Community Meeting/Public Hearing Notices

December 2012 Individual and Corporate Fare Restructure

Introduction

• Notice of Public Hearing

• Current and "Proposed" Fare Structure

• Pre-Public Hearing Community Meetings

• Tweet Chat

• Process for Receiving Comments

• Title VI Analysis

DART's Board of Directors is considering a fare change that, if adopted by the Board, would take effect December 3, 2012 with the opening of the Blue Line Extension to Rowlett and Phase 2 of the Orange Line from Las Colinas to Belt Line Station.

An Overview of the Proposed DART Fare Increases for December 2012

All of DART's revenue sources, including local sales taxes and passenger revenue, must grow to continue to sustain the growth in DART's service program. Periodic fare increases are included as a key component of DART's long range Financial Plan. The FY13 fare increase has been part of the adopted financial plans as the next regularly scheduled increase. The effective date coincides with the introduction of the next group of light rail expansions and the beginning of the full deployment of new buses for both regular and Paratransit service. The fare increase will help financially support the continued expansion and maintenance of the existing transit system.

Some of the goals associated with this increase are:

• Balance Peak loads by encouraging additional Off-Peak ridership;
• minimize impact on transit dependent;
• improve system-wide fare consistency; and
• simplify the fare structure.

Major Service Enhancements to be introduced in FY13 include:

• opening of the Orange Line (I-2) and Blue Line to Rowlett;
• new reverse direction bus service to Legacy in Plano and DFW Airport in Irving;
• deployment of the new Smart Bus service, the phased in introduction of the new fullsized CNG bus fleet, and the deployment of the new Paratransit MV fleet;
• customer communication investments on platforms and buses to include expanding safety and security initiatives will be made for FY13.

Summary of key changes to the current fare structure are outlined below. This fare increase will bring to the existing customers and new riders several benefits and enhancements which will improve the riding experience. They are as follows:

• 2-hour Peak fare (pass) replaces single ride fare - allows customers who can go and return within two hours to reduce their cost (replaces bus single-ride fare and LRT 90-minute fare)
• 5-hour mid-day fare allows multiple trips for less than half the price of a day pass today for passengers who have time-flexibility - savings of up to 75%
• Lone Star Card pricing of no greater than 80% of listed fares
• Reductions to the price for CR Zone 1, Express Bus, On-Call, and Flex bus service riders - 28% reduction to single ride/day pass/weekly pass; 30% reduction to monthly and annual passes
• No increase to Paratransit fares
• No increase to CR Zone 2 Day Pass and Weekly pass
• Reduction from three fare classes (Local, System, and Regional) to two fare classes (System and Regional)
• Increase in the Day Pass, Weekly, Monthly and Annual passes

On May 22, 2012, the DART Board of Directors called for a public hearing on DART's fares. Key elements would include:

• reduction to the price for CR Zone 1, Express Bus, On-Call, and Flex bus service
• replacement of single-ride/90-minute fares with a 2-hour pass
• low-cost fares for non rush-hour riders
• unchanged rates for Paratransit, CR Zone 2 day pass and weekly pass fares
• elimination of the Local fare category
• amendments to the Reduced rider eligibility
• restriction of Reduced fare to off-peak hours
• increases to monthly and annual pass costs
• pricing and policy adjustments to the Corporate Fare Program
• potential discount on monthly passes for qualifying Lone Star cardholders

On Tuesday, June 26, DART will hold a public hearing to present suggestions for modifications to a fare structure that remains among the nation's lowest. Public input at this hearing is encouraged and welcomed. Based on the outcome of the hearing, and in accordance with our 20-year Financial Plan, the proposed fare restructure would go into effect in conjunction with system-wide service changes on December 3, 2012.

CURRENT FARE STRUCTURE
Fare Category	Local	System	Regional	Reduced
Single Ride	$1.75	$3.50	$5.00	$0.85
Day Pass	$4.00	$7.00	$10.00	$2.00
7-Day Pass	$20.00	$35.00	$50.00	--
Monthly Pass	$65.00	$100.00	$120.00	$32.00
Annual Pass	$650.00	$1,000.00	$1,200.00	$384.00*
Corporate (Normal SL)	$312.00	$480.00	$576.00	--
Corporate (High SL)	$468.00	$720.00	$864.00	--

* Available to Senior Citizens with valid DART Photo ID only
LOCAL – Good on DART trains and Local buses, FLEX Service along the fixed route
SYSTEM – Good on all DART trains and buses, including FLEX and DART On-Call, Trinity Railway Express between Union Station and CentrePort/DFW Airport Station
REGIONAL – Good on all DART trains and buses, including FLEX and DART On-Call, Trinity Railway Express, the T in Fort Worth, Denton County Transportation Authority trains and buses
REDUCED – Good on all DART, TRE, the T and DCTA services for qualified riders

"PROPOSED" FARE STRUCTURE
Fare Category	System	Regional
2-Hr. Pass	$2.50	$5.00
Day Pass	$5.00	$10.00
7-Day Pass	$25.00	$50.00
Monthly Pass	$80.00	$160.00
Annual Pass	$800.00	$1,600.00
Mid-day 5-Hr. Pass	$1.75☨	$3.50☨
Reduced 2-Hr. Pass	$1.25☨☨	$2.50☨☨
Corporate (Single SL)	$600.00	$1,200.00

☨ These passes would be valid between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday only
☨☨ These passes would be valid between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. and after 7 p.m. weekdays and all day Saturdays and Sundays to eligible Reduced riders
SYSTEM – Good on all DART trains and buses, including FLEX and DART On-Call, Trinity Railway Express between Union Station and CentrePort/DFW Airport Station
REGIONAL – Good on all DART trains and buses, including FLEX and DART On-Call, Trinity Railway Express, the T in Fort Worth, Denton County Transportation Authority trains and buses


In advance of the public hearing, there will be a series of pre-Public Hearing community meetings. These are listed as follows:

DART is also taking to Twitter to encourage more customer feedback on the proposed fare changes. The agency will host a Tweet chat through its @dartmedia Twitter account on Thursday, June 14, from 1 until 2 p.m. Finance and Planning staff will be available to answer questions posted to the page. Follow the conversation using #DARTFareChange. The conversation on Twitter, marked with the hashtag #DARTFareChange, will be tracked and will be included as a part of the official public record regarding the agency's proposed fare changes for 2012.

View the Tweet Chat transcript through 4 p.m., June 14 (opens in a new window)

Process for Receiving Comments: The DART Board of Directors encourages public comments on the night of the public hearing or in writing beforehand. Those desiring to speak should contact DART Community Affairs at 214-749-2543 to register. Advance registration will be accepted until 1 p.m. on the day of the hearing. Those who have not preregistered may sign up immediately before the hearing begins and will be scheduled to speak after those who have preregistered. In addition, written comments received any time before the hearing is adjourned will become a part of the official hearing record. Written comments may be submitted the night of the hearing or mailed in advance to:

Those sending comments should include their name, address and telephone number.

Notice for the hearing and visually impaired: If you wish to attend the Public Hearing and need sign language interpretation, please notify DART at least 24 hours in advance by calling the Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) number: 214-749-3628. A Braille version of materials will also be made available upon request.

For additional information: Please contact DART Community Affairs at 214-749-2543.

• Title VI Fare Change Equity Analysis Evaluation Report (140KB PDF file)
• Title VI Background Information of DART Fare Increase Proposal (2.3MB PDF file)
• Title VI: General Overview and Results of Fare and Service Change Equity Analysis (519KB PDF file)

PDF files open in a new window

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