The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved another year of money for the city-owned Dallas Streetcar and a $1 million contract with engineering firm AECOM to settle the route for a longer line, the Dallas Observer reported Thursday.
The extension would connect the streetcar, which now links North Oak Cliff with downtown, to Uptown's M Line Trolley. Once built, riders could go from Bishop Arts to Klyde Warren Park, with West Village and the Dallas World Aquarium also on the route and more stops added downtown.
The AECOM work is meant to finalize a route the city broadly backed in 2017, linking a planned streetcar extension near the Omni hotel with the M Line.
Gus Khankarli, the city's transportation and public works director, told the council the process will include outreach to stakeholders and the public.
The yearly cost
Running the streetcar this fiscal year will cost close to $2.8 million, council members were told. About $2.5 million comes from the general fund, which was $51 million short before September's budget cuts, according to the Observer. The remaining roughly $300,000 comes from sales tax money DART returns to the city, which totals more than $21 million in 2026.
Cara Mendelsohn questioned the expense of a service that charges riders $1. "The 2.5 million on this item, it's just not sustainable," she said, adding that the city's share was about $1 million when she joined the council and that, in her view, ridership is falling. She called the arrangement a "terrible, terrible deal for the city."
Khankarli said outside subsidies are gone and inflation has raised what the city pays for parts and other expenses.
Chad West, whose district includes the part of North Oak Cliff the line serves, spoke in favor. "The streetcar is an important public transit tool to provide low-cost, car-free transit between North Oak Cliff and downtown," he said.
