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[Transportation and Infrastructure Committee/ DART Board Special Called Joint Meeting on November 7, 2023.]
AT THIS TIME, AND I'LL PASS IT OVER TO CHAIR SLAGEL TO CALL THE MEETING AS WELL.I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WOULD SPEAK.
ALL RIGHT. WELL, VERY NICE TO BE HERE TODAY.
IT IS 1:08 OR SO, AND I WANT TO CALL THE DART PORTION OF THIS INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE JOINT MEETING TO ORDER.
DURING THIS JOINT MEETING, EXCUSE ME THERE'S ONLY GOING TO BE ONE CHAIR THERE, SO I'M GOING TO MAKE A MOTION TO MOVE THAT CHAIR GRACEY, MYSELF ACT AS THE CHAIR OF THIS JOINT MEETING DURING THIS TIME IN COUNCILMAN OMAR NARVAEZ'S ABSENCE.
DO I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND. MOTION IS MADE SECOND.
SO MOVED. SECOND. MOTION IS MADE.
ALL OPPOSED? ALL RIGHT, WELL, WE'RE GOING TO JUMP TO OUR FIRST BRIEFING ITEM HERE, AND I'M GOING TO HAND IT OVER TO OUR TEAM HERE, DR.
PEREZ AND THE TEAM TO GIVE AN OVERVIEW OF THE DART OPERATIONS UPDATE.
I'LL PASS IT OVER TO YOU. THANK YOU THANK YOU, THANK YOU CHAIR I'LL TAKE IT FROM HERE ROBERT, IF YOU'RE ALL RIGHT WITH THAT, I'M DEE LEGGETT EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER JOINED WITH DART.
CHIEF OF POLICE CHIEF CHARLIE CATO, A FAMILIAR FACE TO THE CITY OF DALLAS.
I ALSO HAVE JEAMY MOLINA, OUR CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER.
LOOK FORWARD TO DISCUSSING SOME THINGS WITH YOU TODAY.
DO YOU WANT TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT FUNDS AND THE DISBURSEMENTS TO DATE, AS IT RELATES TO THE CITY OF DALLAS AND OUR OTHER MEMBER CITIES? TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE FOCUS, WHICH IS CENTERED AROUND SECURITY, RELIABILITY AND CLEANLINESS.
THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT D2 SUBWAY AND STREETCAR, WHICH BASED ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT THE CITY OF DALLAS RAISED, WE'LL ADDRESS THAT AND THEN TALK A LOT ABOUT OUR STRATEGIC PLAN AND KEY INITIATIVES MOVING FORWARD.
NEXT SLIDE. SO IF YOU LOOK AT WHERE WE ARE ON RIDERSHIP, WE ARE STILL AT STILL WORKING TO IMPROVE OUR SYSTEM RIDERSHIP NUMBERS TO MEET PRE-COVID STATUS.
THOSE ARE PRIMARILY DURING THE WEEKENDS, AS WELL AS IN OUR PARATRANSIT AND MICROTRANSIT SERVICE.
AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE MID DAY AND THE WEEKENDS IS INDICATIVE OF NATIONAL TRENDS, WHERE YOU'RE NOT SEEING AS MUCH RETURN TO SERVICE DURING THE PEAK PERIODS, BUT YOU'RE SEEING THE SMOOTHING OF THE PEAKS, WHICH MEANS LESS PEOPLE ARE DOING THE TRADITIONAL WORKDAY TRIPS INTO AND OUT OF THE CITY OF DALLAS.
OUR FOURTH QUARTER NUMBERS ARE ACTUALLY HIGHER THAN THAT, WHICH SEEMS TO INDICATE WE ARE ON THE PATH TO RIDERSHIP RECOVERY, JUST RECOVERY IN A DIFFERENT WAY FROM OUR PRE-PANDEMIC TRAVEL PATTERNS. NEXT SLIDE.
COG, ALONG WITH DART, DCTA AND TRINITY METRO, HAVE CONDUCTED AN ON-BOARD TRANSIT STUDY.
WE'VE RECEIVED PRELIMINARY DATA AND ARE CURRENTLY REVIEWING THAT, AND THIS INFORMATION WILL NOW SERVE AS THE BASIS FOR SERVICE PLANNING AND RIDERSHIP PROJECTIONS FOR ALL FUTURE CAPITAL PLANNING PROJECTS.
WE'VE APPROVED OVER $74 MILLION OF THE PROJECTS WERE THE PROJECTS SUBMITTED BY THE CITY OF DALLAS.
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ADDITIONALLY, WE HAVE PAID $10 MILLION TO THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS TO HELP FUND THE FIVE MILE CREEK PROJECT.OVERALL, WE'VE DISBURSED $26.8 MILLION TO ALL OF OUR 13 CITIES.
THERE'S A FEW REIMBURSEMENT REQUESTS PENDING FOR DISTRIBUTION THIS FRIDAY, AND THERE'S FIVE CITIES THAT HAVE FULLY COMMITTED 100% OF THEIR FUNDS TO PLANNED PROJECTS. NEXT SLIDE.
NEXT SLIDE. SO AS I MENTIONED, DART HAS A FOCUSED EFFORT OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS ON SECURITY, CLEANLINESS AND RELIABILITY. THESE ARE TOP ISSUES THAT OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE RAISED.
CHIEF CATO AND I WILL DISCUSS SOME OF THOSE INITIATIVES, BUT THE BOARD ALLOCATED LAST OCTOBER $110 MILLION TO THESE INITIATIVES THAT REALLY ADDRESS THESE ISSUES.
SO WE'LL START FIRST WITH SECURITY AND WE'LL TURN THAT OVER TO CHIEF.
GOOD AFTERNOON CHAIR. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
THEY RIDE OUR SYSTEM MAINLY THE TRAINS, BUT THEY DO RIDE BUSSES AND THEY PATROL THE PLATFORMS. WE ALSO, TO INCREASE OUR VISIBILITY, WE'VE HIRED 21 OF OUR VACANT POSITIONS.
WE HIRED THIS LAST FISCAL YEAR AS WELL FOR POLICE OFFICERS.
WE'VE UPGRADED. WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF UPGRADING OUR SECURITY CAMERAS, OUR CCTV VIDEO MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, AND INTEGRATING ALL THE TRAINS, THE BUSSES AND THE PLATFORMS INTO ONE OVERALL VIDEO MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
AND THAT'S GOING TO BE A LONGER TERM PROJECT, BUT IT HAS BEGUN.
WE'VE INCREASED OUR COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.
WE'VE PARTNERED WITH PROJECT UNITY FOR A COUPLE OF THEIR EVENTS.
TOGETHER WE DINE AND TOGETHER WE BALL.
AND SO WE ALSO ADOPTED A BACK TO SCHOOL, TC MARSH MIDDLE SCHOOL.
AND WE'RE ALSO INVOLVED IN THE SANTA COPS PROGRAM.
WE'VE INITIATED SOME HIGH VISIBILITY ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVES, WHICH MEANS WE TAKE OUR [INAUDIBLE] ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND POLICE OFFICERS AND GO OUT TO TARGETED LOCATIONS THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED THROUGH OUR CRIME STATISTICS, CRIME DATA THAT HAVE ISSUES.
IT'S A DATA DRIVEN APPROACH TO RESPONSE TO CRIME AND TRAFFIC SAFETY OR THE SAFETY OF THE SYSTEM.
ON A PROJECT CALLED DART CARES, IT'S MODELED AFTER THE RIGHT CARE PROGRAM THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE HERE IN THE CITY OF DALLAS, WHERE WE'RE GOING TO PARTNER A POLICE OFFICER, A PARAMEDIC AND A BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CLINICIAN.
AND SO I JUST GOT WORD TODAY TALKING TO CHIEF [INAUDIBLE] REPRESENTATIVES THAT FROM THE CITY, THE DALLAS FIRE RESCUE THAT WE'RE GOING TO START NEXT TUESDAY IT'LL BE OUR FIRST DAY OF OPERATION IN THE FIELD.
BUT WE WANT TO USE A COLLABORATIVE CARE APPROACH TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF HOMELESS IN SHELTER SEEKING RIDERS AND PEOPLE WITH BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CONCERNS, AS WELL AS REDUCE THE NUMBER OF CALLS FOR SERVICE THAT WE MAKE TO EMS SERVICES.
YEAH. AND TO HIGHLIGHT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CHIEF SPOKE ABOUT DART CARES.
IT'S OUR UNDERSTANDING THAT DART IS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE FIRST TRANSIT AGENCIES IN THE NATION TO TAKE THIS THREE PRONGED APPROACH TO ADDRESSING MENTAL HEALTH ON OUR SYSTEM, SO WE'RE REALLY PROUD OF THIS INITIATIVE.
THE OTHER THING WE'RE PROUD OF IS THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING WITH OUR CLEAN TEAM.
WE HAVE STEPPED UP CLEANING AT OUR BUS STOPS, OUR RAIL STATIONS AND OUR TRANSIT FACILITIES.
NEXT SLIDE. WE ARE ALSO FOCUSING ON CLEANLINESS OF OUR LIGHT RAIL VEHICLES AND BUSSES.
WE FIRST LAUNCHED IT AS A PILOT PROJECT.
WE'VE NOW MADE THAT PERMANENT BECAUSE IT WAS SO SUCCESSFUL BASED ON CUSTOMER FEEDBACK, WE HAVE TRANSITIONED OUR SEATS ON OUR BUSSES FROM CLOTH TO VINYL, AND ARE IN THE PROCESS OF PROCURING A VENDOR TO DO THE SAME FOR OUR TRAIN.
NEXT SLIDE. WE ALSO WANTED TO FOCUS ON RELIABILITY, AND THAT STARTED WITH THE LAUNCH OF OUR BUS NETWORK REDESIGN IN JANUARY OF 2022, WHICH REALLY FOCUSED ON IMPROVING FREQUENCY AND EXPANDING THE COVERAGE OF OUR GOLINK SERVICE.
UNFORTUNATELY, WE WERE HIT WITH DRIVER SHORTAGES, WHICH FORCED US TO REDUCE THAT LEVEL OF SERVICE.
THE GOAL THE BOARD ESTABLISHED A GOAL FOR STAFF TO GET BACK TO FULL STAFFING BY JANUARY OF 2023.
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99% OF OUR TRIPS.WITH THAT COMES AGING INFRASTRUCTURE.
WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IMPROVEMENTS NEED TO BE MADE TO THAT INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO WE'RE DOING A 100% BASELINE ASSESSMENT OF ALL OF OUR ASSETS TO INFORM AND HELP US PRIORITIZE, REPAIR, REPLACE AND MODERNIZATION DECISIONS FOR OUR ASSETS. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
NEXT SLIDE. SO NOW I WANT TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE D2 SUBWAY AND DART'S DECISION TO REPROGRAM THE D2 FUNDS FROM THE FY 24 FINANCIAL PLAN.
I WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE LANGUAGE THAT'S IN THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT THAT HELPS INFORM DART'S PLANNING DECISIONS AS IT RELATES TO D2, AND THEN TALK ABOUT HOW WE'RE GOING TO REPROGRAM THOSE TO MEET SOME MORE IMMEDIATE NEAR TERM AND MID-TERM SYSTEM AND MOBILITY NEEDS.
NEXT SLIDE. TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT OF THE PLANNING HISTORY, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH THE CITY OF DALLAS, DOWNTOWN DALLAS INC, AND DEVELOPERS ON D2 PLANNING, LARGELY SINCE 2007.
AND THE BIGGEST WAS THE CHANGES IN THE ALIGNMENT.
AND I WOULD SAY THE LAST FIVE YEARS THAT SLOWED OUR PROGRESS IN THE FEDERAL FUNDING PATH.
WE WERE GOING AFTER CORE CAPACITY GRANTS.
CORE CAPACITY IS VERY FOCUSED ON MEASURES OF RIDERSHIP DURING THE PEAK PERIODS IT'S BUILDING.
IT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS, BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF A CORE SERVICE, WHICH ARE ALL FOUR OF OUR ALIGNMENTS RUNNING THROUGH DOWNTOWN, DEFINES A CORE SERVICE, BUT IT'S VERY FOCUSED ON ON RIDERSHIP CAPACITY.
SO WHEN WE HAD DELAYS IN THE PLANNING PROCESS THAT EXCEEDED THE FEDERAL TIME FRAME, THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION REMOVED US FROM THE THE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, WHICH CAUSED US TO HAVE TO DO SOME RESETS.
THIS ALSO HAPPENED RIGHT AROUND THE SAME TIME AS THE COVID PANDEMIC, WHICH THEN HAS RESULTED IN CHANGES IN RIDERSHIP PATTERNS. SO WE ARE NOW AT A POINT WHERE WE REALLY NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE RIDERSHIP NEEDS ARE POST-PANDEMIC AND ALSO WORK WITH THE CITY OF DALLAS AND DOWNTOWN DALLAS INC TO UNDERSTAND THE CHANGING PRIORITIES OF DOWNTOWN TO DETERMINE WHEN D2 MIGHT MAKE SENSE.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT ELEMENT TO CONSIDER WHEN WE TALK ABOUT RIDERSHIP IS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE MASTER ILA SAYS AS IT RELATES TO TRIGGERS OF WHEN D2 NEEDS TO BE IMPLEMENTED. OUR 1990 ILA WITH THE CITY OF DALLAS IDENTIFIED WHEN WE WOULD COMMIT TO CONSTRUCT A SUBWAY.
THOSE COMMITMENTS ARE BASED ON RIDERSHIP, HEADWAYS, AND FUNDING.
THE RIDERSHIP TRIGGERS ARE SHOWN ON THIS SCREEN, WHICH MEANS WE WOULD NEED TO SEE AN AVERAGE LOAD OF 180% OF SEATED CAPACITY ON THREE CAR TRAINS POST-PANDEMIC, DART'S CURRENTLY JUST RUNNING TWO CAR TRAINS.
AND IF YOU COMPARE THIS 181% OF SEATED CAPACITY TO WHERE WE ARE CURRENTLY, WE'RE RUNNING TWO CAR TRAINS AT 50 TO A 100% CAPACITY.
THIS IS NOT EVEN HALF OF THE 8,000 PASSENGER TRIGGER REQUIRED IN THE ILA.
ADDITIONALLY, THIS ILA IS IN OUR FINANCIAL PLAN, ASSUMES FEDERAL PARTICIPATION BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE FEDERAL PROGRAM AND BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A CLEAR PATHWAY TO FEDERAL FUNDING, THERE WERE ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES TO CONTINUING TO ADVANCE THIS PROJECT.
SO THE FY 23 FINANCIAL PLAN ASSUMED A 2035 REVENUE SERVICE DATE.
ADDITIONALLY, THE FINANCIAL PLAN OF FY 23 ASSUMED $2.3 BILLION ESTIMATE THAT INCLUDED BOTH DEBT ISSUANCE AND EXTERNAL GRANTS, AND IT ASSUMED $4 MILLION IN OPERATING COSTS.
DART'S DECISION TO REPROGRAM D2 REFLECTS WHAT A LOT OF OUR PEER AGENCIES ARE FACING.
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RIDERSHIP NEEDS, AS DEMONSTRATED IN OUR RIDERSHIP RESULTS THAT I WALKED YOU THROUGH EARLIER WE'RE NOT SEEING THE RETURN TO TRAVEL ON DART SYSTEM IN THE PEAK PERIODS.WE'RE SEEING TRAVEL THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND ON THE WEEKENDS THAT DOES NOT CREATE CAPACITY NEEDS DURING THE PEAK PERIODS, WHICH D2 WAS INTENDED TO ADDRESS.
