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Initially the promoters for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) light rail system envisioned an under ground transit tunnel through downtown Dallas. In fact, they envisioned two routes; one underground and one on a separate transit-way. That's about as separate as it gets. Until they looked at the price tag!  They decided that a street level transit way, partially dedicated to light rail, was more practicable. And affordable! Initially the promotors of DART's rail program wanted to use heavy rail, e.g. Atlanta's MARTA, until they found out that the cost would be substantially greater than light rail. When they realized that it would shave just 2.5 minutes off the running time from Forest Lane to downtown Dallas, a distance of approximately 10.5 miles, they decided on the light rail because it was affordable. Two or three years ago DART commissioned a highly regarded economics professor at the University of North Texas to evaluate the impact of DART's light rail on economic development around the light rail stations.  He was able to point to the development of apartments and retail shops at Mockingbird Station and apartments in downtown Plano. That's just two stations, although additional apartments are being built along the Green line near Southwestern Medical Center. What he did not say is that the most impressive developments in the Dallas area have taken place far from the light rail stations, i.e. Uptown Dallas, Addison, Los Colinas, etc. How do I know? I lived in Uptown for five years. I could walk downtown quicker than back track on a bus to catch the light rail at City Place. Furthermore, he overlooked the fact that in Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, etc. there has been significant development, due in large part to the growth of Texas, and none of these communities have light rail.  Texas has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 25 years. People need places to live, work, shop, etc. And developers have responded with apartments, townhouses, retail outlets, etc. irrespective of whether there is any light rail or for that matter public transport nearby. These cities are served by fairly decent bus systems, although Austin has an inefficient commuter rail service. Given that only three to five per cent of Texans use public transport, they are more than adequate.  And a significant percentage of them don't have any alternative. What is missing in these discussions is how to pay for light rail and commuter rail, other than to raid the federal treasury, which is heavily stressed.
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