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Transit Truths

Transit in the City of Excellence

Plano Transit

Transit in Plano

Plano has partnered with DART for decades, with purchases within the city's borders contributing $2.2 billion since 1983. Those contributions have made possible the new $2.1 billion Silver Line, the Red/Orange lines, decades of bus service, the largest and most used on-demand GoLink zones, and the first zone-to-zone pilots that have since become permanent.
Plano and Irving city officials have repeatedly asked to remove all buses and replace them with the more expensive on-demand GoLink service, so the transit agency has been trying to balance the demands of the city government and the requests of the people for more frequent buses and trains.

Transit Truth: Via microtransit provides less service at a higher cost

Plano and Irving said they're looking at Via to replace DART. Let's see how they're doing in Arlington.
Subsidy per rider
Via is over 50% more expensive for the city than DART at $17.20 vs $11.36 subsidy per ride.
Via$17.20DART$11.36
($12.7M budget - $1.7M fares) / 639,253 trips = $17.20
Ridership
In the last 3 years Via ridership has decreased by 30% due to increasing costs, meanwhile DART ridership increased by over 10%. DART ridership hit a low in 2020 but has been recovering, currently it is at 83% pre-pandemic, but 98% on weekends. Via ridership is budgeted to fall further in 2026.
Ridership % change from 2023
-31%0%12%202320242025
Trajectory
Via had net losses of $90 million dollars in 2024. Cities will have to pay more to Via in the future if the company is to survive. DART was founded 40 years ago on a 1% on a sales tax revenue model that naturally follows inflation.

Transit Truth: Plano's Contribution vs. Service Value

In 2023 the Plano City Council requested consulting firm EY to analyze contributions by each city compared to the service they receive. Unfortunately, the study leaves out factors that make the results misleading:
  • It excludes the $2.1 billion dollars to construct the Silver Line
  • Because it is 2 years old it doesn't include Silver Line operating costs
  • The model ignores the $674 million dollars of Dallas light rail assets that will be fully depreciated in 2026
  • Ignores the 80s through the early 2000s where the surrounding cities were still small and Dallas sales tax revenue paid for the majority of bus service and rail construction

Transit Truth: Buses vs Uber Lobbyist

Step 1: Plano Repeatedly Appoints Uber Lobbyist
For 10 years Plano city council members appointed an Uber Lobbyist Paul Wageman to the DART board. During that time he has repeatedly pushed to eliminate bus service in favor of more expensive on-demand GoLink service, which contracts with Uber.
Step 2: Uber Lobbyist Pushes for Uber
In this article he says he recuses himself from votes involving Uber. He recused himself very often because he had many conflicts of interest as a lawyer and lobbyist. He also liked to recuse himself from listening to public comments. To indirectly influence the vote, he did threaten to not approve the budget, or push to file legislation cutting DART's budget if he didn't get his way.
Step 3: Plano's Uber Lobbyist and Irving's Mayor allegedly harass women
On top of this, Paul Wageman and Rick Stopfer, Irving's Mayor and DART board rep, caused DART to be sued for verbally harassing female DART employees.
Step 4: Profit?
After telling DART to remove bus routes, Plano and Irving complained about the removal of buses, and then put leaving DART on the May 2026 ballot. After paying off their portion of DART's debts for 10 years they might finally have enough money to pay for the Dallas Mavericks casino in Irving and the Dallas Stars stadium in Plano.

Transit Truth: Routes and Service Requests

Plano city officials requested to receive the following:
  • 25% of the 2024 & 2025 sales tax revenue voters pledged to transit
  • City-wide, single-zone GoLink (on-demand service)
  • Legacy circulator
  • Delay replacement of old buses
  • Provide more a-la-carte options for service within Plano
DART agreed with these modifications:
  • City-wide GoLink coverage, but not single-zone
  • Some buses are past their useful life and need to be replaced, so the purchase will not be delayed
  • Single zone GoLink could not be accomodated due to Title VI service equity issues

Find Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

  • Q: Can we still have trains if we pull out from DART?
  • A: No, all service stops immediately if voters don't choose to stay with DART. Light rail service cannot be provided under DART's current rules, other services could be provided if both DART and the city agree on a price.
  • Q: Do cities have post-DART plans?
  • A: They have concepts of a plan. Plano and Irving have said they are talking to Via Transportation, which operates on-demand vans.
  • Q: What can I do to keep DART in my city?
  • A:
    1. Register to vote
    2. Vote YES to remain in DART in the May 2026 election (and you should vote every May election going forward)
    3. Vote in council members who understand transit
    4. Tell your council members to appoint DART board reps that actually use transit (most don't)
    5. Email your council members or speak in person before a meeting
  • Q: When will this be decided?
  • A: During the May 2026 election. April 20th - April 28th 2026 is early voting and May 2nd is election day.