WE RECOGNIZE THAT WORK FROM HOME TRENDS, GROWING REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT CENTERS OUTSIDE OF DALLAS, AND THE CHANGING NATURE OF DEVELOPMENT IN DOWNTOWN DALLAS ALSO REQUIRES US TO REVISIT HOW WE INVEST IN HOW PASSENGERS MOVE THROUGH AND THROUGHOUT THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
WE OPTED TO PURSUE LESS CAPITAL INTENSIVE INITIATIVES, SUCH AS SYSTEM MODERNIZATION AND BUS CORRIDOR INVESTMENTS THAT CAN ACHIEVE A LOT OF THE SIMILAR MOBILITY GOALS OF D2.
WE THINK THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DISCUSSIONS WITH THE CITY OF DALLAS TO REIMAGINE HOW TRANSIT SERVICE IS PROVIDED IN THE CITY OF DALLAS, AND HOW WE CAN PROVIDE BROADER CONNECTIVITY TO OUR SUBURBAN CITIES, AND HOW WE CAN BETTER CREATE DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES THAT NOT ONLY SERVE DOWNTOWN, BUT PROVIDE ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR RIDERSHIP GROWTH THAT MAY ULTIMATELY RESULT IN THOSE TRIGGERS BEING MET.
WE CONTINUE TO HAVE FUNDS IN THE FY 24 FINANCIAL PLAN TO ADVANCE DOWNTOWN CAPACITY PLANNING.
WE RETAINED $500,000 ORIGINALLY PROGRAMED FOR D2 TO FUND THIS EFFORT, AND FURTHERMORE, WE'LL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE RIDERSHIP TRIGGERS AND WILL MAKE FINANCIAL PLAN ADJUSTMENTS WHEN IT APPEARS WE ARE CLOSE TO WARRANTING FURTHER INVESTMENT IN D2.
NEXT SLIDE. DART STAFF AND CITY STAFF RECENTLY BRIEFED COUNCIL ON THE CITY OF DALLAS STREETCAR.
RIDERSHIP CURRENTLY AVERAGES ABOUT 500 RIDERS PER DAY.
WEEKENDS AND WEEKDAYS ARE VERY SIMILAR IN TERMS OF RIDERSHIP PATTERNS.
WE ARE CURRENTLY OPERATING AT 95%.
THIS IS ACTUALLY HIGHER THAN THAN MANY OF OUR OTHER SERVICES.
WE HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH MISSED TRIP.
THERE WAS ALSO A DISCUSSION ABOUT DART'S O&M CONTRIBUTIONS AS IT RELATES TO THE STREETCAR.
THE MASTER ILA OUTLINES THOSE COMMITMENTS, AND DART'S FUNDING WAS LARGELY ESTABLISHED ON THE BASE LEVEL OF SERVICE OUTLINED IN THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION TIGER GRANT. WE ARE COMMITTED TO PAY 692,000 IN THE CURRENT YEAR BUDGET TO MAINTAIN THE MINIMUM LEVEL OF SERVICE, AND THIS GOES THROUGH 2040. NEXT SLIDE.
SO NOW LET'S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR OUR STRATEGIC PLAN AND OUR FUTURE INITIATIVES.
BECAUSE AS I MENTIONED IN THE REPROGRAMING OF THE D2 FUNDS, A LOT OF THE INTENT OF D2 WE CAN ACHIEVE WITH LESS INFRASTRUCTURE INTENSIVE PROGRAMS. AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO.
WE'RE LOOKING TO MORE QUICKLY IMPLEMENT NEAR TERM AND MID TERM SOLUTIONS THAT CAN BENEFIT OUR CUSTOMERS WITHIN THE CITY OF DALLAS AND BENEFIT OUR BROADER REGIONAL CUSTOMERS AS WELL. SO I'M GOING TO TALK THROUGH SOME OF THOSE PROGRAMS. FIRST, I WANT TO WALK YOU THROUGH OUR DRAFT STRATEGIC PLAN.
THEN I'LL TALK ABOUT OUR MOBILITY PLUS PROGRAM, OUR TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES, SYSTEM MODERNIZATION AREA PLANS, WHICH IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY TALK THROUGH THE UNIQUE NEEDS TO THE CITY OF DALLAS AND THEN SEAMLESS INTEGRATION OF SERVICES AND MODES.
SO OUR STRATEGIC PLAN, TO PUT SIMPLY, IT'S DEFINING WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE WE WANT TO GO.
POINT A IS WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
SO FOR US TO ACHIEVE OUR DESTINATION, IT'S GOING TO TAKE BOTH AN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FOCUS.
INTERNAL OBVIOUSLY, IS WHAT WE CAN DO AS AN AGENCY TO IMPROVE OUR OPERATIONS, IMPROVE HOW OUR EMPLOYEES FEEL ABOUT THE WORK THAT THEY ARE DOING IN OUR COMMUNITIES.
ALSO, WE HAVE COMMUNITIES, WE HAVE STAKEHOLDERS.
HOW DO WE CREATE SPACES IN OUR COMMUNITY THAT CREATE EXCITEMENT, CREATE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY? HOW DO WE CREATE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS TO FURTHER LEVERAGE NOT ONLY WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE FROM AN ECONOMIC AND MOBILITY PERSPECTIVE, BUT WHAT OUR PARTNERS WANT TO ACHIEVE AS WELL. NEXT SLIDE.
ONE OF OUR INITIATIVES FOCUSED ON QUALITY IS SYSTEM MODERNIZATION.
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AS I MENTIONED OUR SYSTEM IS REACHING 40 YEARS OLD.AND HONESTLY, SOME OF OUR SYSTEM PREDATES DART BECAUSE IT WAS PART OF THE ORIGINAL TRANSIT SYSTEM.
PLUS WE'VE GOT TRINITY RAILWAY EXPRESS, WHOSE VEHICLES NEED TO BE REPLACED OR OVERHAULED .
WE NEED TO UPGRADE OUR SIGNALING SYSTEM TO MATCH THE SIGNALING SYSTEM USED ON THE GREEN AND ORANGE LINES, WHICH ARE NEWER SYSTEMS. AND WHILE WE'RE DOING THIS, THIS IS ONE OF THE AREAS WHERE WE'D REALLY LIKE TO LOOK AT.
HOW DO WE IMPROVE THE JUNCTIONS MOVING INTO DOWNTOWN? CAN WE MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO HOW TRAINS MOVE THROUGH THE MAIN STREET MALL TO GET ADDITIONAL SPEED AND RELIABILITY THROUGH THAT AREA, WHICH THEN COULD CREATE THE CAPACITY WE'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE WITHOUT HAVING TO BUILD D2.
WE ALSO, WHETHER IT'S WINTER WEATHER OR EXTREME HEAT, WE RECOGNIZE THAT EXTREME TEMPERATURES HAVE AN IMPACT ON OUR SYSTEM AND AN IMPACT ON NOT ONLY OUR OPERATORS, BUT ALSO OUR OPERATIONS.
WE ALSO WANT TO LOOK AT HOW DO WE UPGRADE OUR STATIONS AND AMENITIES TO ADDRESS CHANGING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY, TO ADDRESS LEVEL BOARDING FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO ALL, AND THEN MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ADDRESSING ALL OF OUR CUSTOMER NEEDS AND CONSIDERING THE WHOLE CUSTOMER JOURNEY, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT HOW OUR CUSTOMERS USE OUR SYSTEM, WE'RE NOT JUST LOOKING AT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY BOARD THE BUS OR THE TRAIN, BUT WE'RE CONSIDERING THEIR ENTIRE JOURNEY TO THE STATION OR TO THE BUS STOP. WE ALSO NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR OPERATING FACILITIES NOT ONLY ADDRESS THE PAIN POINTS, SO WE CAN OPERATE AND MAINTAIN OUR FLEET MORE EFFICIENTLY, BUT ARE SUSTAINABLE AND OUR FUTURE PROOFED FOR CHANGING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGIES.
NEXT SLIDE. THE PHASE NETWORK, THE BUS NETWORK REDESIGN IN JANUARY 2022 WAS REALLY OUR FIRST STEP AT ADVANCING MORE SEAMLESS, FREQUENT TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS FOR OUR RESIDENTS.
WE ARE NOW WE'RE NOW FURTHER ADVANCING THAT REALLY FOCUSED ON THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY TO NOT ONLY LOOK AT THE MODES THAT DART OPERATES, BUT HOW WE CAN OPERATE AND PARTNER WITH OTHER MODES, WHETHER IT'S PARTNERSHIPS WITH UBER TO EXPAND THE FOOTPRINT OF GOLINK OR PARTNERING WITH OTHER MICRO-MOBILITY PROVIDERS AND ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION.
YOU CAN SEE THIS DESIRE TO ADVANCE THE SEAMLESS, TOTAL JOURNEY APPROACH THROUGH VARIOUS INITIATIVES OUR SERVICE EXPANSION, OUR CORRIDOR INVESTMENTS, WHICH I'LL TALK ABOUT IN A MINUTE, IMPROVEMENTS TO PASSENGER AMENITIES, OPERATING FACILITIES AND OUR FARE STUDY, WHICH SHOULD BE COMPLETE EARLY NEXT YEAR.
NEXT SLIDE. I THINK OUR COMMITMENT TO SEAMLESS, FREQUENT, CONVENIENT SERVICE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS IS BEST SEEN IN THE ADVANCEMENTS AND THE INVESTMENTS THAT OUR BOARD IS WILLING TO MAKE IN EXPANDING OUR BUS SERVICE.
WE ARE ALREADY STARTING TO IMPLEMENT THE NEXT PHASE OF OUR BUS NETWORK REDESIGN IN THE FY 24 BUDGET.
WE'VE INVESTED OVER 68,000 ADDITIONAL REVENUE HOURS INTO OUR BUSSES.
EXTENDED COVERAGE OF ROUTE 207 NEAR LOVE FIELD AND STEMMONS CORRIDOR TO INCLUDE THE DALLAS COUNTY ELECTIONS AND MORE FREQUENT SERVICE ON THE HEAVILY USED SEGMENT BETWEEN FOREST LANE STATION AND FOREST JUPITER STATION.
WE'RE ALSO EXPANDING ZONE TO ZONE PILOTS ON GOLINK.
GOLINK IS PROVEN TO BE ONE OF OUR MOST SUCCESSFUL SERVICE LAUNCHES TO DATE, AND WE'VE EXPANDED THE FREQUENCY ON OUR LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM ON THE WEEKEND TO 20 MINUTES FROM 6 A.M.
NEXT SLIDE. WE ALSO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MAXIMIZING DART FACILITIES TO MEET THE CHANGING MOBILITY NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITIES, WHICH MEANS TRANSITIONING A LOT OF OUR TRANSIT CENTERS TO WHAT WE'RE CALLING MOBILITY HUBS.
IT'S BUS STOPS, IT'S BUS SHELTERS.
YOU COULD INCLUDE CHARGING STATIONS FOR EV ALONG WITH CAR SHARE PARKING.
BUT THIS IS JUST A SNAPSHOT OF WHAT MOBILITY HUBS CAN BE.
WE ACTUALLY WANT TO WORK WITH OUR CITIES TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S POSSIBLE IN EACH COMMUNITY.
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NEXT SLIDE. PART OF THE SEAMLESS JOURNEY FOR OUR CUSTOMER REALLY NEEDS TO LOOK AT HOW WE ENHANCE SPEED AND RELIABILITY FOR OUR BUS CORRIDORS.SO WE ARE ADVANCING WHAT WE'RE CALLING THE PROGRAM CORE, WHICH IS CORRIDOR OPTIMIZATION AND RIDER EXPERIENCE, WHICH IS AN ADDED FOCUS TO PROVIDING ALMOST BUS RAPID TRANSIT LIKE TREATMENTS IN KEY CORRIDORS.
BASED ON OUR EVALUATION WE CURRENTLY BELIEVE THERE'S ABOUT 21 BUS STOPS IN THE CITY OF DALLAS THAT COULD BENEFIT FROM ADDITIONAL INVESTMENTS IN THE CORRIDOR, AND WE REALLY APPRECIATED DALLAS CITY STAFF'S AS THEY WORKED THROUGH HOW THEY WOULD USE THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT FUNDS.
A LOT OF THOSE INVESTMENTS, WHETHER IT'S SIDEWALKS, ADA RAMPS OR TRAFFIC SIGNAL PRIORITIZATION, WILL HELP US ADVANCE MANY OF THOSE KEY INITIATIVES IN THESE PRIORITY CORRIDORS. OTHER BUS CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENTS THAT I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT INCLUDE THE INSTALLATION OF 250 NEXT GENERATION BUS STOPS, 455 NEXT GENERATION BENCHES, AND 300 FREESTANDING LIGHTS AT OUR BUS STOPS.
NEXT SLIDE. FANTASTIC SPACES SOUNDS JUST LIKE IT SAYS, CREATING FANTASTIC SPACES IN OUR COMMUNITIES.
AND WE ARE ALREADY DOING THAT WITH A LOT OF TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT.
WE'VE CATALYZED OVER $16 BILLION IN INVESTMENT IN AND AROUND OUR TRANSIT STATIONS.
WE'RE ALREADY PARTNERING WITH THE CITY OF DALLAS ON SEVERAL JOINT DEVELOPMENTS ALONG WITH OTHER MEMBER CITIES, AND WE THINK THERE'S A REALLY GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE FURTHER DISCUSSIONS TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE BEST CAN CREATE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC VALUE AROUND DART'S ASSETS.
NEXT SLIDE. ONE EXAMPLE WHERE WE'RE ALREADY DOING THAT IS WE APPLIED RECENTLY FOR A AREAS OF PERSISTENT POVERTY GRANT THROUGH THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION.
THIS AWARD WILL ALLOW US TO PLAN FOR A NEW RED BIRD TRANSIT FACILITY MOBILITY HUB, POTENTIALLY A NEW TOD CONCEPT PLAN AT THE EXISTING REDBIRD TRANSIT CENTER SITE, AND POTENTIALLY A NEW EAST DALLAS TRANSIT FACILITY MOBILITY HUB.
NEXT SLIDE. I'LL WRAP THIS UP BY TALKING ABOUT STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS.
DART RECOGNIZES THAT WE CAN'T ADVANCE OUR GOALS WITHOUT ESTABLISHING RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR SERVICE AREA, CITIES, AND PRIVATE PARTNERS, AND OUR OTHER TRANSIT AGENCIES IN THE REGION.
AND DART LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU AND ALONGSIDE YOU TO ALIGN MUTUAL OBJECTIVES, TO LEVERAGE FEDERAL FUNDS AND CREATE MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOW WE MOVE PEOPLE MORE EFFICIENTLY.
AND THAT REQUIRES IN SOME CASES FOR US TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE WAY PEOPLE MOVE AND THE MOBILITY PRIORITIES IN DALLAS ARE GOING TO BE DIFFERENT THAN THE MOBILITY PRIORITIES IN PLANO, RICHARDSON, IRVING OR GLENN HEIGHTS.
SO WE ARE CREATING CUSTOMIZED AREA PLANS WITH ALL OF OUR 13 CITIES.
OBVIOUSLY, DALLAS BEING AS AS LARGE AS IT IS, WILL REQUIRE MULTIPLE SUB AREA PLANS, LIKELY 4 OR 5 DIFFERENT SUB COMPONENTS TO THAT AREA PLAN, BUT WE'RE MEETING ONE ON ONE WITH THE CITY.
AND WE'RE JUST NOW KICKING THAT OFF WITH THE CITY OF DALLAS.
AND WE THINK THERE'S A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP ADVANCE NOT ONLY WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE AS A TRANSIT AGENCY, BUT WHAT THE CITY WANTS TO ACHIEVE FROM A MOBILITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE.
AND WITH THAT, WE WILL BE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
AND I FAILED TO GIVE YOU A PROPER INTRODUCTION WHEN EVERYTHING WAS HAPPENING REAL FAST.
