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Up to a point I might agree. It takes a long time, the sooner we get started the better. Here is a little history of DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) 1983 DART is created when 58 percent of voters in 14 cities and Dallas County cast 175,000 ballots in favor of regional transportation. 1984 The DART Board selects light rail as the preferred mode for the 147-mile network. Parson, Brinkerhoff, Quade & Douglas is named DART's general engineering consultant. 1985 A major staff financial review reveals that revenue resources through 2010 will not be sufficient to build 147 miles of rail. 1986 The Board revises the DART Service Plan to provide 93 miles of light rail transit including seven miles of subways. 1988 The North Central Texas Council of Governments conducts a citizen survey on transit planning that demonstrates voter support for mass transit, but not for long-term borrowing. The DART Board shifts course to develop a system plan that would include immediate and future projects without long-term debt. 1989 The DART Board approves the new DART Transit System Plan, moving the agency from the planning modes to major construction. The Board also approves the local and technical assistance programs for member city regional transportation support. 1990 DART begins light rail transit construction with San Jacinto Street relocation. 1992 DART begins major construction with the Trinity River rail bridge and the North Central subway tunnels. DART begins construction on the West Oak Cliff rail line. 1993 DART begins utility relocation work for the 1.1-mile transitway mall in the Dallas Central Business District. DART receives $82.6 million in federal funding for the South Oak Cliff light rail project. 1994 DART's construction crews complete mining for final tunnel breakthrough on the second of two 3.5-mile light rail subway tunnels under North Central Expressway. The House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee recommends a bill allocating $38.77 million for DART's rail projects. DART's Board of Directors approves a $33.6 million construction contract to build a 2.9-mile light rail line through South Oak Cliff. DART holds public hearings to hear community rail concerns and present a neighborhood job program. 1995 More than 300,000 State Fair visitors take the public's first official look at a DART light rail vehicle. 1996 The 20-mile light rail transit starter system opens ontime and within budget, with weekend festivities followed by a week of free rides. Revenue service begins June 24, coinciding with the opening of the CBD West Bus Transfer Center -- the first of two such facilities scheduled to begin operation in downtown Dallas. Initial light rail ridership exceeds all expectations, averaging more than 18,000 daily passengers as opposed to the projected 15,000. DART opens the first 10-mile segment of the new Trinity Railway Express commuter rail service linking Dallas and Irving with a stop at the Medical/Market Center. Service will be extended to Fort Worth. 1997 DART extends the light rail system six miles northward along North Central Expressway (US Highway 75) between downtown Dallas and Park Lane. The new line includes a 3.5-mile subway from downtown to the new Mockingbird Station, making it possible for commuters to make the trip between Park Lane and downtown in just 14 minutes. The opening of the new line nearly doubles ridership on the new light rail system to approximately 30,000 passengers per day. DART completes the 20-mile light rail starter system with the opening of the three-mile long extension of its Blue Line through the South Oak Cliff section of Dallas. This section of track runs south from the Illinois Station in the center of Lancaster Road to the new Ledbetter Station with an intermediate stop at the VA Medical Center Station. DART is named Transit Agency of the Year by the American Public Transit Association, the highest honor in the industry. The U.S. Department of Transportation awards DART $13.7 million for the light rail extension from Park Lane in north Dallas to Plano. The DART Board orders 34 additional light rail vehicles (LRVs) from Kinkisharyo, USA, manufacturers of DART's original 40 LRVs. The value of the contract is $93.43 million. The LRVs are scheduled to begin service in June 1999. 1998 DART light rail sets a ridership record, transporting more than 36,000 passengers each weekday. The DART Board votes to purchase 21 additional LRVs from Kinkisharyo, USA. The new purchase is in addition to the 34 LRVs ordered in October 1997. This order brings the fleet size to 95. The contract price for the 21 vehicles is $60.21 million. More than 1 million passenger trips were made on 1999 DART begins light rail construction in Garland. Construction is underway on DART's first aerial station located at Park Lane and Greenville. The station on the north side of Park Lane will replace the temporary station on the south side of the road. U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater signs a $333 million Full Funding Grant Agreement to help pay for construction of an extension of DART's North Central rail line. 2000 Residents in DART's 13 member cities voted overwhelmingly in favor of allowing the agency to use long-term financing to upgrade and accelerate future light rail lines. More than 77 percent of the 33,603 voters casting ballots in the August 12, 2000, election supported the proposition. Trinity Railway Express Commuter Rail expands service to three new Tarrant County stations - the Richland Hills station, the Hurst/Bell station and the CentrePort/DFW Airport station. Cityplace Station, the Southwest's first subway station, opens. Cityplace Station has Texas-style dimensions, including six pairs of escalators. The tri-level facility reaches depths of 120 feet underneath the expressway. Bright lights and soothing pastel and white tiles throughout the station give customers a sense of safety, day or night. Original tile art on station walls at all levels reflect the area's rich history and diversity. 2001 White Rock Station, three miles northeast of Mockingbird Station, opens at East Northwest Highway and West Lawther Drive, the initial stop on the northeast rail extension to downtown Garland in 2002. The park-and-ride station is the first light rail expansion since the debut of the 20-mile starter system in 1996. Trinity Railway Express commuter rail service reaches downtown Fort Worth. The train, which has been operating at three stations in Dallas County since December 1996, and three Tarrant County stations since September of 2000, currently carries nearly 6,000 riders per day. The North Central Texas Council of Governments projects more than 11,000 riders each day by 2010. 2002 DART pushes past LBJ Freeway with the opening of LBJ/Skillman Station. DART's 23rd light rail station extends the Blue Line 3.5 miles from White Rock Station to serve Northeast Dallas. The station has 646 free parking spaces, passenger shelters, seating and telephones. The LBJ/Skillman Station celebrates the natural landscape of the region and the importance of transportation to Texas and the United States. DART reaches North Dallas and Richardson with seven new rail stations. The opening is part of one of the largest light rail expansions underway in North America. The seven new stations extend DART's Red Line by more than nine miles. In Dallas, new rail stops include a new Park Lane Station, Walnut Hill Station, Forest Lane Station and LBJ/Central Station. In Richardson, DART trains stop at Spring Valley Station, Arapaho Center Station and Galatyn Park Station. Richardson is the first North Texas suburb to welcome DART light rail into its city limits. DART light rail opens in Plano. Southeast and Northwest Corridors Draft Environmental Impact Statement released. Southeast and Northwest Corridors Preliminary Engineering/Environmental Impact Statement Bulletin released. 19 years after DART was borned, DART is becoming something to be proud of. Yet, DART is not safisfied, there are two more corridors underway....
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