Mckinney Allen Dart Mass Transit? (Houston, Dallas: for sale, rent, home)

[CTR36]

Lakewooder said:Since when are the men in Oak Lawn after women? LOL

[momof2dfw]

FYI: Can't go to Garland to buy your sixpack to avoid the DART tax....... we are a DART city w/ several Park & Rides and train stations.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by mckinneydeb

I attended all of the city's Town Center studies which focused on revitalization of the downtown corridor and the Hwy 5/380 corridor. A lot of attention was given to changing the face of the Hwy 5 businesses to make the drive more "asthetically pleasing" as this was to be considered the main way into downtown. All of the meetings included plans for some form of public rail transportation. One of the facilitators stated "it's not if there is going to be a public rail system in McKinney, it's when". Plans are for the primary depot to be just about a block or so east of Hwy 5. However, it was stressed that this probably wouldn't happen for many years (10 or more).

McKinney is NOT a DART member city and probably never will be. Plenty of people from McKinney use DART but don't really support it on purchases that much if they do all of their shopping in McKinney. McKinney however CAN do their own public transportation much like Mesquite has or if they are hoping the state will bail them out and fund it. Even on DART's 2030 plan there is no mention at all of any kind of rail system, bus or park & ride in McKinney or Frisco. For them to get a rail system w/in the next 10 years they would already have to be a member city and that is not even on the books to be voted on by the citizens of McKinney. Rockwall is another city that had the chance to be a member city of DART and has repeatedly voted it down. I think it is too late now in the game for any other cities to join as the funds would not be there.

Now y'all want to know something that gripes me? The people that ride DART and don't pay
A few weeks ago Ch. 8 did a story on the number of passangers that ride DART and do not purchase tickets. They just assume no ticket taker will be on the train and ask for it and so they basically "steal" the ride. One guy they interviewed that got busted and written a ticket w/ his daughter in tow was from McKinney. His excuse, "I just moved here from Florida and did not know I had to pay". WTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If that is the case then the man is plain blind also and did not see the ticket machines and the fares posted. Yeah, we just give away free rides all over town. He knew he needed a ticket he was just trying to cheat the system and those of us that do pay for this transportation . Ticks me off. I do not care for people like that at all.

[Lakewooder]

Make the fee very stiff like the vaporettos in Venice!

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

Make the fee very stiff like the vaporettos in Venice!

Well the guy got two tickets. One for him and one for his daughter. The tickets were well more than the train ticket would have cost him.

[Lakewooder]

To “fare il portoghese” will cost you dearly and they will make you pay on the spot.

[nativeDallasite]

Originally Posted by Gustav

According to McKinney City planners (I spoke to a few), McKinney has no plans to enter agreements with DART. They have already imposed the optional local sales tax to the maximum 8.25%, and cannot (will not) reallocate tax revenues to other projects (DART). Raising the maximum would require a change in Texas tax law, which conservative North Texas lawmakers are reticent to propose.

For commuters from McKinney, this means autos only for a large portion of the trip. The population of Collin County has increased significantly in the last four years. In 2000, the population of McKinney was 54,369 (according to Stats about all US cities - relocation info, maps, race, income, photos, education, crime, weather, houses, etc.). In 2006, that population had exploded to over 107,000 (97.8%)!

As you might imagine, traffic on the two lanes (each way) of US 75 is jammed almost all the time. A 20 mile commute can take more than 90 minutes. Car pooling is not very popular because demands on workers and families create difficulties in scheduling.

If anyone is interested in changing things, and there are likely a few thousand who are, I suggest a strong petition to city leaders to hear these arguments and respond.

Thank you.

An excellent reason to NOT move to McKinney. I've got nothing against it, but let's get real...we ALL need mass transit.

[aceplace]

Momof2, you're absolutely right. Garland is a DART member city in good standing. I meant to say Mesquite. My bad.

Laura, sorry if I got on your case, but I just wanted others to feel comfortable about using DART. It may not be in your comfort zone, but many people might feel differently, and I want them to hear an alternate viewpoint.

I don't think DART light rail or the DART organization is appropriate for outer suburbs like McKinney. A separate agency for Collin county, similar to the DCTA in Denton county, would work a lot better. If a Collin county train could travel nonstop through Dallas county to reach downtown Dallas, that would be ideal. Unfortunately, the I75 corridor is light rail only. Even if a future Collin County train could ride on DART trackage, it would still have to stop at every DART station. That might be better than forcing passengers to transfer to DART at the Planp Parker Road station, however.

[mckinneydeb]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

McKinney is NOT a DART member city and probably never will be. Plenty of people from McKinney use DART but don't really support it on purchases that much if they do all of their shopping in McKinney. McKinney however CAN do their own public transportation much like Mesquite has or if they are hoping the state will bail them out and fund it. Even on DART's 2030 plan there is no mention at all of any kind of rail system, bus or park & ride in McKinney or Frisco. For them to get a rail system w/in the next 10 years they would already have to be a member city and that is not even on the books to be voted on by the citizens of McKinney. .

I never said McKinney was part of DART or planned to be. The facilitator said "public rail". During all three meetings, DART was not named specifically and I believe this was intentional. I do not believe the plan is to be a direct part of the DART system. I do believe (or at least I hope) the city wouldn't have wasted hundreds of hours or thousands of dollars (I would guess it was significantly more than that) having four planning, architectural and engineering firms develop drawings/plans to the add to the city's Comprehensive Plan that would include extensive planning for a public rail system. I don't think it was all for "show", I believe there was some validity to the meetings. A few years ago, maybe around 2004, the city did have maps/renditions of plans for a public rail depot east of Hwy 5 along with multiple park and ride locations throughout the residential areas of far west McKinney. At that time I do believe it was tagged as part of
DART. Those drawings were posted at city hall and online for a while but were later removed. That's probably why the plan is for a no name "public rail system".

[CallMeLaura]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Laura, sorry if I got on your case, but I just wanted others to feel comfortable about using DART. It may not be in your comfort zone, but many people might feel differently, and I want them to hear an alternate viewpoint.

Ok, as long as you take back the gossip thing... I've had reason to discuss crime, laws, and policies with regards to personal safety with people in the know, outside of the murder thing, so I'm not being hysterical over water cooler gossip.

Chicago has an extensive public transportation system and it is well utilized. Standing room only, and sometimes so packed that bodily contact can not be avoided. Traffic is still a *****.

I'm not against public transportation by any means. I've never been accosted, even in Chicago where only the bad guys are armed. I do realize that it's never going to make 75 a pleasant drive during rush hour, so no, I'm not willing to fund it unless it's via purchasing a ticket.