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[quote user="henry6"]I would think a third of the working population using DART or any public transportation agency anyplace, was high and an achievement worth noting. [/quote] Actually, it is 1/3rd of the population that works in the Central Business District (CBD). As I tried to make clear, Dallas has at least 34 high impact employment centers. The last time that I checked, the CBD was not even the largest regional employment center and, therefore, most people in the region don't work in the CBD.   As was true for our company, many downtown employers encourage their employees to use public transit by subsidizing their transit pass.  If I remember correctly, just before I retired, my monthly bus pass cost me $13, whereas it would have cost me $54 had I purchased it through DART direct. Today the monthly pass for local travel is $80. If I remember correctly from when I was on the Dallas Transit System Citizens Advisory Board, which was a long time ago, approximately 25 to 30 per cent of the people who worked in the CBD rode one of DTS's rickety, GM buses; now many of them come downtown on the light rail. Many of the bus routes that used to run downtown now feed people into a light rail station where they transfer to the light rail. As my previous note, less than 3 per cent of people over 18, according to the 2010 census data, from the 12 communities served by the light rail system, use it.   Dallas is not unique in Texas.  Cities here are not like many of those on the east and west coasts. They developed along highways instead of railways, which was the case in many of the east and west coast cities. And employment centers followed suite.  Austin, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio all followed the same pattern.  Thus, tying the employment centers together with a light rail system is challenging.  Contrary to what one may think, I am an enthusiastic supporter of public transit, although I recognize its limits. And I was an enthusiastic support of light and commuter rail.  I am still a strong believer in commuter rail, i.e. the Trinity Railway Express, but I cannot help but wonder if the light rail was worth the investment.
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