Dallas Transit and Transportation Thread

[redblock]

DART, the transit agency for Dallas and its suburbs is planning a major redesign of its bus operations somewhat like Houston did last August. But instead of making all the changes overnight as Houston did, DART is talking about phasing them in over 10 years.

Here is the article in the Dallas newspaper.

http://transportationblog.dallasnews...erything.html/

[Cirrus]

“It only really matters when you have ice cream,”

Well, that's just an infuriating thing for the newspaper to highlight.

[Qubert]

DART has the benefit of the light rail system serving the hub and spoke market. This will hopefully allow them to focus alot more energy on making more crosstown routes and making them more frequent.

[Urbannizer]

Why Dallas can’t get off its saddle and launch bike share like every other big city

Most big — and small and midsized — American cities have a bike-share program, at least in their downtowns. Dallas does not. And it probably won’t for the foreseeable future for one simple reason: money, or the lack thereof.

The Dallas City Council’s Transportation and Trinity River Project Committee was told Monday afternoon it will cost around $6.1 million to kick-start a bike share program in and around downtown, with spokes reaching all the way to Deep Ellum, The Cedars, the Design District, Victory Park and Uptown. About $2.2 million of that would go toward startup costs — buying 400 bikes to park at 40 stations, for instance. The rest of the money would go toward keeping it upright for about five years, until it became cash-generating (via rentals and ad sales) and self-sustaining.

Downtown Dallas Inc. has spent the last two years trying to raise the money via corporate sponsorships, but hasn’t been able to gain any traction. As such, said the briefing, “it may be necessary to consider alternative public funding options for seed money to advance this program,” including, possibly, bond funds or federal or state grants. Or, perhaps, the city will have to kick in some money.

[Urbannizer]

New bus service launches in Texas with service to 5 cities

Shofur, a luxury bus service, launched Monday in Texas with 12 daily trips serving Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Waco.

Unlike other bus services that own a fleet of coaches, Shofur works with more than 400 companies that operate the buses under the Shofur name, CEO Armir Harris said.

Riders using the Shofur app can buy tickets, check the status of a bus in real time and rate their driver just as they would with a ride-sharing app.

Tickets for travel through Aug. 28 have been sold out, but 10 buses will be added to the Texas fleet beginning Aug. 29, Harris said. Ticket prices will vary, with a ride from Austin to Houston costing $18-$30 and Houston to Dallas priced at $20-$40.

[plutonicpanda]

This was posted in the Dallas thread but figured it deserved to be posted here as well.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/dalla...sion/327354103

[electricron]

Originally Posted by plutonicpanda

This was posted in the Dallas thread but figured it deserved to be posted here as well.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/dalla...sion/327354103

Thet's enough funding to keep both new rail line projects moving forward.
It's still not a commitment to build either new line.

[BrennanW]

If DART pursues both projects, there is a risk DART's credit rating could be downgraded. Hopefully this will not happen, both are good projects. I wish the D2 Subway would not take such a circuitous route through downtown but it is by far the best way forward!

-

I had a question about the Cotton Belt line and how it might interface with the DCTA A-Train in Downtown Carrolton. Might DCTA be able to extend A-Train service to Downtown Carrolton to make an interchange with the Cotton Belt line to DFW? There is lots of existing rail infrastructure in this area so I don't think there would necessarily be a huge EIS to do for this short extension.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by BrennanW

I had a question about the Cotton Belt line and how it might interface with the DCTA A-Train in Downtown Carrolton. Might DCTA be able to extend A-Train service to Downtown Carrolton to make an interchange with the Cotton Belt line to DFW? There is lots of existing rail infrastructure in this area so I don't think there would necessarily be a huge EIS to do for this short extension.

DART owns the rail corridor, so there shouldn't be any problems extending the DCTA line further south to downtown Carrollton. How much it will cost depends upon the condition of the rails and how fast trains can run on them. The most expensive item could be building the DCTA train platform(s).
I'm assuming it will have to be north of the diamond crossing for the BNSF tracks, avoiding FRA and non-FRA trains crossing each other at grade. Which means some sort of passenger bridge crossing will have to be built instead.

[M II A II R II K]

Proposed Dallas Subway Alignments PDF:


http://dart.org/ShareRoot/about/expa...ngsJan2017.pdf