DART paid Dallas $21.2 million in its first mobility-fund payout as bus ridership fell 7.1%, council briefing shows

Dallas Area Rapid Transit made its first payment to Dallas from a new six-year revenue-sharing program on Oct. 1, sending the city $21.2 million, according to a briefing DART leaders will give a City Council committee on Monday, Oct. 19.

The slides, posted with the agenda for the 1 p.m. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting, also show bus ridership down 7.1% and light rail down 1.8% in the third quarter of DART's 2026 fiscal year compared with the same quarter a year earlier. DART Board Chair Randall Bryant and interim President and CEO David Leininger are listed as presenters.

The mobility money

Under the General Mobility Program, DART's member cities get a guaranteed base share of what DART collects in sales tax, beginning at 5% in fiscal 2026 and stepping up by a percentage point a year until it reaches the equivalent of 10% in the final year, the deck says. The Regional Transportation Council adds $75 million over the six years.

Cities can spend the money on projects or services that fit Chapter 452 of the Texas Transportation Code, according to the slides.

Dallas' allocation table lists $21,161,957 for fiscal 2026 and $26,156,989 for fiscal 2027, with estimates rising to $50.6 million in fiscal 2031 and about $211 million over the full cycle. The deck notes that only fiscal 2026 is fully budgeted, fiscal 2027 is partly budgeted and nothing past 2027 has been budgeted yet.

As part of the deal, DART and the cities agree not to pursue legislation that would reduce or impair DART's one-cent sales tax while the agreement is in effect, according to the slides.

Governance bill

The briefing restates a framework the cities agreed on in February: no single city would hold a majority on DART's board, Dallas' vote share would fall between 40% and 50%, and Dallas would keep at least seven seats. The change needs an amendment to Chapter 452, and the deck lists advancing that bill in the next legislative session as a priority.

Riders and security

The slides say Dallas accounts for nearly 74% of systemwide ridership. Route 57 Westmoreland was the busiest bus route in the quarter at about 3,250 average weekday riders, and the West End station led light rail with 6,081 weekday boardings. The deck attributes part of the bus decline to service changes that cut frequency, and says GoLink on-demand ridership grew 7.6%.

On security, DART reports crimes against persons down 20% from last year and property crimes down 14.3%. It cites 100 more uniformed, armed transit security officers, a 90-day police demonstration called Operation Access, and a review of ways to close the system to control who gets on.

The deck also notes DART issued a request for qualifications on Oct. 5 for development on 18 acres at Westmoreland Station.

Sources

dallascityhall.com

webapi.legistar.com