Living in Dallas without a car (Plano, Farmers Branch: insurance, buy, luxury)

[Macbeth2003]

It totally depends. DART service is excellent some places, terrible others. For my wife to commute 4 miles down one road would have taken her almost 90 minutes, due to ridiculous routing and scheduling. On the other hand if the routing works for you it is entirely possible. I would say for most people in Dallas going without a car is either impossible, or impractical. I wish it were otherwise, and as more rail goes up (and if DART ever decides to do bus routing in an intelligent way) it will become more possible for more people.

[$DFW8$]

Originally Posted by killer2021

I've researched it as well. Dallas is a big city and a lot more space compared to other cities like NY or LA. In NY or La there are a lot of bike paths and sidewalks. From what I've seen in google earth, depending on where you live, there will be no bike path or even a sidewalk! You could always just ride your bike on the grass/side of streets but that does get a little dangerous especially if you are going over a bridge where the emergency lane is very small. Then again, I am not even sure if that is legal to do lol.

When I move to Dallas I am planning on riding a bike to work at least 4 days a week depending on weather. Then again I will be renting close to my employment area so it shouldn't be that big of a deal.

I guess it is possible to live in Dallas without a car, but I would never do it. You would have to live close to a DART station and also work near one. There is actually a lot of places that DART goes to, but if you ever need to go somewhere that DART doesn't go to, then you are in for a long walk. Also, I have lived in NYC and LA and getting around in NYC without a car would be A LOT easier than LA. Google Maps has a feature that will tell you how long it will take to walk somewhere. Hope this helps!

[caligurltotx]

And also I find that public transportation only works for the traditional 9 - 5 workers. I will most likely be working a 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. schedule or 3 p.m. to midnight so as much as I would like to go green I just don't see it being doable.

[bjh]

If your job or shopping or school is far away, then yes it can be very difficult. As has been pointed out by others schedules and routes are troublesome. A trip that might take 20 minutes in a car can actually take hours by bus, no exaggeration.

In the 1800s in the west there was a saying, "A man without a horse is no man at all." The word horse could have been replaced with car by about the 1920s or 30s in most of the western American cities.

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by Macbeth2003

It totally depends. DART service is excellent some places, terrible others. For my wife to commute 4 miles down one road would have taken her almost 90 minutes, due to ridiculous routing and scheduling. On the other hand if the routing works for you it is entirely possible. I would say for most people in Dallas going without a car is either impossible, or impractical. I wish it were otherwise, and as more rail goes up (and if DART ever decides to do bus routing in an intelligent way) it will become more possible for more people.

I've enjoyed reading the opinions in this thread... they are mostly from people who probably live in the more low-density suburban areas of DFW where driving is the expected and normal way of life

I lived in Dallas without a car and made it work. I lived in a condo near Preston and Northwest highway and had good bus service and later train connections. For example, I was walking distance to Preston Center, which has nearly anything you want to buy, there were massive shopping centers north on Preston road, easily accessible by the Preston bus, Northpark was a 10 minute bus ride to the east and a DART rail station just a little farther away. South on Preston were several more shopping centers accessible via bus, as was The West Village and the CityPlace station. For a while I worked in the Infomart and would get downtown on transit then transfer to a bus that put me at the Infomart front door.

Most people who live in the New York or Los Angeles metropolitan areas drive, as do most people in the DFW metro area. Actually, when I was living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I was the only guy in my office that did not have a car. If you choose to live and work in the denser parts of these metros, however, you can get along without a car. I'd think that living within the 635 loop near an arterial bus line or a rail station, you can avoid buying a car, or if you own one, avoid buying gas and adding mileage. Which is not to say that someday, for some odddball reason, you may need to get to a point in the middle of nowhere without public transit. For that you can rent a car.

[Grainraiser]

I lived in Dallas for a couple of years without a car and made it just fine. The key is selecting a place that is close to DART, a grocery store and a shopping center. I had good friends that would take me any other place I needed to go. I would not live in Dallas thinking I would never need a car but I would live here knowing a car could be 2 years away.

