DALLAS, January 21, 2026 — Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) agreed to hold off on issuing new debt until after November elections, following a formal request from DART Board of Directors Chairman Randall Bryant. The promise comes amid pending elections on May 2, where voters in five DART member cities are expected to decide the fate of the agency in their city.

“In an effort to address the concerns raised by DART member cities, I have directed our President & CEO, Nadine Lee, to ensure that no long-term debt issuance requests are brought for DART Board consideration until after the November 2026 election date,” said Randall Bryant, Chairman of the DART Board of Directors. “We welcome feedback from our partners on solutions that benefit all cities while ensuring DART continues to provide critical public transportation services for our residents and communities.”

By law, DART will continue to collect sales tax from cities whose voters choose to leave DART until the city's portion of its statutory obligation is recovered.

“DART will agree to hold off on issuing more debt as North Texas residents head to the polls to vote on DART. Our priority has been to our riders from the outset of this process, and this allows us to release some of the urgency our member cities feel as they make decisions in the coming months.” said Lee. “This will delay some of the scheduled and promised updates the DART staff has been working on, but as good-faith partners in these negotiations, we will honor this compromise.”

DART has received formal requests from three of the five cities with elections on the calendar. Before elections were called, DART, member cities and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) engaged in mediation to find a solution to a series of previous requests from the cities. The next step of that process is for DART to complete a rate study that explores and explains the all-in costs by mode of providing transit services.

About DART

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) provides modern public transit services designed for fast, comfortable, and economical travel. The agency operates light rail, Trinity Railway Express, regional rail, bus routes, GoLink on-demand service, and paratransit, moving more than 171,000 passengers daily across a 700-square-mile, 13-city region including Addison, Carrollton, Cockrell Hill, Dallas, Farmers Branch, Garland, Glenn Heights, Highland Park, Irving, Richardson, Rowlett, Plano, and University Park.