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In 2007 I asked Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) to give me information regarding who used its services and when.  Surprisingly, DART sent me Excel spreadsheets for every one of its routes, showing the schedules, load factors, etc.  Here are few insights that I gleamed from the information. Forty five per cent of DART's bus riders did not have an alternative.  It was take the bus, walk, ride a bicycle, ask a friend for a ride, pay for a cab, etc. And 23 per cent of the light rail passengers did not have an alternative. A significant percentage of public transit users in DFW don't have a realistic alternative to taking the bus or train. In many instances they probably cannot afford a car or a better transportation option. The heaviest system load factors occurred during the morning and evening rush hours. For example, the average load factor on the Trinity Railway Express during the rush hours was 83 per cent.  Overall, it was 33 per cent.  And it dropped to 10 per cent in the early morning and late evening hours. The patterns for the buses and light rail lines were similar. Although the data is getting long in the tooth, the patterns probably have not changed significantly. DART does not classify its customers demographically. However, the load factors for the buses and light rail serving low income communities was higher than the load factors for the more affluent communities. With the increase cost of fuel, it appears more middle income people are using the light rail system and express buses for commuting as well as to attend special events, i.e. State Fair of Texas, sporting events at the American Airlines Arena, etc. Most of the people in Dallas who use pubic transit are middle to low income. Of course, there are exceptions. I go to Dallas two or three times a month, and I usually ride DART whilst I am there. Most of the riders on the buses and trains that I ride appear to be lower income.  My company, with nearly 18,000 employees, had approximately 700 executives and managers. About 210 of them worked downtown Dallas. Only seven of these managers or 3.3 per cent used public transit. The company had a subsidized DART pass program, but most of the employees did not use it. They could afford to drive, and they did so, although car pooling increased in popularity as fuel costs increased. Very few of them took advantage of the public transit discount. I rode public transit to and from work for 37 of the 39 years that I was employed by corporate America.  I was a rarity, especially in the south and west.
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