 the offical newsletter of DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT - Fall 2009 |
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Rail Expansion Arrives with Billions on Board
DART's ongoing light rail buildout is projected to generate more than $4 billion in economic activity and an average of 6,400 jobs annually for the next five years, according to a new study by University of North Texas economists.
The study, conducted for DART by Drs. Terry Clower and Bernard Weinstein of the UNT Center for Economic Development and Research, also projects ongoing transit operations to generate another $663 million in annual economic activity and more than 5,300 jobs."Dallas Area Rapid Transit's light rail operations continue to be one of the best examples of the growing importance of transit, in all modes, to sustainable economic and community development," the researchers said in the study that is available at www.DART.org.
Studies by Weinstein and Clower and additional reports by local officials have identified more than $8 billion in transit-oriented development projects that have opened, are under construction or are planned along DART Rail corridors.
This September, DART is preparing to open the first 2.7 miles of its 45-mile, $3.4 billion light rail system buildout through 2013. The project will double the DART Rail System to more than 90 miles.
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Thomas Honored for Minority Programs
DART President/Executive Director Gary C. Thomas was named 2009 "Executive of the Year" July 14 during the 38th National Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) in Dallas. In honoring Thomas, COMTO officials cited his leadership in the hiring and advancement of minorities, and the steady growth of DART contract opportunities for emerging and historically underutilized businesses. Currently, minorities represent 78% of DART's workforce, including 40% of executives, 47% of managers, 59% of professionals, 63% of police officers and 92% of operators and servicers. Since 2004, DART has awarded more than $680 million in contracts to disadvantaged, minority and women-owned businesses (D/M/WBE), with 30% to 42% of contracts for the light rail expansion awarded to 113 D/M/WBE firms.
DART to the ArtsThe Dallas Center for the Performing Arts - the most significant complex of its kind to be built since New York City's Lincoln Center - opens to the public with a week of free events Oct.12-18. There will be outdoor performances, concerts and public art installations as well as architectural forums and tours of the new Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, and the 10-acre Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park. The $354-million center, which completes the vision of the Dallas Arts District, is a short walk from Pearl Station.
Take a Break with Rosa
North, South, East and West - past and present too - converge at Rosa Parks Plaza, a new transit oasis at Elm and Lamar streets in Dallas' West End. The plaza serves more than 1,400 daily bus customers with sheltered waiting
areas, a drinking fountain, and a peaceful water wall inscribed with words from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech: "... Until justice rolls down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream ..." The words refer to the type of justice that Rosa Parks sought in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat in the front of a segregated bus in Montgomery, Ala. That moment comes to life in the plaza's focal point - a life-size bronze statue of Parks sitting on a bus seat. "This is a very fitting location for this plaza because it was in public transportation that Rosa Parks took that leadership to change things," said U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (left), a staunch supporter of DART who helped dedicate the plaza on June 29. "This is a beautiful plaza - much like Rosa Parks - and it serves as a conduit to bring all people together."DART's ETA on Your PDA
DART's online trip planning is easier than ever with the new Where's My Bus?® application available at m.dart.org. Where's My Bus?® gives customers a near-real time estimate of when their bus will arrive. Customers receive arrival estimates when the bus is within 15 minutes and 5 minutes of their stop, and they can follow the progress of their bus via a Google map. Where's My Bus?® is the newest piece of DART's mobile site, launched in September 2007 to give customers access to bus route and schedule information via web-enabled cell phones and PDAs such as iPhone and Blackberry. Where's My Bus?® can also be accessed from a desktop or laptop computer at m.dart.org.
Level Boarding Sweeps DARTWork is moving quickly on a project to raise rail station platforms to the level of DART's new Super Light Rail Vehicles (SLRVs). The project began in 2008 with renovations to the Pearl, St. Paul, Akard and West End stations in downtown Dallas. Beginning in June, crews have fanned out to raise all other station platforms - a project that will span approximately 540 days. The introduction of SLRVs and level-boarding platforms is designed to enable passengers with disabilities - plus people with strollers, bicycles and the like - to step or roll directly onto the trains without negotiating steps or relying on special mechanical lifts.
New Bus Stops and Shelters Glowing Green
DART's newest bus shelters and stops are brighter and greener thanks to solar-powered lighting. An $8.5 million, five-year project, using a mix of 80 percent federal and 20 percent local funds, will install 177 energy efficient bus shelters annually. DART is also evaluating the success of an initial 78 solar-powered bus stops called I-STOPs that offer security down-lighting, schedule illumination and a rider-signaling device. DART has approximately 700 shelters at its 13,000 bus stops throughout 13 member cities. Every new shelter built from now on will have solar lighting if tree canopy and other factors permit. Existing shelters will be retrofitted so that in five years most will be illuminated with solar power.
Rosie's Big 100th Birthday Bash
Rosie, the M-Line's most storied trolley car, will celebrate her 100th birthday on Saturday, Sept. 26, with a Parade of Trolley Cars along McKinney Avenue beginning at 10 a.m. Rosie was built in the United States but began her service life in Porto, Portugal. She was the first railcar restored by the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority (MATA) and one of three railcars that saw inaugural service on the M-Line in 1989. Rosie's birthday coincides with MATA's 20th anniversary and the 2nd Annual All About Uptown Festival. For more information, visit www.mata.org.
Room for Growth
Commuters pulling into two of DART's outlying transit facilities are enjoying extra elbow room thanks to the expansion of existing parking lots. The parking lot at Parker Road Station has 2,140 spaces - an increase of 585. And Bush Turnpike Station has expanded from 807 spaces to 1,193 - a gain of 386. A similar expansion under way at the Glenn Heights Park & Ride south of Dallas will be completed by the end of September, increasing total parking spaces from 391 to 595. The expansions will help relieve overcrowding that began in the summer of 2008 as gasoline prices skyrocketed to $4 per gallon.Carpoolers Score on Tom Landry
Commuters who share the ride on I-30 West (Tom Landry Highway) have enjoyed quicker trips since July with the opening of DART's new Managed High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane. With the completion of the section between Loop 12 and Sylvan Avenue west of Downtown Dallas, the region has 84 miles of HOV lanes. The I-30 West lane runs from Sylvan to the Dallas/Tarrant County line. The current DART HOV network supports more than 150,000 commuter trips each weekday and plays a vital part in the region's ongoing effort to reduce congestion, automobile emissions and improve air quality. Information on the network is available at www.DART.org/HOV.Return to the Inmotion front page