SO I WANT TO THANK YOU, DEANNA LEGGETT AND CHIEF CATO.
GOOD TO SEE YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
AT THIS TIME, I'M GOING TO OPEN IT UP FOR QUESTIONS.
I'M GOING TO START WITH OUR GUESTS.
SO I'M GOING TO LOOK THIS WAY AND WE'LL WORK OUR WAY AROUND.
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SO IF YOU ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, FINE.IF NOT, I'LL START WITH ONE QUESTION HERE.
OH. WHERE ARE YOU GOING? NO, IT'S GOOD.
ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU COUNCILMAN.
MISS LEGGETT, THANK YOU FOR THAT THOROUGH PRESENTATION.
THERE'S ONE TOPIC THAT YOU KNOW IS NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART.
AND THAT YOU'RE ALSO VERY WELL VERSED IN.
I DON'T KNOW, I'M READY FOR IT, THOUGH.
ALL RIGHT. WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE IDEA THAT A DOLLAR INVESTED IN PUBLIC TRANSIT GIVES US A FAR GREATER RETURN BENEFIT THAN A DOLLAR INVESTED IN EXPANDING A FREEWAY.
AND AS YOU KNOW, THERE ARE WAYS TO THERE ARE VENUES TO ENCOURAGE OR REDIRECT MIGHT BE TOO STRONG OF A WORD SOME OF THE FEDERAL MONEY INTENDED FOR FREEWAYS EXPANSION TO INSTEAD EXPAND THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN PUBLIC TRANSIT.
COULD YOU ELABORATE ON THAT TOPIC A LITTLE BIT? AND ALSO, TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU'RE AT LIBERTY TO DO SO, CAN YOU SHARE ON SOME OF THE VERY PRELIMINARY CONVERSATIONS THAT YOU'VE HAD WITH DOT IN WASHINGTON? SURE. SO WHAT YOU'RE SPEAKING TO IS FLEXING HIGHWAY DOLLARS TO FUND TRANSIT AND, YOU KNOW, TO GIVE KUDOS TO THIS REGION.
THEY HISTORICALLY ARE PRETTY, PRETTY SUCCESSFUL AT FLEXING THOSE FUNDS FROM REGIONAL FROM FHWA TO FTA.
AND FTA IS ENCOURAGING MORE AND MORE TRANSIT AGENCIES TO PURSUE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES.
SO WE HAVE HELD MEETINGS WITH BOTH COG, FTA AND THEN INCLUDING THE STATE DOT, BECAUSE THEY WOULD NEED TO BE INVOLVED IN THE FLEXING OF THOSE FUNDS TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN USE A LOT OF THOSE ADDITIONAL FUNDS TO FUND SYSTEM MODERNIZATION.
SYSTEM MODERNIZATION IS NOT SOMETHING THAT IS EVIDENTLY ELIGIBLE FOR A LOT OF FEDERAL GRANTS BECAUSE FEDERAL GRANTS ARE FOCUSED ON CORE CAPACITY IMPROVEMENTS, I.E.
D2 OR SYSTEM EXPANSION, SIMILAR TO HOW WE FUNDED THE GREEN LINE EXPANSION.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO BE CREATIVE AS WE PACKAGE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR SYSTEM MODERNIZATION AND FIGURING OUT HOW WE CAN DO THAT THROUGH THE LENS OF THE DIFFERENT FEDERAL PROGRAMS. AND THE FLEXING OF FUNDS IS ONE THAT WE'RE ACTIVELY PURSUING.
THANK YOU MS. LEGGETT. THANK YOU, MR. VICE CHAIR. MR. CHAIR. SORRY. WE'LL START WITH COUNCILMEMBER WEST.
THANK YOU CHAIR. APPRECIATE YOU BRINGING THIS TO THE COMMITTEE.
AND I WANTED TO JUST THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
NOTICE ON SLIDE 25, YOU MENTIONED YOUR AREA PLAN WORK WITH THE DIFFERENT CITIES.
AND WE DON'T HAVE TO GET INTO THAT TODAY.
BUT I DID WANT TO ASK YOU ON THE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT WORK.
I THINK WE HAVE IS IT FIVE SITES THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY? CAN YOU GIVE ME AN UPDATE ON THAT? AND THEN MY FOLLOW UP QUESTION TO DART IS, HAVE YOU DONE AN ANALYSIS OF YOUR RIDERSHIP POSSIBILITIES BASED ON THE INCREASED DENSITY THAT'S GOING TO BE AT THESE TOD'S NOW AND FOR FUTURE TOD'S? SO I'LL START WITH THE UPDATE.
HONORABLE CHAIR, MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE AND BOARD.
COUNCILMAN WEST IT'S ACTUALLY PART OF THE CITY PRESENTATION.
BUT WE CAN GIVE YOU SOME MORE DETAILS IN THE CITY PRESENTATION IF THAT'S OKAY.
SO THE ANSWER IS NO, WE HAVE NOT WE HAVE NOT DONE A RECENT FORECAST BASED ON CHANGES IN DENSITY BECAUSE WE'VE WAITED ON THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS RIDERSHIP SURVEY.
SO NOW THAT WE HAVE THAT DATA, WE CAN THEN USE THAT TO ADVANCE RIDERSHIP PROJECTIONS.
BUT WE WOULD NEED TO WORK THROUGH WITH THE CITY OF DALLAS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE REFLECTING WHAT THE ANTICIPATED DENSITY CHANGES WOULD BE, BECAUSE THE CURRENT PROJECTIONS ARE BASED ON EXISTING DENSITY.
AND IS DART OPEN IF ASSUMING THESE FIVE THAT WE HAVE GO WELL, IS DART OPEN TO ACTIVATING MORE UNDERUTILIZED PARKING LOTS AT YOUR LIGHT RAIL STATIONS FOR HOUSING? EMPHATIC, YES.
HOW SHOULD WE GET THAT TO YOU? DR. PEREZ CAN TAKE THAT INFORMATION AND SUBMIT THE PROJECTS TO DART.
[00:35:02]
MAYOR PRO TEM ATKINS. THANK YOU.SIDEWALKS. I KNOW THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF DART STATIONS.
I MEAN, DART STOPS THAT DO NOT HAVE SIDEWALKS CONNECTING THE NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO DO YOU HAVE THE UPDATE MAPS WHERE YOU ARE EXPECTING TO PUT MORE SIDEWALKS AROUND YOUR DART STATION? SO WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THE CITY OF DALLAS ON SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS ON DART ROUTES THROUGH THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT FUNDS.
AS WE ARE MAKING OUR OWN IMPROVEMENTS TO DART FACILITIES, WE WILL LOOK TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE MAKING THE APPROPRIATE CONNECTIONS OF SIDEWALKS FROM OUR FACILITIES TO THE NEAREST SIDEWALK.
WHAT ARE THE PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES TO ADD SIDEWALK TO THAT BUS STOP? SO WE WOULD WORK WITH THE CITY TO SEE WHERE THEY ARE IN THE SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENT.
AND THEN WE WOULD LOOK TO TRY TO BUILD A THE AMENITY AS CLOSE TO WHERE AN EXISTING SIDEWALK IS.
BUT WE TYPICALLY LOOK TO THE JURISDICTION TO PROVIDE THE PEDESTRIAN IMPROVEMENTS.
OKAY. ALSO, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT CLEANLINESS.
WHAT ABOUT TRASH CANS? WHY? WHAT IS THE PROCESS TO GET TRASH CANS TO BE AT YOUR STOP? BUS STOPS? AND IF A TRASH CAN IS NOT ALREADY THERE, YOU CAN REACH OUT TO DART STAFF AND WE CAN.
SO WHO DO WE CALL? I MEAN, WE GOT PEOPLE LISTENING.
YOU MENTIONED TOD'S, WHICH IS [INAUDIBLE] TOD'S.
I'M TRYING TO RECALL WE HAD SIX.
SO THERE'S GOING TO BE A ROYAL LANE STATION, BUCKNER STATION, WESTMORELAND STATION, LAKE JUNE STATION, AND HAMPTON STATION.
THE SIXTH LOCATION THAT WAS REMOVED WAS AT EIGHTH AND CORINTH.
HAMPTON AND WHAT? I THINK WE GOT TO HAMPTON STATION.
[INAUDIBLE] I'LL GET THAT FOR YOU HERE SHORTLY, SIR.
HOW IS DART WORKING WITH FORWARD DALLAS? SO WE ARE A STAKEHOLDER TO FORWARD DALLAS AND PROVIDING INPUT ON THE DEVELOPMENT.
BUT WE ARE AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT WITH CITY STAFF ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF FORWARD DALLAS.
THE LAST QUESTION, I GUESS WITH DR.
PEREZ, HOW ARE YOU WORKING WITH TRANSPORTATION TO REPAIR STREETS THAT NEED TO BE REPAIRED DUE TO THE BUS ROUTES? SO ESSENTIALLY, SIR, THAT'S ONGOING COORDINATION BETWEEN DART AND CITY OF DALLAS.
IF THERE'S A LOCATION THAT'S CLOSE TO A DART STOP THAT NEEDS TO BE REPAIRED, WE'LL HANDLE THAT THROUGH JUST REGULAR MAINTENANCE WHENEVER WE ARE DOING MAJOR PROJECTS, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS WE WORK CLOSELY WITH DART TO ENSURE THAT WE ACCOUNT FOR THEIR BUS STOPS OR OTHER STOPS THAT ARE IN THE AREA.
SO HOW DO WE IDENTIFY THOSE LOCATIONS? DO WE HAVE A NEED LIST THAT SAID THIS IS A TRAFFIC FOR A DART BUS.
I KNOW THERE IS A WHOLE LOT OF RESIDENTS HAVE BEEN CALLING IN 311 AND SAYING, HEY, THE STREET NEEDS A REPAIR BECAUSE OF THE DART BUS, SO DO WE HAVE A NEED IN [INAUDIBLE] TO SAY, THIS IS A STREET THAT WE'RE WAITING ON DART FUNDING OR HOWEVER WE NEED TO GET IT TO REPAIR.
SO WHAT IS THAT PROCESS SO PEOPLE WOULD KNOW? YEAH. SO SO TYPICALLY I MEAN WE'LL REPAIR THE STREET REGARDLESS IF IT'S A, YOU KNOW, A DART ROUTE OR NOT.
I DON'T REALLY THINK THAT WE TRACK NECESSARILY THE REPAIRS THAT ARE NEEDED BY DART BUS STOPS.
I KNOW A NUMBER OF COUNCILMEMBERS ARE GOOD AS FAR AS LETTING US KNOW WHEN THERE'S SOME IMPROVEMENTS OR MAINTENANCE THAT'S NEEDED BY A DART STOP, AND WE'LL IMMEDIATELY ADDRESS THAT. BUT AGAIN, I THINK THE BIGGEST COORDINATION IS WHEN WE HAVE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS WHERE WE COMPLETELY RECONSTRUCT THE STREET, OR WE HAVE A RESURFACING PROJECT BY THE DART BUS STOP, THAT WE'LL ADDRESS IT AT THAT POINT.
[00:40:03]
WELL, I THINK I'M KIND OF CONFUSED BECAUSE I DO HAVE NUMEROUS STREETS THAT WE DO KNOW THAT DART CAUSED THE PROBLEM THE DAMAGE TO THE STREET.AND I DO KNOW DART HAVE IN THE PAST HAD TRIED TO REPAIR THOSE STREETS.
SO I'M TRYING TO GET A GOOD UNDERSTANDING TO THE RESIDENTS BECAUSE IT'S A QUESTION THEY ASK.
SO WHAT IS THE PROCESS? IS THAT A CITY RESPONSIBILITY? DO WE GET WITH DART TO GET REIMBURSED FOR US TO REPAIR THAT STREET, OR DO DART PAY FOR IT? I MEAN, HOW DO THAT WORK? SO YEAH, SO I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY RECENT FUNDING THAT DART WOULD GIVE YEAH. SO YEAH, I THINK YOU'RE AWARE THAT THERE WAS A LIST MAYBE SIX, SEVEN YEARS BACK WHERE.
I GOT A LIST ABOUT 2 OR 3 MONTHS BACK.
SO THE QUESTION IS TO YOU, DR.
PEREZ AND DART, DO WE GET REIMBURSED? HOW DO WE FIGURE THAT OUT? WE KNOW THE DART BUS HAD DAMAGED THEIR STREET.
WE KNOW THAT'S WHAT CAUSED IT BECAUSE OF THE WEIGHT GOING ON THAT RESIDENT THROUGH THAT RESIDENT, HOW DO WE GET REIMBURSED? IS [INAUDIBLE] PAYING FOR THAT? THEY'RE TAKING MONEY OUT OF GENERAL FUND TO FIX THAT STREET.
SO I'M TRYING TO HOW DO WE GET REIMBURSED.
SO THEREFORE WE HAVE MORE MONEY IN OUR REPAIR.
I'M NOT CURRENTLY AWARE OF A PROCESS BY WHICH WE GET REIMBURSED FROM DART.
THE CITY WILL GO OUT AND WE'LL MAKE THOSE REPAIRS AS NEEDED.
SO LET ME ASK A QUESTION OF DART.
YOU KNOW, THE ROUTE THAT YOUR BUS IS GOING RIGHT THROUGH THE RESIDENT.
IS THAT CORRECT? WE YES, I'M AWARE OF OKAY. SO WHEN YOUR BUS IS GOING THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT IS THE ONLY HEAVY TRAFFIC THROUGH THAT BUS WHEN SOMEONE COMPLAINED ABOUT THE STREETS, WHATEVER.
DO YOU HAVE FUNDING THAT YOU TRANSFER THE FUNDS OVER TO THE CITY OF DALLAS? HOW DO YOU ADDRESS FOR YOUR ACCOUNTING, HOW YOU PAY FOR HOW YOU GET REIMBURSED, OR HOW DO WE GET REIMBURSED? OUTSIDE OF THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT FUND THAT WAS PASSED LAST YEAR DART DOES NOT CURRENTLY HAVE A PROGRAM.
SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE NEED TO IDENTIFY IT AS THEY HAD [INAUDIBLE] BECAUSE THAT IS TAKING MONEY OUT OF MY DISCRETIONARY FUND, OUT OF STREETS THAT WE CANNOT GET REPAIRED BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY AND WE JUST TEMPORARILY REPAIR THE STREET BY PUTTING ASPHALT ON THE STREET.
BUT IT'S CONCRETE, AND WE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL THE BOND PACKAGE TO REPAIR THAT STREET.
HOW DO WE BALANCE THAT OUT? AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE THE RESIDENT SAID, HOW DO WE AND WHO WE CALL AND HOW DO WE GET ACCOUNTABILITY? SO THAT MIGHT BE CHAIRMAN WEST A BUDGET QUESTION TO MAKE SURE HOW DO WE GET REIMBURSED? THANK YOU. THANK YOU, CHAIRWOMAN STEWART.
I'M KATHY STEWART, NEWLY ELECTED COUNCILMEMBER FOR DISTRICT 10, LAKE HIGHLANDS, HAMILTON PARK.
I THINK THAT HAS BEEN POINTS THAT I'VE CERTAINLY HEARD WELL JUST GO AHEAD AND SAY COMPLAINTS ABOUT WITH RESPECT TO BOTH TRAINS AND BUSSES. SO THAT'S WELCOME NEWS AND VERY, VERY GOOD.
HOW WOULD AN AVERAGE PERSON ACCESS THE DART CARES TEAM.
IS THAT JUST A 911 CALL WITH THAT, THAT THIS IS YOU'RE SEEING SOMETHING ON THE TRAIN OR AT A BUS STOP OR BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO GET THIS INFORMATION OUT TO MY DISTRICT BECAUSE I DO HEAR THINGS LIKE THIS AND PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.
