[jtown,man]

One issue I see in the US involving public transit is where ridership falls, agencies RAISE prices to make up for the shortfall. In the private sector they would lower the prices to increase ridership, but not in the static world that is the government.

DART. I think the criticisms are relevant and should be taken seriously. However, there are some facts and hopefully future developments that hasn't soured me on DART:

1. TOD development, definitely north of Dallas, has been tremendous. When we look at how successful a rail system is, I think its important to see how much development has sprung up next to the lines. And not only calculate how much development but to gauge the developments urban qualities vs what would have been built without rail.

2. With the Cotton Belt line being built, even more suburban commuters will be riding rail. Hopefully, this increases ridership going downtown too.

3. When D2 is finally built Dallas will double its amount of light rail stations downtown and increase the amount of land that is within 5 minutes of walking to a station. It will also help with headways.

4. Connecting Dallas's two streetcars will make a singular line which will have much more utility and also add many more streetcar stops in downtown, therefore increasing, just like D2, the number of people downtown within a 5-minute walk to a rail station.

5. The apparent suburban nature of DART today can be seen one of two ways; A total failure or an opportunity. I think if DART starts focusing on the actual city of Dallas(I know the politics of this, but I think it could easily happen) by expanding rail in a smart fashion to serve their central city residents, it will increase ridership, increase density, and overall make Dallas a much more transit-oriented city.

6. Downtown Dallas has barely scratched the surface when it comes to residential construction. Compare Dallas in the last ten years to Austin. Dallas is now beginning to build more residential units downtown and I see no reason why this should slow down. This will increase the density of downtown, add more transit users heading to suburban areas, and create more demand for downtown services. The building of more residential units downtown will also accompany four new parks being built that will greatly increase the attractiveness of downtown and give more reason to get on the train to head down there.

7. HSR. *If* this happens, it will help DART out a lot. Also, it will help spur development in south downtown(most of the development seems to happening in the northern part of downtown.

I think DART is in a slump right now. Maybe it built too much suburban rail too quick. Gas prices are low as crap, the economy is humming along nicely, and lyft and uber are around. However, I think once gas prices go up, lyft and uber begin to charge prices necessary to make a profit, and the economy slows down a bit, you will see rail usage go up and places like Dallas will be thankful they have such a large system in place, and hopefully a system that continues to grow.

One last thing, take a good look at downtown Dallas on googlemaps. It has the land area and enough empty lots to create a wonderful urban environment. It already has a lot of jobs located there...Imagine if they can triple the amount of residents, create a subway line, connect two streetcar lines, and add four new parks while increasing the number of services. Dallas has a LOT of potential, I think that is what keeps me interested in the city. Some cities have it mostly right today(SF, Seattle, NYC, Chicago) and some will never develop into a large urban center for many reasons. Dallas is primed to become much more urban in the next twenty years and I think DART will have a big part in this.