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Park and Ride Lots Never enough parking....

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[quote user="gardendance"][quote user="Samantha"] DART has a similar problem.  Many people who live in cities outside of the DART service area have discovered public transit.  They have been piling onto the trains at the end of the line, e.g. Plano, Garland, etc.  It also illustrates one of the problems of subsidized transit systems.  The people who live in the service area cities pay a one per cent sales tax to help fund DART.  Those who live outside of the service area pay nothing.[/quote]Couldn't DART run a few short trips if the carpetbagger are actually scaring away the locals?Also since it's a sales tax don't those who live outside the service area pay based the taxable items they buy within the service area, regardless of whether they use DART or not? And one assumes they're commuting to jobs in Dallas. Don't they then contribute to Dallas's economy, or do you consider outside jobholders to be a drain on the local economy?[/quote]DART's light rail trains operate end point to end point.  The light rail system is not set-up to run less than the length of the system, except for the trains headed to the train shed.  The point I was highlighting is that people who live outside of the service area are taking the seats of the people who live in the service area.  And it is the people in the service area who pay the lion's share of the cost of the light rail system.  Indeed, they foot the lion's share of all of DART's services.  Most of the commuters, who use the light rail system, or any of DART's services for that matter, work in the service area.  Many although not all of them go downtown Dallas since that is where the trains go.  Many of them eat in service area restaurants, have a drink after work at one of the local watering holes, and may pick-up a few items at the equivalent of a convenience store.  These transactions attract sales tax.  But their purchases in the service area are minimal compared to the services that they purchase at their local malls, restaurants, entertainment venues, service providers, car dealers, etc.  Most workers in Dallas go to work, do their job, and then go back to their suburban homes. Some of them return to suburban homes in the service area, i.e. Richardson, Plano, etc.  But many of them go to suburbs that do not belong to the service area. They contribute to the success of their employer, but they don't pay a lot of taxes in the service area.  The bulk of the sales taxes are paid by the service area residents.  Moreover, it is the service area dwellers who pay the property taxes to help build the access infrastructure that makes getting to and from DART's facilities possible.  Moreover, while everyone in the service area pays to support DART's services, less than two to three per cent use the system.  This is true even after the run-up in ridership that has taken place recently.    Many of the outsiders come from communities that said "No" to DART.  I know their reaction because I was very active in getting the DART referendum passed.  They believed that public transit would never work in North Texas.  Now they are singing a different tune.  They want to opt into the system.  And many of their residents are driving to the end points for a highly subsidized ride to town.
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