THERE'S ONE BUS STOP IN EXCUSE ME, DART STOP IN PARTICULAR THAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON.
ALSO WE HAVE A SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING APP THEY CAN DOWNLOAD AND THEY CAN BY THE APP ACTIVATE THE APP AND THEY CAN SEND US THAT KIND OF INFORMATION.
I GET THOSE EVERY DAY NOW THROUGH THE APP AND THROUGH THE CALLS TO OUR DISPATCH CENTER.
SO THERE'S THREE WAYS FOR THEM TO REACH US.
THE GOPASS APP THE SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING APP OR CALLING THE PHONE NUMBER, NOT 911.
IF YOU CALL 911, THEY'RE GOING TO CALL DALLAS AND THEY'RE GOING TO TRANSFER IT TO US.
OKAY. COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART, CAN I TRY TO ANSWER THAT AS WELL?
[00:45:02]
SURE. HI, HOW ARE YOU? I'M DOING WELL. HOW ARE YOU? THE CARES PROGRAM THAT YOU DESCRIBED HERE ACTUALLY ORIGINATED AS A DISCUSSION BETWEEN A FEW MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, MYSELF, AND A FEW MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, BECAUSE IT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT. WHAT THE CHIEF IS TALKING ABOUT IS HOW WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT RIDERS ON ANY MODE OF TRANSPORTATION CAN IMMEDIATELY ACCESS HELP IF THEY'RE FEELING UNCOMFORTABLE, THREATENED, OR THERE'S SOME OTHER PROBLEM.SO THIS IS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT.
AND THE GOAL, WHILE IT DIDN'T HAPPEN AS FAST AS MANY OF US WANTED, IT IS NOW HAPPENING AND IT WILL CERTAINLY BE IN PLACE FOR THE WINTER IS TO RECOGNIZE WHEN WE HAVE SOMEONE OR PLURAL, SOME PEOPLE WHO CLEARLY ARE USING A BUS OR A STATION OR A RAIL AS A PLACE TO BE WARM DURING A COLD WINTER NIGHT, AND IN THAT TYPE OF EFFORT.
AND I'LL DEFER TO YOU, PLEASE JUMP IN AND THERE MAY BE OTHERS HERE.
JUST AN EXAMPLE, THE FOREST LINE STATION, I GET REPORTS A LOT ABOUT HOMELESS IN AND AROUND THAT.
THERE'S A TRAIL THERE, EVERYONE'S NODDING THEIR HEADS.
WE ALL WE ALL KNOW WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
AND THAT WOULD BE WHAT THE CHIEF IS DESCRIBING.
MY CONSTITUENTS. AND I THINK THAT COULD BECAUSE THAT'S A PARTICULAR ISSUE.
YOU DESCRIBED IT WELL AND I WOULD LIKE TO GET THOSE RESOURCES THERE AS MUCH AND AS FREQUENTLY AS I CAN SO THAT PERHAPS WE CAN BE OF SOME SUBSTANTIVE AND REAL HELP FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN NEED AROUND THAT, AROUND THE FOREST LANE STATION.
YES, MA'AM. AND IF I MAY ADD, COUNCILMEMBER, THE PART OF THE DART CARES PROGRAM, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TWO MOBILE TEAMS, AND THEY'RE GOING TO GO OUT BASED ON THE DATA THAT WE COLLECT. AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WE'RE DATA DRIVEN.
AND SO THOSE CALLS WILL BE IMPORTANT FOR US TO KNOW WHERE THEY'RE BEING DISPLACED.
SO THE COMMUNICATION PIECE WILL BE GREAT AND IS AND AS DEE SAID, WE WILL GET A MEMO TO YOU ALL SO THAT YOU CAN SHARE THAT WITH YOUR CONSTITUENTS ABOUT ALL THE WAYS THEY CAN REACH US. YES, AND WE WOULD NEED TO COORDINATE THAT TEAM AT THE FOREST LANE STATION WITH THE DPD TEAM THAT'S RIDING THE TRAILS.
AND THAT WOULD BE A GREAT COLLABORATION.
I THINK WE COULD PERHAPS MAKE SOME SIGNIFICANT CHANGES THERE.
THAT, AGAIN, WOULD BE HELPFUL TO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE THERE.
OKAY. AND THEN JUST ONE OTHER QUICK QUESTION.
YOU MENTIONED FOREST LANE AND SOME IMPROVEMENTS TO BUS SERVICE OR LOOKING AT FOREST LANE, I THINK, WAS THAT FOREST LANE WEST OR EAST OF 75? WAS IT? OH, I'M SORRY, I'M GOING TO PHONE A FRIEND.
ROB SMITH, VICE PRESIDENT OF SERVICE PLANNING.
WELL, MAYBE WE'VE GOTTEN THAT ANSWERED.
YES. THE CHANGES FOR FOREST LANE ARE ROUTE 22 AND THEY ARE EAST OF FOREST LANE STATION.
THE SECTION WITH ALL THE APARTMENTS GOING OVER TO AUDELIA.
YES. IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN HAVE CONVERSATION WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT THAT? BECAUSE I HAVE SO MUCH INFORMATION IN MY HEAD RIGHT NOW ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN DIFFERENT PLACES ALONG FOREST LANE AND FOREST LANE, FROM FOREST AND SCHROEDER TO FOREST AND SKILLMAN IS A YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT A LOT OF CHALLENGES.
MY GROUP WOULD BE HAPPY TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH. THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
OKAY. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN SCHULTZ.
THANK YOU. I WANT TO FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
AND THANK YOU ALL FOR TAKING TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY TO JOIN US.
I DO WANT TO PIGGYBACK JUST ON THE FOREST LANE STATION.
THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S RIGHT UP AGAINST WHAT WE SEE EVERY DAY IN DISTRICT 11.
[00:50:04]
SAFETY SOLUTIONS, BECAUSE THEY'RE ABOUT LAND USE DESIGN THAT CAN HELP IMPACT PUBLIC SAFETY.SO MANY OF THE CHALLENGES IN THAT AREA ARE DUE TO THE DESIGN OF THE LAND USE OVER THERE.
SO ALSO ON THIS, ON THE SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING AND ACTUALLY MANY OF THESE GREAT INITIATIVES, IT WOULD ALSO BE HELPFUL IF WE HAD SOMETHING THAT WE COULD PUT IN OUR OWN NEWSLETTERS ABOUT WHAT Y'ALL ARE DOING SO THAT WE CAN GET THAT OUT TO THE PUBLIC.
I JUST WANT TO CHANGE GEARS FOR ONE SECOND WHILE YOU'RE STILL HERE.
I HAVE A QUESTION IN THE NEXT PRESENTATION, MR. CHAIR, BUT IT'S ABOUT DART, SO CAN I.
OKAY, SO THIS IS LIKE THE 80/20 RULE ON THE 90 MILLION BECAUSE I WANT TO FOCUS IN ON THE LITTLE BIT OF MONEY THAT'S PUT ASIDE FOR THE STUDENT RIDERSHIP PROGRAM. AND MY QUESTION TO YOU ABOUT THIS IS I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND DART'S INTEREST IN STUDENT RIDERSHIP.
IF I CAN UNDERSTAND THE BIGGER PICTURE AND SEE IT AT 10,000FT, THEN IT'S GOING TO BE MUCH EASIER I THINK, FOR ME AS A REPRESENTATIVE TO TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS ABOUT THIS EXPENDITURE. SO DART OBVIOUSLY IS INTERESTED IN ALL USERS OF OUR SYSTEM.
WE ARE INTERESTED IN ESTABLISHING THE NEXT GENERATION OF TRANSIT RIDERS AND TRANSIT PROFESSIONALS.
I MEAN, WE HOPE THAT PEOPLE THAT USE OUR SERVICE WANT A CAREER IN TRANSIT.
SO YES, WE ARE COMMITTED TO GROWING THE FUTURE OF TRANSIT RIDERS.
AND THAT INCLUDES STUDENT RIDERSHIP.
SO AND I UNDERSTAND THAT FUNDING FOR THIS IS COMING FROM DALLAS AND THAT THE RECOMMENDED AMOUNT IS COMING FROM OUR OWN STAFF. I DO UNDERSTAND THAT.
BUT WHAT I WANT TO UNDERSTAND IS, OF COURSE YOU WANT ALL RIDERS.
AND OF COURSE I KNOW THAT YOU ARE VERY MUCH INVESTED IN BUILDING UP RIDERSHIP STARTING AT YOUNGER AGES, RIGHT? THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT.
I GREW UP RIDING THE BUS, RIDING THE TRAIN, WHATEVER.
BUT WITH THIS PARTICULAR PILOT PROGRAM AND THIS MAY GO TO YOU, DR.
PEREZ, IS THIS IS NOT ANYTHING THAT'S EVER GOING TO HELP US IN ANY WAY MOVE THAT NEEDLE.
SO MY QUESTION THEN TO DART AND WE CAN GET BACK TO IT, I GUESS WHEN IT'S CITY'S TURN OR WE CAN JUST MAKE IT A BIG CONVERSATION IS WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THAT WE DO THEN, IF WE AS A CITY WANT TO INVEST IN THAT VISION OF DART'S? BECAUSE HAVING ONE SEMESTER OF 1300 KIDS WHO WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THEY'RE GOING TO RIDE IT, WE DON'T HAVE DATA, WE DON'T HAVE ANY OF THE INFORMATION.
WE DON'T UNDERSTAND THE BARRIERS, ALL OF IT.
WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THAT WE DO TO BUILD UP THAT, TO USE ANY OF OUR MONEY IF WE WANT TO? OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU ALL ARE GOING TO BE INVESTING IN IN THE FUTURE? SO WHAT DART IS DART IS CURRENTLY DOING IS REEVALUATING OUR FARE PROGRAM, OUR FARE POLICY, WHICH OUR FARE POLICY IS CURRENTLY DRIVING, THE HOW THE MONEY CAN BE SPENT ON FARES.
WHAT 250,000 WILL BUY THAT IS GOVERNED BY OUR BOARD ADOPTED FARE POLICY.
DART STAFF IS CURRENTLY REVIEWING THAT FARE POLICY.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF GOALS IN THE FARE POLICY.
IT'S TO MAXIMIZE REVENUE TO THE ORGANIZATION.
BUT WE ALSO WANT TO SIMPLIFY THE PROGRAM.
OUR CURRENT PROGRAM IS A LOT OF IS VERY COMPLEX WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT, TYPES OF FARE MEDIA.
THOSE ARE SOME OF THE SPECIAL PROGRAMS THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING AT.
WE'RE GOING TO BRIEF OUR BOARD IN DECEMBER.
SO MY MOST IMMEDIATE ADVICE IS LET'S PAUSE THE PILOT AND LET THE DART FARE POLICY PLAY OUT AND GET ADOPTED BY OUR BOARD SO THAT WE'RE THEN OPERATING WITH THE LATEST UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT DART'S PRIORITIES ARE AS IT RELATES TO FARE.
AND THEN WE CAN HELP DETERMINE WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE FROM A IMPLEMENTATION OF A SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR DALLAS ISD.
YOU KNOW, I THINK AS AS THE CITY LOOKS AT STANDING UP THIS TYPE OF PROGRAM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, NOT ONLY DO YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE OBJECTIVES ARE IN THE PILOT TO DETERMINE WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE, WE'VE ALSO GOT TO MAKE SURE THAT WHATEVER IS STOOD UP IS
[00:55:04]
SUSTAINABLE. AND AS DART THINKS ABOUT ITS PRIORITIES OVER THE LONG TERM, YES, WE WANT TO BUILD RIDERSHIP, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO MAINTAIN SOME LEVEL OF REVENUE TO OUR SYSTEM BECAUSE IF WITHOUT THAT REVENUE, WE'VE THEN GOT TO MAKE TRADE OFF DECISIONS OF WHAT WE CAN OR CAN'T INVEST IN.BUT MY MOST IMMEDIATE ADVICE TO STAFF AND TO THE COUNCIL, SINCE YOU ASKED, IS TO REALLY LET US WORK THROUGH WHAT OUR NEXT POLICY IS GOING TO BE, AND THEN WE CAN THEN WORK WITH STAFF TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT PILOT MIGHT LOOK LIKE.
I CAN'T PROMISE THAT IT'S GOING TO BE A DIFFERENT OUTCOME THAN WHAT WE'VE LAID OUT HERE, BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T FINALIZED WHAT THE SPECIAL PASS PROGRAMS COULD LOOK LIKE, AND THE BOARD ULTIMATELY HASN'T ADOPTED IT.
BUT WE'LL BE BRIEFING THE BOARD IN DECEMBER.
THEY'LL ULTIMATELY REVIEW SOME DRAFT CONSIDERATIONS IN WINTER WITH PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN THE SPRING.
AND SO I THINK WE'LL KNOW MORE IN THE SPRING.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT INPUT.
BUT IF YOU COULD SHARE WITH US SOME OF THE BIGGER PICTURE ITEMS THAT SOME OF THE OTHER CITIES ARE USING WITH THAT ADDED REVENUE, I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL. AND YOU CAN SEND IT IN A MEMO OR IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT AT YOUR READY, BECAUSE I KNOW IT'S A LAST MINUTE QUESTION.
YES, MY BOARD MEMBER PREPARED ME, BUT I WILL FOLLOW UP WITH A MEMO WITH THE APPROPRIATE DETAIL.
BUT TO DATE, WE'VE DISBURSED $26.8 MILLION.
SOME OF THE EXAMPLES OF WHAT THAT MONEY IS GOING TO.
WE'VE GOT A STREET REHAB IN ROWLETT.
WE HAVE PARKING GARAGES ADJACENT TO THE TRINITY MILLS STATION IN CARROLLTON.
WE HAVE PEDESTRIAN IMPROVEMENTS IN ROWLETT.
WE HAVE ARTERIAL STREET PROGRAMS IN PLANO, ROADWAY EXPANSION PLANS IN PLANO, ADJACENT TO THE SHILOH ROAD STATION.
INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS, IRVING HAS CHOSEN TO FUND A DEFERRED STATION ALONG THE ORANGE LINE AND GLENN HEIGHTS IS STREET IMPROVEMENTS.
FARMERS BRANCH HAS ROADWAY IMPROVEMENTS, BUT WE'LL BE GLAD TO FOLLOW UP WITH THE DETAIL.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. CHAIR. COUNCIL MEMBER RIDLEY.
YOU INDICATED EARLIER IN YOUR PRESENTATION THAT BY DELETING THE D2 LINE FROM YOUR 20 YEAR CAPITAL BUDGET, YOU HAD FREED UP APPROXIMATELY $2 BILLION FROM YOUR CAPITAL DEBT CAPACITY.
AND YOU INDICATED ALSO THAT DART WAS LOOKING AT MOBILITY IMPROVEMENTS SHORT OF PUTTING A SUBWAY THROUGH DOWNTOWN TO INCREASE MOBILITY.
AND I WOULD BE VERY INTERESTED IN YOUR POSITION ON THE CENTRAL LINK STREETCAR LINE THAT WOULD ALLOW THE EXISTING BISHOP ARTS DISTRICT LINE TO EXTEND INTO THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN.
SO DART IS OPEN TO THOSE DISCUSSIONS.
OKAY. AND I THINK AS PART OF THAT, IT'S IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER A LINK UP THROUGH TRANSFER STATION TO THE EXISTING MODEL LINE ALONG MCKINNEY AVENUE THAT COMES INTO THE NORTHERN PART OF DOWNTOWN.
WOULD THAT ALSO BE SOMETHING THAT DART WOULD CONSIDER? DART WOULD BE OPEN TO A CONVERSATION.
