and Rowlett which have been members of DART for many years will see lines extended to their cities. To new lines will also connect Love Field, DFW Airport, Las Colinas, Fair Park, Parkland Memorial Hospital, and Baylor University Medical Center. Construction on the light rail lines will begin this month, mostly moving freight lines and then starting to install to new tracks early next year.

Dallas Morning News: DART turns attention to rail growth