Do you ride public transit in Dallas? (Irving, Orange: 2014, home)

[DonathanCr]

I am wondering how the Public transit in Dallas stacks up against a city like St. Louis (where I live now) that has light rail and bus.

In St. Louis you can get around at almost any hour of the day almost every day of the year either by train or bus and there are stops everywhere. How does this compare to Dallas?

[TowerGuy]

Originally Posted by DonathanCr

I am wondering how the Public transit in Dallas stacks up against a city like St. Louis (where I live now) that has light rail and bus.

In St. Louis you can get around at almost any hour of the day almost every day of the year either by train or bus and there are stops everywhere. How does this compare to Dallas?

We have DART Rail and Bus. Some of the bus lines near the rail stations are synchronized to the trains. DART Rail has a total of 4 Lines. Red, Blue, Green and Orange. The Orange Line currently runs select trips during rush hour along the Green and Red Lines. In 2012, the Orange Line will split off on its own and serve Irving. In 2014, the Orange Line will serve DFW International Airport. Metro-St. Louis has 37 rail stations. DART has 55 rail stations. Below is a map of the current rail system and a link to a video rendering of the Orange Line to DFW International.





DFW International Airport Rail Video: Sky Talk: A view of light rail to D/FW Airport

[Texan#1]

I work from home and have my own car so I only ride the dart on occasion. I do know that many people rely on it as their sole means of transportation, but most Dallasites drive their own vehicles. I expect ridership to increase when the line that will go to DFW airport opens; I know I'll be using it more then.

[Dark Serge]

The system here is pretty dang good, I'd say, although there are a lot of cities that elect not to participate. Since I ain't got the money to drive, I depend on DART, and it works quite well for me. Through rail/bus transfers I get to where I need to go fairly efficiently almost every time.

[cmacemm]

I ride it daily! and I also have a car

[portorro]

I drive my car most times. Only do Dart when we have snow and I like it.
Also, when my car broke down last year, I used Dart and was pleasantly surprised.
I do live within the triangle of 35/ 635 / 75.

[TurtleCreek80]

DART works well for commuters IF your office & home are both close to rail stations, 75%++ people do not fall into that category though.

It also works well to take it to events & attractions- like the State Fair of Texas and other events (Cotton Bowl, etc) at Fair Park, to the zoo, etc.

There are a lot of bus routes but traffic can be a bear here so busses are often behind schedule / delayed. It can literally take an hour to take a bus 15 miles.....something you could have driven yoruself in 15-30 minutes by having the option to alter your route if there's a wreck. Busses don't have that flexibility.

[ClarenceBodiker]

I take it to events like TurtleCreek described because I hate having to hunt down parking, and a lot of the time it costs more just to park than to ride the train.

From my home though it takes me 10 minutes at least to drive to the train station. There's no reason really for me to use it for daily or work purposes. If they ran the trains longer into the night I would use it all the time to go into Dallas and drink. It beats drinking and driving or taxis. Unfortunately, the bars are open quite longer than the train runs.

[Fillmont]

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

I take it to events like TurtleCreek described because I hate having to hunt down parking, and a lot of the time it costs more just to park than to ride the train.

From my home though it takes me 10 minutes at least to drive to the train station. There's no reason really for me to use it for daily or work purposes. If they ran the trains longer into the night I would use it all the time to go into Dallas and drink. It beats drinking and driving or taxis. Unfortunately, the bars are open quite longer than the train runs.

I wonder if DART has done any research into cost effectiveness of running the trains until 2/2:30, because I would also love to be able to train in and out for nights out. Maybe only Thurs-Sat maybe.

[cmacemm]

Originally Posted by Fillmont

I wonder if DART has done any research into cost effectiveness of running the trains until 2/2:30, because I would also love to be able to train in and out for nights out. Maybe only Thurs-Sat maybe.

I would be happy with trains running every 30-45 minutes Thurs-Sat until 2:45 am or so