YOU KNOW, WE ARE LOOKING TO EXPAND BUS SERVICE THROUGH THE CITY OF DALLAS, PROVIDING MORE REGIONAL LINKAGES AND MAKING IMPROVEMENTS OF HOW THE SPEED AND RELIABILITY OF LIGHT RAIL TRAVELS THROUGH DOWNTOWN.
WE RECOGNIZE THAT THE STARTER SYSTEM IS ONLY GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL IF WE BUILD IT OUT.
500 RIDERS A DAY IS REALLY BECAUSE IT WAS NOT.
[01:00:08]
WE UNDERSTAND WHAT THE LOCAL NEEDS ARE AND BALANCE THOSE WITH THE REGIONAL NEEDS.THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STREETCAR AND D2 IS D2 WAS A SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT.
D2 INCREASED CAPACITY FOR ALL LINES SUPPORTING ALL SERVICE AREA CITIES.
IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO? THERE ARE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR FEDERAL FUNDING OF STREETCAR, WHETHER IT'S A GRANT OR THROUGH A LOAN THROUGH THE BUILD AMERICA BUREAU.
I THINK THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THAT DART AND THE CITY OF DALLAS CONTINUE TO FACE IS, IS NOT THE CAPITAL FUNDS, IT'S THE LONG TERM OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE. AND THAT'S WHAT I THINK DART'S POSITION WOULD BE.
THAT NEEDS TO BE A SUSTAINABLE FUNDING SOURCE OUTSIDE OF DART.
CITY OR DART I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH MONEY DID THE CITY OF DALLAS PAY INTO DART FOR FISCAL YEAR 23? I DO NOT HAVE THOSE FIGURES IN FRONT OF ME.
OKAY. WELL, I THINK IT'S ESTIMATED TO BE $423 MILLION.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR REVENUE IS FROM SALES TAX FROM THE 13 MEMBER CITIES.
WELL, IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT, THAT WOULD BE FINE.
THERE WAS A COMMENT MADE ABOUT DIVERTING TXDOT FUNDS TO PAY FOR TRANSIT, AND I'M JUST GOING TO SAY THOSE TXDOT FUNDS HAVE BEEN HARD EARNED BY OUR WORK ON THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION COUNCIL, BY WORK ON DALLAS REGIONAL MOBILITY COALITION.
AND I'LL JUST SAY TO CHAIR ATKINS YOUR WORK AS LEGISLATIVE CHAIR, WE HAVE WORKED REALLY, REALLY HARD FOR I-30 FOR 635, FOR 35, FOR 75.
THESE ARE ESSENTIAL TO OUR CITY.
THEY'RE ESSENTIAL FOR THE INLAND PORT.
THEY'RE ESSENTIAL FOR OUR PEOPLE TO GET TO WORK.
AND I CANNOT IMAGINE GIVING UP ADDITIONAL DOLLARS WHEN WE'RE ALREADY GIVING UP $423 MILLION ANNUALLY TO DART FOR ADDITIONAL TRANSIT DOLLARS, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE RIDERSHIP NUMBERS THAT WERE PRESENTED TODAY.
PRE-PANDEMIC, I BELIEVE DART WAS LAUDED AS HAVING THE LOWEST RIDERSHIP IN THE NATION PER RAIL MILE, AND WE ARE NOT EVEN BACK TO PRE-PANDEMIC.
SO I HAVE A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS ABOUT RIDERSHIP, IF I CAN START WITH, THIS ONE, WHICH IS ARE ALL THE NUMBERS THAT ARE PRESENTED IN THIS SLIDE ARE THEY ALL CALCULATED THE SAME WAY? YES. I'M NOT SURE.
LIKE THE WAY YOU CALCULATED YOUR RIDERSHIP DIDN'T CHANGE AT ANY TIME.
SO YOU ALWAYS USE THE SENSORS FOR THE BUS AND THE TRAIN? YEAH, THE AUTOMATIC PASSENGER COUNTERS.
YES. AND IT'S ALWAYS BEEN UNLINKED.
YES. AND WOULD YOU SAY THAT UNLINKED RIDERSHIP IS BEST PRACTICE FOR TRANSIT? UNLINKED IS STANDARD PRACTICE BECAUSE WE CAN MEASURE PEOPLE GETTING ON AND OFF VEHICLES.
WE CANNOT TRACK WHAT PEOPLE ARE DOING AS THEY USE THE SYSTEM THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
IT TAKES MORE SPECIALIZED SURVEY WORK TO GET AT THAT KIND OF INFORMATION.
WELL, IT WOULD TAKE SECURE ENTRANCES, REALLY.
SO FOR ME, IF I WAS COMING TO CITY HALL, IT TAKES TWO BUSSES AND TWO TRAINS EACH WAY.
IS THAT CORRECT? JUST TO COME TO CITY HALL AND BACK TO MY HOME? YES. AND SO YOU'RE SAYING YOU CURRENTLY HAVE 50 MILLION RIDERS ANNUALLY, BUT THEY'RE UNLINKED.
SO LIKE IN MY CASE, YOU WOULD DIVIDE THAT BY EIGHT.
IF THERE WERE IF PEOPLE MADE THAT MANY TRANSFERS, WHICH IS NOT THE NORM.
THANK YOU. WHAT DO YOU THINK NATIONALLY RIDERSHIP WOULD LOOK LIKE FOR AN AREA WITH OUR SORT OF DENSITY? I DON'T KNOW THAT THERE'S A STANDARD ANSWER.
[01:05:09]
RIDERSHIP IS ABOUT THE NORM OF WHAT OTHER SYSTEMS ARE EXPERIENCING.THERE ARE SOME VERY LARGE SYSTEMS THAT HAVE NOT RECOVERED AS QUICKLY.
THERE ARE SOME SMALLER SYSTEMS THAT HAVE RECOVERED TO NEARLY 100% OF THEIR PRE-PANDEMIC RIDERSHIP.
YES, BUT THEY ALSO OFFER MUCH MORE SERVICE, WHICH IF YOU LOOK AT THE INITIATIVES OF OUR STRATEGIC PLAN, WHICH FROM A CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE IS FOCUSED ON QUALITY AND SEAMLESS CONNECTIVITY, WE ARE LOOKING AT IMPLEMENTING MORE ROBUST BUS AND LIGHT RAIL SERVICE THROUGH A SERVICE AREA TO DRIVE RIDERSHIP NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER WEST'S POINT. WE ALSO NEED THE CITIES TO MAKE EQUIVALENT INVESTMENTS INTO MORE SUSTAINABLE LAND USES THAT ARE TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE TO DRIVE RIDERSHIP AS WELL.
THANK YOU. I BELIEVE WE ARE MAKING EXTREMELY SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENTS INTO DART.
CAN YOU TELL US? I THINK PATRICK JUST RECENTLY POSTED ON TWITTER ABOUT COST PER RIDE.
CAN YOU SHARE WHAT THAT IS FOR BOTH BUS AND RAIL? REPEAT THE QUESTION AGAIN.
THE COST PER RIDE FOR BUS AND RAIL.
THE DART OPERATING COST PER RIDE.
CORRECT. DO YOU HAVE THAT NUMBER? CAN YOU GIVE ME A MINUTE TO LOOK IT UP? YEP. WHILE WE'RE DOING THAT, CHIEF CATO, NICE TO SEE YOU.
ARE YOU REPORTING ALL OF YOUR INSTANCES ON NIBRS? I THINK I'VE SEEN THAT REPORT.
AND THEN IS THAT POSTED ON THE DART WEBSITE SO THAT ANYBODY COULD VIEW HOW YOU'RE DOING? I BELIEVE IT'S POSTED. YES.
IS THERE A WAY YOU COULD SEND ME A LINK WHERE I COULD FIND THAT? THE PUBLIC HAS ASKED ABOUT PUBLIC SAFETY ON DART? I THINK WE ALL KNOW THAT THERE'S INSTANCES YOU'VE HAD A LOT OF MEDIA LATELY.
IF THERE IS A WAY, JUST LIKE WE HAVE ALL OF OUR INFORMATION FOR DPD AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC, IS THERE A WAY TO VIEW INSTANCES WHEN SOMEBODY IS KILLED THAT THAT INCIDENCE HAS HAPPENED? I KNOW I CAN SEE IT FEDERALLY, BUT IT'S GENERALLY SIX MONTHS LATER.
I'LL GET WITH OUR COMMUNICATIONS TEAM ABOUT DEVELOPING A LINK TO PUT IT OUT THERE SO IT CAN BE SEEN.
AND THEN WERE YOU ABLE TO GET THE COST PER RIDE? WE'LL FOLLOW UP WITH A MEMO ON BOTH SALES TAX AND COST PER RIDER.
OKAY. SO MY NEXT QUESTION FOR YOU IS ABOUT D2.
THESE ARE MY LAST QUESTIONS ACTUALLY.
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE TRIGGER OF THE 8000 RIDES.
BUT MY QUESTION IS THIS HAVE YOU EVER HAD 8,000 RIDES? NO, WE'VE NEVER REACHED THAT TRIGGER.
NO. IN FACT, YOU KIND OF DIDN'T REALLY GET PAST HALFWAY, RIGHT? LIKE, I DON'T THINK YOU'VE EVER GONE OVER 4000.
PRE-PANDEMIC, WE WERE OPERATING THREE CAR TRAINS.
I DON'T KNOW THE CLOSEST WE EVER GOT TO THE 8000 TRIGGER.
OKAY, WELL, I DIDN'T LOOK IT UP FOR THIS MEETING, BUT I HAVE LOOKED IT UP PREVIOUSLY.
I THINK YOU DIDN'T GET PAST 4,000.
AND SO MY QUESTION IS, IF YOU'RE NOW GOING TO INVOKE THIS RULE THAT THE 8,000 TRIGGER IS WHAT'S CAUSING THE D2 TO COME OFF YOUR LIST, WHY DID WE EVER TALK ABOUT D2? WE'VE PASSED RESOLUTIONS.
YOU'VE GONE AHEAD. I THINK YOU EVEN DID THE ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHT.
YEAH. WHY WOULD YOU HAVE DONE ALL THAT WORK? WHY WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN TALKING TO US ABOUT TIGER GRANTS? ROBERT PEREZ, YOU BROUGHT US ITEM AFTER ITEM ABOUT D2 BRIEFINGS.
WHY WOULD ANY OF THAT HAVE HAPPENED IF THE REAL ISSUE IS THE 8,000? BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THAT'S WHAT THE REAL ISSUE IS HERE.
SO AGAIN THESE TRIGGERS HAVE BEEN IN THE ILA SINCE 1990.
THESE HAVE BEEN THE TRIGGERS THAT DART PLANNING STAFF HAVE BEEN OPERATING AROUND.
WE BELIEVED IN 2010, WHEN WE WERE OPENING THE GREEN LINE, THAT WE WOULD GET CLOSE TO ACHIEVING THE PEAK CAPACITY BECAUSE WE WOULD BE OPERATING. AT THE TIME, WE THOUGHT WE WOULD BE OPERATING TEN MINUTE FREQUENCIES ON ALL LINES THROUGH DOWNTOWN, WHICH WOULD GET US TO THE TWO AND ONE HALF MINUTES.
THE CLOSEST WE EVER GOTTEN TO YOUR POINT IS 125% OF SEATED CAPACITY ON THREE CAR TRAINS.
AT AROUND THE SAME TIME, WE ALSO WERE HIT BY THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN, WHICH FORCED DART TO REVISIT OUR ABILITY TO OPERATE AND FUND THAT LEVEL OF SERVICE.
[01:10:03]
BUT BECAUSE WE COULDN'T GET TO TEN MINUTE FREQUENCIES, WE DIDN'T GET THERE, BUT WE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT WE WERE GOING TO GET CLOSE TO THAT POINT, WHICH WAS WHY WE WERE ADVANCING THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.HOWEVER, POST PANDEMIC RIDERSHIP PATTERNS HAVE CHANGED.
CAPACITY IS NO LONGER WHAT IS DRIVING OUR INVESTMENTS.
IT'S FIGURING OUT HOW TO MODERNIZE OUR SERVICES AND PROVIDE MORE SERVICES TO MORE PEOPLE.
AND SO ELIGIBILITY TO A FEDERAL FORMULA THAT IS TIED TO CORE CAPACITY IS NOT GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL IF D2 IS THE APPLICANT. NOW, WHEN WE WERE GOING INTO THE PROGRAM IN THE MID 2015 TIME FRAME, WE HAD A MEDIUM HIGH RATING BASED ON WHAT OUR RIDERSHIP WAS.
I'M GOING TO PAUSE YOU FOR A SECOND. I'M GOING TO TELL YOU, I WAS ELECTED IN 2019.
I RECOGNIZE SOME OF YOU ARE NEW, BUT WITHIN THIS PAST 12 MONTHS, WE'VE SAT HERE AT THIS VERY TABLE AND HEARD PRESENTATIONS WHERE WE SAID, YES, GO AHEAD AND BUY RIGHT OF WAY. YES, WE'RE GOING TO CHANGE THE ALIGNMENT THIS WAY AND THAT WAY.
ARE YOU TELLING ME THESE WERE RIDICULOUS CONVERSATIONS BECAUSE YOU WERE NEVER INTENDING TO DO IT? THE CONVERSATIONS RELATED TO THE ALIGNMENT BETWEEN DART AND THE CITY OF DALLAS OCCURRED, I BELIEVE, IN 2022.
WE'RE NOT SAYING THAT THOSE WE'RE NOT MAKING A JUDGMENT ON THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
IT WAS IT IS OUR INTENTION TO DELIVER D2 WHEN IT REACHES THE RIDERSHIP TRIGGERS.
OKAY. D2 WAS INTENDED TO GO SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE COTTON BELT.
D2 WE GAVE UP AS A CITY COUNCIL.
I'M SORRY. I THINK CHAIRMAN ATKINS, YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO WAS HERE.
THIS CITY COUNCIL VOTED TO PROCEED WITH IT AT THE DETRIMENT TO OUR CITY IN RETURN FOR GETTING D2.
DISTRICT 12 GAVE UP A LOT OF QUALITY OF LIFE THINKING WE WERE HELPING THE CITY BECAUSE WE WOULD GET D2 AND THIS IS WHAT WE ENDED UP WITH. AND WE DIDN'T EVEN GET A TRADE OFF TO BUILD OUT THE STREETCARS.
WE'RE NOT EVEN GETTING THE REPAIR TO STREETS THAT YOU HAVE DAMAGED.
IN MY DISTRICT, YOU THINK YOU HAVE STREETS THAT ARE BEING DAMAGED BY BUSSES.
LET ME TELL YOU, WE GOT CONSTRUCTION VEHICLES GOING UP AND DOWN OUR ROADS.
THAT MONEY'S NOT COMING IN THE BOND TO MY DISTRICT.
WE'VE GOT VEHICLES FROM DART WE HAVE PHOTOS OF ON SIDEWALKS.
THOSE AREN'T BEING REPAIRED BY OUR BOND, AND THEY'RE NOT BEING REPAIRED BY DART.
SO THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM.
WE'RE GETTING DAMAGE TO OUR CITY THAT YOU'RE NOT REIMBURSING.
SO MY QUESTION NOW IS TO CITY STAFF, HOW IS IT THAT WE, AS A POLICY MAKING BODY, SENT FORWARD WHAT WE WANTED TO HAVE HAPPEN ON D2 AND IT NEVER EVEN CAME TO US.
THIS WAS NOT A CITY STAFF DECISION.
THIS WAS A POLICY DECISION FROM THE COUNCILMEMBERS.
