CTroyMathis
01 January 2003, 04:59 PM
Dec. 25, 2002, 1:48PM
By JIM HENDERSON
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
DALLAS -- It's a problem that no one imagined the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority would ever have.
Too many riders.
When development of light rail lines began 20 years ago, critics and skeptics questioned whether anyone would actually ride the train.
When DART opened its newest, northernmost station in Plano earlier this month, a busload of commuters from Sherman, shuttled 55 miles south by the Texoma Area Paratransit Authority, was turned away.
"What a great problem for us to have," said DART spokesman Morgan Lyons.
For economic and planning reasons, he said, cities and regions that are not members of DART are required to have an agreement before they can bring riders to rail stations and "we have not developed a policy for dealing with non-member cities."
The TAPS bus service, which serves seven counties in North Texas, did not have an agreement. Not only had DART denied it permission to deliver passengers to and from the Parker Road station, the city of Plano has told the agency that it cannot load and unload buses on city streets near the station.
There are several issues involved; not the least is economic. An influx of passengers from non-DART areas -- those that have not contributed to the cost of the system -- could require the agency to purchase additional train cars or increase the frequency of trips. Those costs would be borne largely by DART members, communities that raised their sales tax rate to pay for the service.
Since the Parker Road station opened on Monday, Lyons said, the 1,300-space parking lot has been full every day and rush-hour trains fill up on the first few stops toward downtown Dallas. Allowing an influx of passengers from non-DART cities could strain the system and crowd out commuters who have been paying for DART development since 1983.
Ven Hammonds, executive director of TAPS, has told DART officials that, when allowed, his agency's shuttle buses would make six round trips each weekday, carrying a total of about 75 passengers.
"The issue is not how many people they might be bringing," Lyons said. "They work in our service area and they contribute to the sales tax (which partially funds DART). They also contribute to congestion (if they commute by car). We want to be responsive to that. The issue is letting non-DART agencies access our property. We still have to decide how to accommodate them."
"It's a very legitimate issue," Hammonds said. "We hope to have an agreement with DART soon. We would like to help with the air-quality situation and help decrease congestion on the highways."
Some Dallas suburbs chose not to join DART and other cities, such as Sherman, are ineligible for membership because they are too far away from the rail line or too sparsely populated to pay membership costs.
DART is still working on policies under which outlying areas could have access to the system and the cost they would pay. Besides the Texoma agency, at least four others are preparing to tie into DART.
The Trinity Express, the heavy rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth, has an agreement with nine cities along its route that requires them to pay $775,000 a year to help defray operating costs.
Lyons said that arrangement "could be useful" as a model for DART in dealing with non-member cities, but it is not necessarily the one the agency will adopt.
Hammonds said he hopes the policy DART adopts will distinguish between cities that chose not to join and those that were ineligible for membership -- an issue that he feels could affect the cost of access to the train stations.
Lyons said the issue of access is forcing DART and the entire region to "look more globally at transit solutions," including the possibility of creating a single agency to serve Dallas, Fort Worth and an expanded area of North Texas.
By JIM HENDERSON
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
DALLAS -- It's a problem that no one imagined the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority would ever have.
Too many riders.
When development of light rail lines began 20 years ago, critics and skeptics questioned whether anyone would actually ride the train.
When DART opened its newest, northernmost station in Plano earlier this month, a busload of commuters from Sherman, shuttled 55 miles south by the Texoma Area Paratransit Authority, was turned away.
"What a great problem for us to have," said DART spokesman Morgan Lyons.
For economic and planning reasons, he said, cities and regions that are not members of DART are required to have an agreement before they can bring riders to rail stations and "we have not developed a policy for dealing with non-member cities."
The TAPS bus service, which serves seven counties in North Texas, did not have an agreement. Not only had DART denied it permission to deliver passengers to and from the Parker Road station, the city of Plano has told the agency that it cannot load and unload buses on city streets near the station.
There are several issues involved; not the least is economic. An influx of passengers from non-DART areas -- those that have not contributed to the cost of the system -- could require the agency to purchase additional train cars or increase the frequency of trips. Those costs would be borne largely by DART members, communities that raised their sales tax rate to pay for the service.
Since the Parker Road station opened on Monday, Lyons said, the 1,300-space parking lot has been full every day and rush-hour trains fill up on the first few stops toward downtown Dallas. Allowing an influx of passengers from non-DART cities could strain the system and crowd out commuters who have been paying for DART development since 1983.
Ven Hammonds, executive director of TAPS, has told DART officials that, when allowed, his agency's shuttle buses would make six round trips each weekday, carrying a total of about 75 passengers.
"The issue is not how many people they might be bringing," Lyons said. "They work in our service area and they contribute to the sales tax (which partially funds DART). They also contribute to congestion (if they commute by car). We want to be responsive to that. The issue is letting non-DART agencies access our property. We still have to decide how to accommodate them."
"It's a very legitimate issue," Hammonds said. "We hope to have an agreement with DART soon. We would like to help with the air-quality situation and help decrease congestion on the highways."
Some Dallas suburbs chose not to join DART and other cities, such as Sherman, are ineligible for membership because they are too far away from the rail line or too sparsely populated to pay membership costs.
DART is still working on policies under which outlying areas could have access to the system and the cost they would pay. Besides the Texoma agency, at least four others are preparing to tie into DART.
The Trinity Express, the heavy rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth, has an agreement with nine cities along its route that requires them to pay $775,000 a year to help defray operating costs.
Lyons said that arrangement "could be useful" as a model for DART in dealing with non-member cities, but it is not necessarily the one the agency will adopt.
Hammonds said he hopes the policy DART adopts will distinguish between cities that chose not to join and those that were ineligible for membership -- an issue that he feels could affect the cost of access to the train stations.
Lyons said the issue of access is forcing DART and the entire region to "look more globally at transit solutions," including the possibility of creating a single agency to serve Dallas, Fort Worth and an expanded area of North Texas.