[Bostonian08]

I took my first ride on DART Friday night. I had to go work at Baylor downtown at 9pm and didn't feel like driving. I drove one mile and parked my car in the GWB parking lot (free). Caught the DART to Pearl. Waved a cab as soon as I got off and was at the BMC 5 minutes later. No problem. I was toting 35 pounds of tools and laptop btw. I enjoyed using my laptop on the train as I went. Try doing that on I-35!

Ran into a minor problem coming back. I tried calling yellow cab for a taxi, and their genius dispatchers didn't know where Baylor Downtown was. Telling them Washington and Gaston didn't help. So it took me a half hour to get a cab back to Pearl Station. @nd problem was the train back home was packed like sardines. Some dude had to bring his bike on and practically set it on my lap. I didn't really care though, I'm used to that. The issue obviously is because they have tiny trains the size of Green line cars doing commuter rail distances. Also these trains go really fast once they get out of town so standing up on a train going that fast is a bit more challenging and risky. When the driver hit his brakes, people went flying.

All and all though I'd say not bad for first try & Friday transit between 8 and 1130pm. Maybe one can't be car free in DFW right now, but one not need not be stuck on a traffic jam on Central either.

On the subject of traffic jams, does DFW have a 511 service of any sort?

Oh and BTW, how does DART check to see if you paid to get on the train? I got one of those day passes but when I got on no one checked and there was no where to swipe a ticket. I had the distinct feeling that most of those people did not pay to ride that train.

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by Bostonian08

I took my first ride on DART Friday night. I had to go work at Baylor downtown at 9pm and didn't feel like driving. I drove one mile and parked my car in the GWB parking lot (free). Caught the DART to Pearl. Waved a cab as soon as I got off and was at the BMC 5 minutes later. No problem. I was toting 35 pounds of tools and laptop btw. I enjoyed using my laptop on the train as I went. Try doing that on I-35!

Ran into a minor problem coming back. I tried calling yellow cab for a taxi, and their genius dispatchers didn't know where Baylor Downtown was. Telling them Washington and Gaston didn't help. So it took me a half hour to get a cab back to Pearl Station. @nd problem was the train back home was packed like sardines. Some dude had to bring his bike on and practically set it on my lap. I didn't really care though, I'm used to that. The issue obviously is because they have tiny trains the size of Green line cars doing commuter rail distances. Also these trains go really fast once they get out of town so standing up on a train going that fast is a bit more challenging and risky. When the driver hit his brakes, people went flying.

All and all though I'd say not bad for first try & Friday transit between 8 and 1130pm. Maybe one can't be car free in DFW right now, but one not need not be stuck on a traffic jam on Central either.

On the subject of traffic jams, does DFW have a 511 service of any sort?

Oh and BTW, how does DART check to see if you paid to get on the train? I got one of those day passes but when I got on no one checked and there was no where to swipe a ticket. I had the distinct feeling that most of those people did not pay to ride that train.

Yup, you're right... the Boston Green line is a Light Rail system, as opposed to heavy rais systems such as the Blue or Red lines.

I'd think that the seat width and legroom on Light Rail is probably going to be comparable to heavy rail. Either way, you have to put up with it.

It'll be just a short time until we have rail service between Baylor and downtown, and lots more rail besides. Sure, it would be wonderful if the area between the 635 cirular freeway were crisscrossed with rail, but that's a long way into the future. In the meantime, Dallas is making plans to establish a streetcar network that should support that need.

[Macbeth2003]

Originally Posted by Bostonian08

Oh and BTW, how does DART check to see if you paid to get on the train? I got one of those day passes but when I got on no one checked and there was no where to swipe a ticket. I had the distinct feeling that most of those people did not pay to ride that train.

They rely on random checks. If you happen to get caught I'm told the fine is in the hundreds.

[**NoodLes**]

I'm in the Uptown area and you could definitely make it here without a car. Not my cup of tea though.