AND SO AS I MENTIONED, THEN AS WE GET CLOSER TO THAT DECISION OR THAT TRIGGER, IT CAN BE REPROGRAMED BACK INTO DART'S 20 YEAR PLAN. AND AGAIN, I'LL TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY AGAIN TO REMIND THIS GROUP THAT AS WE WERE DISCUSSING THE FUTURE OF D2 AND POTENTIAL STREETCAR EARLIER THIS YEAR, EVERYONE THAT I SPOKE WITH, EVERY COUNCILMEMBER THAT I SPOKE WITH, AND EVEN HERE AT TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE, WE ALL SAID THAT WE WOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO REIMAGINE D2, AND THOSE ARE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE HAD HERE WITH MICHAEL MORRIS AND WITH THE DART STAFF, WITH TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE.
THAT WAS A COUNCIL DECISION THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN.
THE LAST THING I'M GOING TO SAY ABOUT THIS WHOLE ISSUE IS THE STREETCAR, PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THAT THAT SHOULD BE A DART OPERATED ITEM THAT NEEDS TO GO TO RFP, AND WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO EVALUATE OTHER VENDORS.
MR. CHAIRMAN, I'D LIKE TO JUMP IN HERE.
I WANTED TO JUST REACT TO COUNCILMEMBER MENDELSOHN'S COMMENTS.
[01:15:01]
NOT ALL OF THEM. YOU COVERED A LOT OF MATERIAL, BUT AT LEAST A FEW.I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY DISAGREEMENT.
IN FACT, I WOULD SAY THERE IS WILD AGREEMENT THAT DART NEEDS TO INCREASE ITS RIDERSHIP PERIOD.
THAT IS THE NORTH STAR AND THE COST PER RIDE AND THE NUMBER OF RIDERS IS NOT SATISFACTORY.
THAT'S JUST GIVING US AN INTERIM BENCHMARK.
I DON'T WANT TO SPEAK FOR ALL OF THE BOARD.
I'LL SPEAK FOR AT LEAST A FEW BOARD MEMBERS BECAUSE I'VE DISCUSSED IT WITH SEVERAL OF THEM.
WE CONTINUE TO DRIVE STAFF TO LOOK FOR WAYS TO INCREASE RIDERSHIP WITHOUT INCREASING COST.
SO I'M WITH YOU 100% ON INCREASED RIDERSHIP, AND BY DEFINITION, THAT SHOULD LOWER THE COST PER RIDE.
NOT ALWAYS, BUT THAT SHOULD BE A PART OF THE CALCULUS.
ON THE ISSUE OF D2, I THINK THERE'S A FEW THINGS AT PLAY HERE.
FIRST, WHILE I UNDERSTAND, AND I, AS A MEMBER OF THE DART BOARD FROM DALLAS, RECOGNIZE THAT DALLAS WANTS ITS FAIR SHARE, WE DO FACE RESISTANCE FROM OUR SUBURBAN PARTNERS WHO FEEL THAT DALLAS ALREADY GETS A DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE OF THE ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES.
FOR ME, THE ISSUE OF D2 IS REALLY ONE OF THREE THINGS.
ONE IS, DO WE HAVE THE RIDERSHIP TO JUSTIFY IT? NOT JUST BECAUSE WHATEVER HAPPENED 20 YEARS AGO DID OR DID NOT PLAY OUT TODAY? DO WE HAVE RIDERSHIP AND WE DON'T HAVE A RIDERSHIP RIGHT NOW? NUMBER TWO IS COULD WE QUALIFY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS? AND I'VE PRESSED THIS QUESTION OF STAFF REPEATEDLY.
WE WOULDN'T QUALIFY RIGHT NOW.
AND ABSENT GETTING FEDERAL FUNDS, WE DON'T HAVE THE FUNDS TO BUILD IT.
AND THEN THE THIRD IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN GET THE SUPPORT OF THE SUBURBS TO UNDERSTAND THE DEAL THAT WAS CUT AND THE NECESSITY FOR ANOTHER LINE IN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT.
SO I'M WITH YOU. THERE HAS TO BE SOME FAIRNESS AND IT'S GOT TO BE SORTED OUT.
THE PANDEMIC PUT A PUNCH IN OUR BELLY IN TRYING TO REACH ANY OF THE NUMERICAL METRICS.
CHAIR NARVAEZ. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. CHAIRMAN, AND THANK YOU FOR STEPPING IN.
I DON'T HAVE COVID, BUT STILL, WE DON'T NEED TO GET EVERYBODY SICK AT THE HORSESHOE.
I'M GOING TO START OFF WITH A QUOTE THAT MY COLLEAGUES AND CITY STAFF HAVE HEARD MANY, MANY TIMES.
IT WAS SAID BY VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS LAST YEAR, AND IT GOES THAT IT TAKES A LOT OF ENERGY AND WORK TO BUILD SOMETHING, AND VERY LITTLE TO TEAR IT DOWN.
WHAT I HEAR TODAY IS PREVIOUSLY BEFORE ME WAS VERY LITTLE TO TEAR SOMETHING DOWN.
AND I THINK A LOT OF US ARE HERE TO WORK TOGETHER AND PUTTING A LOT OF ENERGY TO BUILD SOMETHING.
SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE HEARD ABOUT ARE ANTIQUATED WAYS OF TRANSPORTATION, THE SYSTEM.
THE WORLD HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY IN THE LAST DECADE.
WE HAVE SURVIVED A GLOBAL PANDEMIC.
WE ARE NOW MEETING AND HAVE THE ABILITY TO MEET VIA VIRTUAL THAT WE HAD NEVER DONE BEFORE.
SO MUCH SO THAT OUR OWN STATE GOVERNMENT HAS ALLOWED FOR THIS TO HAPPEN.
I UNDERSTAND THAT SOME FOLKS WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THINGS ARE THE OLD WAYS.
THE OLD WAYS NO LONGER WORK, AND IT'S TIME TO LOOK AT OUR AGREEMENTS, WHICH WE DID THANKS TO A VERY, VERY LOUD VOICE ABOUT DART, WHO POINTED OUT THAT RIDERSHIP HAD NOT BEEN TO THE LEVELS THAT IT SHOULD BE, HAS TAILED ON THIS FOR YEARS AT THE HORSESHOE. AND THOSE THINGS GOT LOOKED AT, AND WE'RE GETTING EXACTLY WHAT THAT ONE PERSON REQUESTED TO HAPPEN. AND NOW IT'S THE OPPOSITE.
YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS, COLLEAGUES.
AND YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS DART.
AND WE HAD TO PICK AND FOLKS WENT BACK TO THE ILA AND D2 IS NOT GONE.
AND IT'S SO AWFUL THAT WE HAVE COLLEAGUES WHO DECIDE TO MISREPRESENT WHAT HAS ACTUALLY HAPPENED, WHICH WAS MERELY MERELY TO REPROGRAM THOSE DOLLARS IN A DEBT CAPACITY OVER 20 YEARS.
THAT HAD TO HAPPEN IN ORDER TO ALLOW DART TO GET FUNDS, TO GET GRANTS TO QUALIFY FOR FUNDING THROUGH THE TRANSPORTATION ACT THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN SIGNED.
AND DALLAS IS WINNING IN ALL OF THIS.
[01:20:03]
SO YOU CAN'T LOOK AT ONE SMALL LITTLE THING.YOU'VE GOT TO LOOK AT THE ENTIRE REGIONAL ASPECT OF WHAT DART IS.
AND I'M GOING TO ESPECIALLY THANK BOARD MEMBER LAURA HERNANDEZ, WHO PICKED UP THIS BATON AND CHAMPIONED IT BEFORE WE EVEN THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE BY CHAMPIONING GOLINK AND MAKING SURE THOSE CHANGES HAPPENED IN NORTH DALLAS AND NORTHWEST DALLAS AND NORTHEAST DALLAS, AND THEN BRINGING IT TO THE SOUTHERN PART OF DALLAS.
WITHOUT THAT TYPE OF EQUITY, WE WOULD NOT SEE THE RIDERSHIP THAT WE'RE STARTING TO SEE INCREASE.
THAT AGAIN WE'RE NOT APPLAUDING, BUT WE'RE IN THE LEAD OF OTHER MAJOR CITIES.
THE OTHER THING IS THAT BECAUSE OF THAT, GOLINK, TOYOTA DID A GRANT FOR WEST DALLAS WITH THE LITTLE, Y'ALL CALL IT SOMETHING ELSE CALLED THE LITTLE GOLF CART, BUT WITH THE GOLF CART SYSTEM THAT IS LIKE AN UBER FOR FREE FOR QUICK SHORT DISTANCES THROUGHOUT WEST DALLAS.
SO MUCH SO THAT HAS 4,000 RIDERS A MONTH UTILIZING IT THAT IS WORKING HARD TO BUILD SOMETHING.
I DON'T WANT TO TEAR DOWN THE GOLF CART I WANT TO BUILD THOSE UP.
IF IT'S WORKING AND NOW IT'S GOT ANOTHER EXTENSION OF ONE YEAR.
AND THANK YOU TO THE REST OF OUR FOLKS FOR I KNOW IT WASN'T EASY TO GET THAT ACROSS THE FINISH LINE.
WEST DALLAS RESIDENTS ARE GOING BACK AND FORTH ACROSS WEST DALLAS AT 4,000 RIDERS A MONTH.
AND IT'S BUILDING AS MORE AND MORE AND PEOPLE UNDERSTAND HOW TO UTILIZE THE SYSTEM.
AND THIS IS WITH VERY LITTLE TO NO EDUCATION OR MEETINGS OR ANYTHING TO OUR FOLKS.
WHAT I WANT TO SAY IS THAT WE WERE TOLD THAT WE WOULD NOT GET ONE DIME, ONE DIME COLLEAGUES.
I REMEMBER HEARING THIS OVER AND OVER AND OVER.
THE RHETORIC OF WE WILL NOT GET ONE DIME OF THE SALES TAX BACK.
DR. ROBERT PEREZ HOW MANY DOLLARS HAVE WE RECEIVED BACK FROM DART SO FAR? SO WE'VE EITHER RECEIVED OR EXECUTED ABOUT $20 MILLION OF THOSE FUNDS.
WE HAVE RECEIVED OR EXECUTED $20 MILLION ALREADY, COLLEAGUES OF THE MONEY.
SO YOU MAY HEAR THE FRUSTRATION IN MY VOICE AND THAT FRUSTRATION COMES FROM INSTEAD OF WORKING WITH ONE OF OUR BIGGEST PARTNERS, WE HAVE FOLKS TRYING TO DISMANTLE AND DESTROY THESE BIG PARTNERS ON THEIR OWN.
DOING ABSOLUTELY OPPOSITE OF WHAT THIS BODY REQUESTS AND ASKS FOR.
AND WHAT I NEED TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND IS THAT DART IS OUR PARTNER.
I'M FULLY COMMITTED TO DART TO MAKING IT WORK, BECAUSE WE HAVE FOLKS WHO DO NOT COME TO THE HORSESHOE, WHO DO NOT KNOW OR EVEN TRUST OR BELIEVE IN US ANYMORE.
DART OR THE CITY COUNCIL TO GET THEM THE THINGS THAT THEY NEED AND THE ITEMS THAT THEY WANT SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY'RE LOW INCOME, THEY'RE PEOPLE OF COLOR, OR THAT THEY ARE LIVING IN AN AREA THAT THEY JUST DON'T BELIEVE THAT WE CARE ABOUT.
I SEE IT, AND I HEAR IT, AND WHEN I EXPLAIN TO THEM WHAT'S GOING ON, AND I ACTUALLY WORK WITH THEM THE WAY MANY OF YOU ALL DO, THEN THEY UNDERSTAND OUR SYSTEM AND THEY SEE THAT WE HAVEN'T TURNED OUR BACKS ON THEM.
AND WE MADE POLICY CHANGES IN ORDER TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
THIS IS THE SAME THING THAT'S GOING ON WITH DART.
AND WE ARE MAKING THOSE SAME POLICY CHANGES BACK IN ORDER TO HELP THEM.
SO THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR BEING HERE DART.
THANK YOU TO OUR BOARD MEMBERS.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU THAT REPRESENT DART.
I HAVEN'T SEEN EYE TO EYE WITH EACH OF YOU, BUT WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT I CAN SEE THE PASSION AND THE BELIEF AND THE HARD WORK THAT YOU ARE PUTTING INTO BUILDING SOMETHING AND MAKING IT BETTER.
AND FOR WHAT? A FREE DART PASS ONCE A YEAR.
YOU ALL ARE SAINTS IN MY BOOK FOR THE AMOUNT OF TIME, ENERGY AND WORK YOU ALL ARE PUTTING INTO THERE AS OUR BOARD MEMBERS AND I JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I APPRECIATE YOU.
I STILL BELIEVE IN DART, AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR COLLEAGUES UNDERSTAND AND KNOW THAT I'M GOING TO PUSH BACK FROM NOW ON WHEN IT COMES TO THE WAY WE'RE TREATING AND TRYING TO DISMANTLE DART BY BOLD AND EGREGIOUS RHETORIC AT THE HORSESHOE AND ANYWHERE ELSE THAT WE CAN.
[01:25:03]
BECAUSE THOSE BOLD FACE ABSOLUTELY UNABASHEDLY AND UNAPOLOGETICALLY WITHOUT DATA OR INFORMATION THAT IS PROPER, ACCURATE WE SAW HAPPEN JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO OR LAST WEEK IN THIS BODY, AND I'M NOT GOING TO STAND FOR IT ANYMORE, BECAUSE LETTING PEOPLE JUST GIVE MISTRUTHS OR MISINFORMATION OR LACK OF INFORMATION IN ORDER TO GIVE AND GET WHAT THEY WANT, IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN OUR HORSESHOE OR TO OUR RULES HERE IN DALLAS.SO AGAIN, MR. CHAIR, THANK YOU FOR STEPPING IN.
AND YOU'VE HEARD ME SAY OVER AND OVER, AND I'M PUTTING EVERY BIT OF ENERGY THAT I CAN TO BUILD SOMETHING, AND I'M NOT ABOUT TO START TEARING IT DOWN BECAUSE IT'S SO EASY TO DO. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. CHAIR. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. WE HAVE THREE MORE COMMENTS, AND THEN WE NEED TO MOVE ON.
YES, MR. CHAIRMAN, THIS IS GARY SLAGEL.
AND ALL I WANT TO SAY IS THANK YOU FOR THOSE WORDS.
WE DO WORK TOGETHER AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO SO.
WE HAVE A WONDERFUL GROUP OF DART BOARD MEMBERS FROM THE CITY OF DALLAS AND THE SUBURBS, AND WE ARE COMMITTED TO DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR THE REGION AND FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS. SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR PASSION.
THANK YOU. CHAIR. I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ADDRESS THIS BODY AND SAY THAT FROM THE DART BOARD PERSPECTIVE, WE DO WORK VERY, VERY HARD.
AND WE ARE DALLAS APPOINTEES TO SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DO PUT THE INTERESTS OF DALLAS, I WOULD SAY FIRST, BUT NOT TO THE DETRIMENT OF OUR SYSTEM BECAUSE IT IS A REGIONAL SYSTEM, BUT WE ARE IN THERE EVERY DAY, YOU KNOW, WORKING HARD TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO TO INTEGRATE OUR SYSTEM, TO MAKE IT BETTER FOR OUR RIDERS, TO MAKE IT, FRANKLY, CLEAN, SAFE, RELIABLE.
THAT WAS A PRIORITY OF THE BOARD.
THE BOARD LAST YEAR APPROPRIATED $110 MILLION TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
AND OUR STAFF IS KNOCKING IT OUT OF THE PARK.
AND I REALLY WANT TO THANK OUR STAFF FOR DOING IT.
AND CERTAINLY ANYTHING CAN BE IMPROVED.
THAT'S WHY ALL OF US VOLUNTEER.
SO I WANT TO THANK YOU NOW, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT EACH OF US WANT TO REACH OUT TO YOU AND FIND OUT WHAT YOUR PRIORITIES ARE AND WORK TOGETHER FOR DALLAS FORWARD IN OUR AREA CITY PLANS.
