Media Relations Contact:
Morgan Lyons

July 3, 2006

$700 million to help double DART Rail

Department of Transportation approves DART funding

With the stroke of a pen Monday, Federal Transit Administration Deputy Administrator Sandra Bushue set in motion one of the nation's most aggressive rail expansion projects. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Rep. Pete Sessions, DART officials and area business and community leaders joined her.

The announcement of the $700-million Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA), which kick-starts a $2.5-billion expansion that will lead to the doubling of the DART Rail System to 90 miles by 2013, was made at Victory Station at the American Airlines Center. The grant is the largest ever awarded to DART.

The FFGA - in which the federal government makes a commitment to fund a transportation project over a number of years - will support a 21-mile northwest/southeast "connector" linking Farmers Branch and the Pleasant Grove section of Dallas.

When complete in 2010, the Green Line will serve several regional destinations including Deep Ellum, Baylor University Medical Center, Fair Park, Victory Park, the Dallas Market Center, the Southwestern Medical District, Love Field Airport and downtown Farmers Branch.

Additional branches will extend the Green Line to Carrollton and create a new Orange Line serving Las Colinas and DFW International Airport by 2013. Service also will be extended from Garland to Rowlett in 2012. Altogether, the rail extensions are expected to add 60,000 weekday passenger trips, essentially doubling ridership on the DART Rail System.

Ridership on DART's bus and rail network continues to grow. For the eight months ending on May 31, weekday ridership on DART's bus and rail services was up 10.2% over the same period the year before, to 220,553 - nearly 21,000 more riders a day. During that time, DART Rail averaged nearly 61,000 passenger trips each weekday.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison announces the award of a $700 million Full Funding Grant Agreement from the Federal Transit Administration. The grant will be applied to an expansion project that will help DART double its light rail system to 90 miles by 2013. Joining Hutchison at the announcement were (left to right) DART Board Chairman Mark Enoch, Rep. Pete Sessions, DART President/Executive Director Gary Thomas, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson. (Click here to view a high-resolution photo in a new window.) Federal Transit Administration Deputy Administrator Sandra Bashue signs a Full Funding Grant Agreement pledging $700 million in federal funds to support the expansion of DART Rail. Looking on are (left to right) DART Board Chairman Mark Enoch, DART President/Executive Director Gary Thomas, Rep. Pete Sessions, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. (Click here to view a high-resolution photo in a new window.)

Note to editors: Updated rail expansion maps can be downloaded in a high-resolution format at www.DART.org/newsphotos. A schedule of projected opening dates is available at www.DART.org/expansion.