DART sees 5 percent rise in train passengers

By JUSTIN FARMER - WFAA-TV - Wed., June 25, 2008
DALLAS - The rising price of gasoline has more people in the Dallas area relying on mass transit.

That pleases DART but also offers challenges as it tailors routes to riders' needs.

North Texans love their trucks and SUVs but maybe with gas at $4 a gallon, habits are changing.

The number of passengers on DART trains was up 5 percent last month.

The number of passengers on the TRE which runs between Dallas and Fort Worth was up 7 percent.
May represented the busiest month ever for DART trains - so busy that the parking lots in Plano and Garland were often full.

DART says if this happens to you, then drive to the next DART stop.

DART's future was in doubt in the early 1990s but now is being talked about as brighter than ever.

"We have the largest rail system currently under construction in North America," said DART spokesperson, Mark Ball.

"The 28-mile system is seeing condominiums and restaurants and all kinds of development that DART has nothing to do with, adjacent to our rail system. It's exciting thinking about in the very near future, those are the areas we are going to be servicing and those are the people who are going to be riding on DART," he added.
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