DALLAS IS OBVIOUSLY OUR LARGEST PARTNER AND WE WANT TO PUT THOSE PRIORITIES IN PLACE.
IT'S A VERY LARGE CITY AND THERE'S GOING TO BE MULTIPLE PRIORITIES.
AND IT WON'T BE ALL INCLUSIVE.
YOU KNOW, WE'LL DO IT OVER MANY YEARS.
BUT WE ARE YOUR PARTNERS AND I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU.
WHAT IS THE STATUS OF OUR EAST WEST ALIGNMENT FOR RIDERSHIP? YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN ASKING FOR THE EAST WEST RIDERSHIP, YOU KNOW, FOR PASSENGERS, FOR EAST WEST, EVERYTHING GOING DOWNTOWN, COMING BACK.
I KNOW MS. LEE, WHEN SHE FIRST CAME HERE, SHE SAID, HEY, WE WILL GET ON BOARD, BUT CAN YOU GIVE HIM AN UPDATE ON WHAT THE STATUS OF THAT? WELL, I'LL TALK ABOUT THE EAST WEST ROUTE THAT WE CREATED WITH THE DART ROUTE 108 THAT RUNS ON CAMP WISDOM ALL THE WAY FROM TO THE WEST OF RED BIRD MALL OVER TO THE RAIL LINE.
THAT ROUTE IS PERFORMING EXTREMELY WELL, AND IN THE PHASE TWO OF THE BUS NETWORK REDESIGN, IN FACT, WE'RE LOOKING TO UPGRADE IT TO A FREQUENT ROUTE STATUS AND RUN IT 15 MINUTE SERVICE BECAUSE IT'S DOING WELL.
AND THE PART TO THE FURTHER TO THE EAST ALONG SIMPSON STUART.
WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT THAT AND WHETHER IT MAY MAKE SENSE TO CONNECT THE TWO DOWN THE ROAD.
[01:30:02]
THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT.SO I THINK WE ARE OFFICIALLY INDOCTRINATED WITH THE FAMILY AND ALL OF THAT.
AND I JUST THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE.
AND WE'VE EXPERIENCED, LIKE I SAID, OUR FIRST ARGUMENT TOGETHER.
WERE WE MOVING STRAIGHT INTO THAT? I JUST HAD A COUPLE OF COMMENTS THERE.
SO THERE ONE, THANK YOU FOR THE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENTS IN DISTRICT THREE.
WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THOSE.
THE DART CARES, I'M EXTREMELY EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
AND AGAIN, JUST WANT TO ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO CONTINUE WORKING AND ALIGNING WITH FORWARD DALLAS.
I THINK WE ARE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
I THINK THERE ARE SOME GLITCHES ON BOTH SIDES.
SO WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO TRANSITION NOW TO DR.
PEREZ, AND WE'RE GOING TO LET YOU TRANSITION STRAIGHT INTO YOUR PRESENTATION NOW.
ROBERT PEREZ, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER.
WE'LL RUN THROUGH THIS PRETTY QUICKLY.
WE'LL TALK AND TOUCH ON THE CITY OF DALLAS DART STUDENT RIDERSHIP PILOT PROGRAM.
WE'LL TALK ABOUT PROPOSED PARKING ORDINANCE CHANGES.
AND AGAIN, THE CONVENTION CENTER AND THEN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.
APOLOGIES. I'LL START ON SLIDE THREE.
WE LEFT OUT THE PARKING ITEMS. I'LL JUST TOUCH ON THOSE REALLY QUICK BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD.
THE CITY OF DALLAS TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT IS WORKING ON A DRAFT CURB LANE MANAGEMENT PLAN, WHICH WILL LOOK AT ESTABLISHED PAID PARKING AREAS BY CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT, AS WELL AS VARIABLE PARKING METER RATES, FLEXIBLE BASED UPON DEMAND.
THERE ARE CLOUD BASED SOLUTIONS THAT WOULD INCLUDE THE INSTALLATION OF HARDWARE TO ACTUALLY ACCOMMODATE FOR INTELLIGENT, TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, SUCH AS CONNECTED VEHICLES AND OTHER SOLUTIONS.
ON SLIDE FOUR, THERE IS A LINK TO THE COUNCIL MEMORANDUM THAT LISTS OUT THE ENTIRE PROGRAMING OF THE $90 MILLION THE DART EXCESS SALES TAX REVENUES. AS MENTIONED, STAFF IS WORKING ON 22 TRAFFIC SIGNALS AS PART OF THESE UPGRADES.
WE DO ANTICIPATE THE DESIGN BEING AWARDED IN FEBRUARY OF 24 AND CONSTRUCTION OF THOSE 22 SIGNALS BEING AWARDED IN FEBRUARY OF 2025.
NEXT SLIDE. AS PART OF THE $90 MILLION.
ALONG WITH THE SIDEWALKS, WE ARE ALSO PROGRAMED $50 MILLION FOR OUR BARRIER FREE RAMPS PROGRAM.
YOU CAN SEE HERE WE PROVIDED THE NUMBER OF RAMPS IN THE FOCUS AREAS THAT ARE INCLUDED WITHIN THE SIDEWALK MASTER PLAN, THE MISSING RAMPS BY DISTRICT, AND THEN THE 14,000 RAMPS THAT WE WILL BE WORKING ON BEGINNING IN SPRING OF 2024.
AS WE DISCUSSED A FEW MONTHS AGO IN TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE, BASED UPON DART'S FARE POLICY, WE COULD FUND 260 K THROUGH 12 STUDENTS FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR, OR 1300 MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FOR ONE SEMESTER BASED UPON THE FARES, THE EXISTING FARES.
NEXT SLIDE. SO UNDER THE 1300 MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS, MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SCENARIO WHERE WE PROVIDE A PASS FOR ONE SEMESTER, WE WOULD LOOK AT SCHOOL DISTRICTS, PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT ARE EITHER WITHIN THE CITY OF DALLAS LIMITS OR CROSS INTO CITY OF DALLAS LIMITS.
THE STUDENTS WHO WOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR IT WOULD HAVE TO LIVE ACTUALLY WITHIN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
[01:35:07]
AND THEN WHAT WE WOULD DO IS WORK WITH OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTNERS TO ACTUALLY IDENTIFY THE MOST NEEDY STUDENTS WITHIN THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS WHO LIVED WITHIN THE CITY OF DALLAS TO ACTUALLY DISTRIBUTE THOSE PASSES TO.THE PASSES WE ENVISION WOULD BE DISTRIBUTED IN FORM OF A TAP CARD TO ACTUALLY TRACK USAGE.
THEY WOULD BE REQUIRED TO ACTUALLY TAP IN TO A BUS OR TO A TRAIN IF WHEN THEY USE THAT, THAT PASS.
NEXT SLIDE. SO WE'LL TRANSITION INTO THE CONVENTION CENTER MASTER PLAN.
CITY STAFF, ALONG WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS, HAVE BEEN VERY ENGAGED OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS TO BEGIN THE MASTER PLAN TO ACTUALLY SOLICIT AND SELECT A PROJECT MANAGER AND OWNER'S REPRESENTATIVE THROUGH THIS YEAR.
SO THE NEXT STEPS WILL ACTUALLY BE TRANSITIONING INFORMATION FROM WSP TO THE CONVENTION CENTER.
BASICALLY, THE MASTER PLAN INFORMATION, COORDINATING WITH TXDOT AND UPRR ON THE NECESSARY EASEMENTS AND ENCROACHMENTS, DRAFTING AND RELEASING THE SOLICITATION FOR THE ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN PHASE, HIRING THE MASTER PLANNER, MASTER PLAN, INTERNAL STAFF, AND THEN REENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2024.
NEXT SLIDE. AND SO FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS, WE'VE ACTUALLY BEEN WORKING WITH DART SINCE 2021 AND LOOKING AT SITES ADJACENT TO DART LIGHT RAIL STATIONS.
WE ACTUALLY TRANSITIONED INTO ACTUALLY PARTNERING WITH DART STAFF FOR THE SOLICITATION TO DO TODS ON THE SIX DART OWNED SITES.
AS MENTIONED EARLIER, IN JUNE OF 23, CITY COUNCIL APPROVED THE SELECTION OF THE MOST ADVANTAGEOUS PROPOSALS AND THE EXCLUSIVE NEGOTIATION AGREEMENTS WITH EACH OF THE SELECTED PROPOSERS.
NEXT SLIDE. AND THESE ARE THE SIX LOCATIONS THAT WERE ORIGINALLY REFERENCED.
ROYAL LANE STATION, 8TH AND CORINTH, BUCKNER STATION, WESTMORELAND LAKE JUNE AND HAMPTON.
NEXT SLIDE. SO AGAIN IN AUGUST 2023 WE ENTERED INTO THE EXCLUSIVE NEGOTIATION AGREEMENTS AND THE STAFF HAS BEEN WORKING WITH EACH INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL MEMBER ON ON THESE INITIATIVES TO TALK ABOUT THE SELECTED TEAMS AS WELL AS THE CRITICAL PATHS AND TIMELINES FOR THE EXCLUSIVE NEGOTIATION PERIOD.
NEXT SLIDE. SO AGAIN, THE TEAM CONTINUE WORKING THROUGH OCTOBER 23RD ON THE PROPOSED SCHEDULES AND DEVELOPING THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH PLANS AT THE TIME OR DURING THAT TIME FRAME AS WELL.
THE CITY TERMINATED THE ENA WITH JOHN TRUBE CORPORATION FOR THE 8TH AND CORINTH STATION.
THE NEXT STEPS INCLUDE SITE DEVELOPMENT OR SITE DOCUMENT DEVELOPMENT, DUE DILIGENCE, A RIGHT-OF-ENTRY, THE SCHEDULE, THE OVERALL SCHEDULE, THE NEGOTIATION PERIOD, DESIGN PEER REVIEW PANELS, APPLICATIONS FOR CITY INCENTIVES, AND THEN APPROVALS BY THE RELEVANT GOVERNING BODIES TO INCLUDE THE DART BOARD AND THE HFC AND PFC BOARDS.
NEXT SLIDE. WITH THAT, I'LL OPEN UP TO ANY QUESTIONS.
WE HAVE STAFF HERE AS WELL FOR ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
THANKS. ALL RIGHT. CHAIRWOMAN SHOOTS.
DID YOU JUST SAY SHOOTS? I DID, AND I'M SO SORRY.
IT'S BECOME A JOKE. OKAY, SO, DR.
PEREZ, JUST GOING BACK TO THE STUDENT.
WE CAN WAIT MA'AM, WE HAVE COMMUNICATED WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS, THE VARIOUS SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT WE HAD ANTICIPATED STARTING IN JANUARY 24TH, BUT WE HAVE THE FUNDS AVAILABLE UNTIL 2026.
SO WE DO HAVE SOME TIME IF WE WANT TO PUT A PAUSE AND REEVALUATE BASED UPON THE DART FARE .
AND MS. LEGGETT CAN YOU JUST VERY QUICKLY SO THAT WE DON'T LEAVE STUDENTS SITTING ON THE STREET CORNER? WHAT ARE OUR CURRENT AVAILABLE PROGRAMS FOR STUDENTS IN TERMS OF BUS PASSES? SO WE CURRENTLY HAVE PARTNERSHIPS WITH DALLAS ISD WHERE THEY CAN BUY SOME PASSES.
[01:40:05]
CAN BUY DISCOUNTED PASSES.SO CAN I ASK THIS IN THE SPIRIT OF OUR PARTNERSHIP, IF WE FOLLOW YOUR RECOMMENDATION AND WAIT BEFORE IMPLEMENTING THIS TO REALLY UNDERSTAND IT AND BE ABLE TO BETTER FUND IN THE FUTURE, CAN YOU HELP US WORK WITH THOSE SCHOOL DISTRICTS SO THAT WE DON'T LEAVE ANY STUDENTS DISAPPOINTED, AND MAYBE JUST SEND US SOMETHING ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO SO THAT OUR STAKEHOLDERS ON THIS AREN'T LEFT IN THE LURCH.
YES, WE'LL BE GLAD TO FOLLOW UP WITH A MEMO WITH THE CURRENT PROGRAMS AVAILABLE.
YEAH. AND WILL THAT MEET THE NEED, DO YOU THINK, DR.
I KNOW SUNRISE AND SOME OTHERS HAVE REALLY PUSHED US ON THIS.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE, AS WE'VE ALL LEARNED TODAY, THAT WE DO IT RIGHT, AND THAT WE DON'T LIMIT THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS WHEN WE COULD POTENTIALLY GET MORE BY WAITING A LITTLE BIT LONGER. BUT I ALSO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT IF THERE ARE STUDENTS THAT ARE COUNTING ON THIS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CALENDAR YEAR, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT'S BEEN COMMUNICATED, THAT THOSE NEEDS ARE MET.
HOW CAN WE DO BOTH? THAT'S MY QUESTION TO YOU AS THE ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER.
SO I THINK IT'S THE COMBINATION OF EVALUATING THE FARE POLICY AS IT'S DEVELOPED.
BUT WHAT I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE AND I APOLOGIZE FOR BELABORING THIS POINT, THAT THERE AREN'T STUDENTS WHO ARE COUNTING ON HAVING FREE BUS PASSES IN JANUARY THAT SUDDENLY WON'T, AND NOW THEY'RE HURT BY OUR DECISION TO DO THIS IN A MORE SYSTEMATIC WAY.
HOW CAN WE SOLVE THAT PROBLEM? SO AGAIN, I THINK IT'S WORKING WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS AND JUST LETTING THEM KNOW, I MEAN, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, THAT WE WILL POTENTIALLY HAVE A PAUSE AS WE REEVALUATE THE PROGRAM BASED UPON ANY CHANGES TO THE FARE POLICY.
OKAY, GREAT. ONE OF THE DATA POINTS, I THINK THAT MIGHT HELP US, IN CASE WE DO HAVE TO MAKE SOME KIND OF QUICK SWITCH ON THIS IS THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS CURRENTLY USING THE DISD PASSES.
AND WILL THEY THEN NOT HAVE THEM.
LIKE HOW DOES THAT WORK? IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A PROGRAM SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER THAT NOW.
WE'LL BE GLAD TO PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. AND MR. I'M SORRY, COUNCILMEMBER SCHULTZ, IF I COULD.
THIS PROGRAM IS OUTSIDE OF ANY OTHER PROGRAM THAT THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS ADMINISTER.
SO THIS WOULD BE ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT ANY OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS DO.
THANK YOU. WHAT CRITERIA WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE WHICH STUDENTS WILL BE SELECTED TO USE THESE BUS PASSES? COUNCIL MEMBER SO WE WOULD ACTUALLY LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF TRANSIT DEPENDENT STUDENTS BY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
AND THEN BASED UPON THAT, PROPORTIONALLY DISTRIBUTE THE BUS PASSES TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
SO WHEN YOU EVALUATE THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, ARE YOU GOING TO ONLY USE THE SCHOOLS THAT ARE WITHIN THE CITY OF DALLAS? SO DISD OBVIOUSLY HAS OTHER CITIES.
CARROLLTON-FARMERS BRANCH HAS FOUR SCHOOLS.
OKAY. YES, MA'AM. SO THE BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF FOR DART HAVE SAID THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COUNCIL ABOUT WHAT THE PRIORITIES SHOULD BE.
AND I'M JUST WONDERING, I MEAN, YOU ALL RECEIVED A LETTER FROM US SAYING THAT THIS WAS A PRIORITY, RIGHT? THAT WE WANTED FREE TRANSIT FOR OUR YOUTH.
[INAUDIBLE] SPECIFIC LETTER THAT WE RECEIVED.
