March 6, 2026 - TRA Newswire -

Member cities in the Dallas Area Rapid Transit network can expect to see a portion of the sales tax they pay returned to them as part of a deal to head off withdrawal elections in at least three municipalities this spring.

Farmers Branch, Irving and Plano were among six cities to schedule elections that would have given voters the chance to withdraw from the transit system. Those cities cancelled a ballot measure set for May when DART and the North Central Texas Council of Government's Regional Transportation Council (RTC) reached a funding agreement. 

Three other cities, however, have only days to decide if they will remove the ballot initiative set for May. Highland Park, University Park and Addison councils insist that they want their citizens to have a say. Should voters in those three cities vote to leave DART, any bus, rail or transit services for handicapped residents would cease the following day.

In Addison, that would mean a brand-new multi-million dollar rail station and transit center served with numerous bus routes and just opened in the fall of 2025, would see trains whiz by the platform on the way to DFW International Airport. Addison, which has a small footprint, is one of the most congested traffic areas in Dallas county.

TRA Board Member Chris Wyatt, a pilot who flies out of DFW Airport, indicated that he is upset by the potential loss of DART Silver Line rail service. Wyatt signed a lease at a residence next to the new Addison rail station because of the convenience of getting to and from his job at the airport. The area has seen a number of new apartments and residences  built in the last five years in anticipation of the rail service. 

University Park and Highland Park would lose all bus stops on a key north-south line on Preston Road that connects downtown Dallas to Addison. Traffic in both cities can be challenging even outside of AM and PM rush hours. 

"Here's where the cities make a mistake. The city of Coppell entered DART in 1984 and in only a five-year span the city council decided they wanted to withdraw from DART and put the item before voters in 1989," according to Texas Rail Advocates President Peter LeCody. "With only a 20 vote margin the city of Coppell lost DART service and the city has been an isolated transit city ever since.  Even in their business park district workers have no choice but to drive. Check traffic during peak hours in Coppell, it's rough." 

The cities that cancelled the ballot measures will see DART contributing 5% of the sales taxes to cities the first year and an additional 0.5% each year for a period of five years. 

On Feb. 12, the Regional Transportation Council approved a plan to provide $75 million over five years to help fund DART capital projects. With DART contributing 7.5% to cities and the RTC providing an additional 2.5% in the final year of the agreement, member cities will receive the equivalent of 10% of their sales tax contributions in the last year for other transportation-related needs.

Most of the funding approved by the RTC would come from a combination of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality and Surface Transportation Block Grant funding, according to the agency.

The RTC Transit Vision Subcommittee will be requested to accelerate the development of a legislative proposal intended to improve regional transit through 2050. The transit subcommittee was formed last summer to help reshape the region’s public transportation system for the next 25 years.

Information on the RTC's Regional Transit 2.0 can be found at NCTCOG.org/transit2.0.