RIGHT. THE DALLAS CITY COUNCIL? I DON'T RECALL RECEIVING THAT LETTER.
I KNOW THERE ARE [INAUDIBLE]. SENT A LETTER SAYING THAT THIS WAS A TRANSIT PRIORITY FOR US.
I BELIEVE WE RECEIVED THE RESOLUTION THAT THE CITY PASSED.
OKAY. SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THAT THIS WAS A PRIORITY.
I DON'T THINK WE SEND VERY MANY LETTERS.
I HAVE PREVIOUSLY SENT SOME LETTERS, NOT JUST ABOUT THE COTTON BELT, BUT ABOUT TRANSIT DEPENDENT RIDERS THAT WE HAVE IN DALLAS AND THE NEED FOR BUS FREQUENCY AND THE NEED TO REALLY FOCUS ON THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY NEED TO RIDE TRANSIT AS THE PRIORITY.
[01:45:08]
AND DALLAS BOARD MEMBERS VOTED AGAINST IT.AND PLEASE REMEMBER WHAT OUR PRIORITIES ARE.
FOR THE KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON PRESENTATION MY QUESTION IS, IS THERE DIRECT RAIL FROM KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON TO DFW? NO, NOT AT THIS MOMENT.
IS IT PLANNED? NO, BUT WE DO BELIEVE THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISCUSSION.
THANK YOU. IS THERE DIRECT RAIL TO LOVE FIELD FROM KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON? NO. AND IS THAT ALREADY PLANNED? THERE HAVE BEEN NO DISCUSSIONS ABOUT RAIL SERVICE FROM THE CONVENTION CENTER TO LOVE FIELD.
NO. OKAY. AND IS THERE A DIRECT BUS SERVICE FROM THE CONVENTION CENTER TO DFW? NO. AND IS THAT IN.
IS THAT BEING PLANNED? WE ANTICIPATE AS PART OF THE AREA PLAN DISCUSSIONS AND AS PART OF THE DISCUSSIONS WITH THE CONVENTION CENTER, THAT HOW WE IMPROVE TRANSIT ACCESS INTO AND OUT OF THE CONVENTION CENTER TO MAKE SURE WE'RE SERVING THAT CONVENTION CENTER, THAT THAT WILL BE AN ONGOING CONVERSATION.
AND THEN MY LAST ONE IS, IS THERE A DIRECT BUS SERVICE FROM THE CONVENTION CENTER TO LOVE FIELD? NOT AT THIS TIME.
OKAY, SO, MR. PEREZ, DO YOU SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM IS? THAT YOU'RE GIVING THIS PRESENTATION ABOUT KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON? WE'RE GOING TO SPEND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO TEAR DOWN AND REBUILD A CONVENTION CENTER AND WE'RE NOT EVEN GOING TO HAVE DIRECT TRANSPORTATION TO OUR AIRPORTS.
THIS SEEMS TO BE A VERY LARGE PRIORITY FOR THE CITY.
I WOULD HOPE OUR CHAIRMAN WILL PUT THIS ON THE AGENDA TO SPECIFICALLY TALK ABOUT THAT ISSUE, AND PERHAPS PUT A RESOLUTION FORWARD, THAT THIS IS A KEY PRIORITY.
SO THIS IS A LITTLE BIT ALARMING TO ME THAT WE HAVEN'T HAD THIS CONVERSATION ALREADY WITH DART, AND I HOPE THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO START THAT NOW.
COUNCIL MEMBER WEST, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? YES, CHAIRMAN. I'M JUST GOING TO RESPOND TO THE QUESTION ABOUT PRIORITIES TO OUR DART BOARD MEMBERS WHO I APPRECIATE BEING HERE TODAY.
ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE LOOKING AT IN THE CITY WITH DR.
PEREZ AT THE HELM, IS BEST USE OF OUR REAL ESTATE IN THE CITY.
AND WE HAVE A LOT OF WE HAVE 50,000 ACRES PLUS IN THE CITY.
WE'RE REVIEWING THAT RIGHT NOW.
OF COURSE, AND I AGREE WITH THE COMMENT THAT WAS MADE EARLIER THAT TO HELP WITH RIDERSHIP, ONE OF THE THINGS WE NEED TO DO AS OUR PART IN THE CITY IS TO HELP WITH DENSITY.
THE SIX SITES THAT WE ARE WORKING WITH YOU ON TO ALLOW FOR THIS TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT.
I THINK THAT CAN'T HURT TO HAVE THOUSANDS OF ADDITIONAL PEOPLE LIVING RIGHT THERE AT THE TRAIN STATIONS, AND I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US MOVE FORWARD ON MORE SITES AND NOT WAIT UNTIL THESE ARE DEVELOPED TO SEE HOW THEY GO.
I THINK THEY'RE ALREADY MOVING.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE HAMPTON STATION ONE IN MY DISTRICT HAS BEEN VERY GOOD.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STAFF HAS DONE A FANTASTIC JOB AND I THINK DART'S BEEN COOPERATIVE.
SO I'D LIKE TO SEE US EXPAND THAT AND ACTUALLY TAKE THAT TO MORE DART SITES.
RIGHT. YOU BUILT YOURS FOR MAXIMUM CAPACITY.
THAT WOULD BE MY PRIORITY IF IT'S NOT CLEAR.
DR. PEREZ, HOW MANY UNITS WILL BE AT THOSE FIVE STATIONS THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT AT THIS POINT IN TIME FOR TOD? DO YOU KNOW, THIS MORNING I HEARD ON THE RADIO THERE WAS ONE.
AND I'M JUST NOT SURE WHAT YOUR AVERAGE IS, WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.
SURE I HAVE TO DEFER TO ANY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STAFF WHO MIGHT BE HERE.
I'M HERE ROBERT. THIS IS ROBIN BENTLEY, DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
THE NUMBER VARIES AT EACH SITE, AND THEY'RE ALL STILL WORKING THROUGH THEIR DESIGNS.
SO WE DON'T HAVE AN EXACT NUMBER, BUT I DON'T RECALL A PROPOSAL AS SMALL AS 50.
THEY WERE ALL IN A LARGER, YOU KNOW, SEVERAL HUNDRED UNIT CONFIGURATION.
[01:50:08]
OKAY. THANK YOU.CHAIR NARVAEZ. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN. FIRST, I WANT TO AGAIN THANK YOU, DR.
SO THANK YOU. AND I KNOW THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT WHAT WAS MY QUESTION TO MAKE SURE THAT DART IS BROUGHT IN AS FAR AS WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THEIR STATION, HOW WE'RE GOING TO MAXIMIZE THE RIDERSHIP THAT CAN GET TO THE CONVENTION CENTER.
I WAS HOPING THAT YOU ALL WOULD AND YOU ALL DID.
AS WE CAN MOVE FORWARD WITH MAKING SURE THAT THE CONVENTION CENTER IS GOT THE OPTIMAL FEATURES THAT IT NEEDS, NOT JUST WITHIN THE BUILDING, BUT ALSO EVERYTHING THAT WOULD BE THE INFRASTRUCTURE TOWARD IT THAT BRINGS EVERYTHING TO IT.
IT IS GOING TO BE OUR SECOND LARGEST INVESTMENT EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE CITY OF DALLAS.
OUR MOST BIGGEST INVESTMENT EVER WAS DFW AIRPORT.
SO THANK YOU ALL FOR BRINGING THAT UP.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE RIDERSHIP PROGRAM, FARE-LESS RIDERSHIP PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS.
COUNCILWOMAN SCHULTZ FOR PICKING UP THE BATON ON LEADERSHIP ON THIS AND REALLY CHAMPIONING ON BEHALF OF THE EQUITY OF THE STUDENTS THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO POSSIBLY BENEFIT FROM THIS.
I AGREE, WE NEED TO TAP ON THE BRAKES AND SLOW THIS DOWN.
WHAT IS THAT, A SQUARE PEG INTO A ROUND HOLE FOR DART.
AND SO DART THANK YOU FOR GIVING THE ANSWERS IN YOUR LAST PRESENTATION.
I'M IN AGREEMENT TO TAP THE BRAKES.
IF WE HAVE SOME STUDENTS AT OTHER AT THE SCHOOLS THAT WERE ALREADY SELECTED, AND WE SEE THAT THERE'S SOME THAT ARE GOING TO FALL SHORT AND THEY WOULD REALLY, REALLY BENEFIT FROM THAT I HOPE THAT WE CAN WORK TOGETHER AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THOSE.
IF IT'S A HANDFUL OR MORE THAN A HANDFUL, THAT THEY WERE COUNTING ON THIS DART PATH FOR THE REST OF THE SEMESTER, THAT WE CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK TOGETHER TO TAKE CARE OF THEM, THOSE FEW STUDENTS.
AND THEN AT THIS TIME, I'D LIKE TO I'VE ALREADY ASKED THEM, AND THEY BOTH AGREED THAT COUNCIL MEMBER SCHULTZ, AS WELL AS COUNCIL MEMBER GRACEY, WILL CO-CHAIR A WORKING GROUP WITH DART AND THE CITY OF DALLAS TRANSPORTATION TOO AND WE'LL BUILD LATER WHAT THE MAKEUP OF THAT WORKING GROUP WILL BE. IN ORDER FOR US TO GET THIS PROGRAM WITH THE CRITERIA, WHAT WE EXPECT, WHAT WE THINK, ALONG WITH DART THAT WE'RE FOLLOWING AS WELL THROUGH WITH THEIR POLICIES AND WHAT THEY DO.
AND MAKE SURE THAT THAT IS OKAY.
HOWEVER, THEIR OATH OF OFFICE IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FISCAL SECURITY, THE TRANSPORTATION, ETCETERA OF THE DART SYSTEM. THEY DO JUST BECAUSE WE APPOINT THEM DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE GET TO DICTATE TO THEM.
SO WE NEED TO BE VERY MINDFUL AND CAREFUL.
WE DO NOT OWN THESE BOARD MEMBERS.
AND THERE ARE 15 DIFFERENT PEOPLE WHO THEY ANSWER TO ON THIS ENTIRE COUNCIL.
JUST AS WE HAVE AN OATH OF OFFICE THAT WE TOOK.
AND SO, YES, THEY REPRESENT THE CITY OF DALLAS, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THEY HAVE AN OATH TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DART SYSTEM WORKS COMPLETELY AND THAT THEY ARE AS FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN BE WITH DART.
SO AGAIN, TO OUR DART BOARD MEMBERS, I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR WHAT YOU DO.
I STILL, STILL STILL SAY THAT YOU ALL ARE DOING AMAZING THINGS.
YOU ALL HAVE MADE SOME CHANGES HAPPEN AT DART AND IT'S NOT EASY.
AND WE ARE MAKING CHANGES HERE IN THE CITY OF DALLAS AND IT'S NOT EASY.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS THAT GO ON, A LOT OF HOW WE SHOULD DO IT OR DO THINGS.
[01:55:05]
AND I CAN TELL MY COLLEAGUES CARE DEEPLY, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM ABOUT OUR GREAT CITY, AS WELL AS YOU ALL THAT REPRESENT DART ON BEHALF OF OUR GREAT CITY.AND DART IS SOMETHING I JUST SEE THE CHANGES HAPPENING AND I APPRECIATE YOU ALL FROM THE DOWNTOWN STATIONS THAT I PERSONALLY HAVE USED RECENTLY.
AND I DON'T SEE ALL THE TRASH AND VAGRANT FOLKS AND ALL THAT STUFF THERE ANYMORE.
THAT ELEMENT, THE SYSTEM WAS CLEAN AND I KNOW IT'S HARD TO GET IT ALL DONE IN ONE SWOOP.
YOU ALL ARE MAKING THINGS HAPPEN.
BUT WE HAVE JUST IN STREETS, ROADS AND ALLEYS, $18 BILLION WORTH OF DEFERRED MAINTENANCE.
WE DIDN'T GET THERE OVERNIGHT AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO CURE IT ALL OVERNIGHT.
AND AS WE SEE THAT HAPPENING, OUR RESIDENTS ARE STARTING TO SEE IT AND FEEL IT.
AND DART IS A PRIORITY TO THEM AS WELL, THAT WE GET IT RIGHT AND WE HELP EVERYBODY OUT.
AND I JUST I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS PARTNERSHIP.
AND THANK YOU TO OUR CHAIR RIGHT NOW, MR. GRACEY, FOR THE THANKSGIVING DAY COMMENT.
AND THAT IS NOTHING MORE BUT TRUE WHEN IT COMES TO OUR BODY.
AND I APPRECIATE CHAIRMAN GRACEY, AS WELL AS CHAIRMAN SCHULTZ, FOR AGREEING TO LEAD THE WORKING GROUP SO WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT DART KNOWS WHAT OUR PRIORITIES ARE WITH THE STUDENT FARE-LESS PROGRAM.
AND WE ALSO KNOW WHAT THE WORK THAT WE CAN AND CAN'T DO THROUGH DART POLICIES, SO THAT WE'RE NOT TRYING TO SHOVE A SQUARE PEG INTO A ROUND HOLE.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO GET DONE AND IT IS A PRIORITY.
BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN PRIORITY MEANS RIGHT NOW.
IT MEANS LET'S GET IT RIGHT AND GET THE BEST POSSIBLE PROGRAM THAT WE CAN.
WE HAVE A COUPLE OF MEMOS ON HERE.
DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON ANY OF THESE MEMOS? EITHER ITEM D OR E? OH, I'M SORRY I MISSED YOU I APOLOGIZE.
ONE OF THE THINGS I DID HAVE A QUESTION WAS THE CITY OF DALLAS' PERSPECTIVE ON PARKING REQUIREMENTS AT THESE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT STATIONS, AND SO I'D BE VERY INTERESTED IN GETTING A MEMO BACK REGARDING THAT MINIMUMS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
POINT OF INFORMATION, CHAIR, COULD YOU REPEAT THE QUESTION ON PARKING REQUIREMENTS? THAT'S OKAY. SO LIKE ON WHAT OUR THOUGHTS ARE ON HOW MUCH IT SHOULD BE PARKED.
ALL RIGHT. ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS BEFORE I MOVE ON? ALL RIGHT. WITH NONE.
WE HAVE A COUPLE OF BRIEFING MEMOS HERE.
ITEM D IS A VISION ZERO PROGRESS REPORT UPDATE.
AND ITEM E IS CRUISE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES.
DO WE HAVE ANY COMMENTS? YES, COUNCILMEMBER [INAUDIBLE].
I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ON DIVISION ZERO ONE.
MY INITIAL QUESTION IS, WELL, WHENEVER Y'ALL ARE READY.
IF THE GOAL IS TO COMPLETE THIS BY THE END OF THE YEAR, I'M WONDERING WHY WE ARE WHERE WE ARE AND IF WE STILL PLAN ON COMPLETING THOSE. MR. CHAIR.
WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REQUEST A BRIEFING ON A COUNCIL BRIEFING ON VISION ZERO, AND THEN WE CAN SPEND AS MUCH TIME AS WE NEED ON IT? THANK YOU. YES, THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.
[02:00:01]
WE'LL DO THAT PLEASE.SO FOR THE DART BOARD MEMBERS, YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO STAY.
I APOLOGIZE, I SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT A LONG TIME AGO.
SO I WILL ADJOURN THE DART MEMBER BOARD MEETING, PART OF THIS BRIEFING.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. YES, SIR.
WE'LL GET THAT ON THE FORECAST.
YEP. I'M ACTUALLY ASKING FOR A COUNCIL BRIEFING.
PEREZ. WE'LL TAKE CARE OF THAT, MA'AM.
YEAH, WE'LL TAKE CARE OF THAT, MR. CHAIR. WE'LL GET IT ON COUNCIL BRIEFING.
WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND CALL THIS MEETING ADJOURNED AT 3:10 P.M..
THANK YOU.
* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.