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After four cities, including Farmers Branch, voted to put DART membership before their residents, DART has responded with a flurry of press releases highlighting its accomplishments and upgrades.
On Monday, Nov. 24, DART released its Point B Strategic Plan Annual Report highlighting initiatives and major system investments. Introduced in 2024, Point B serves as DART’s strategic guide for ensuring transit plays a substantial role regional mobility as North Texas grows to become the third largest region in the United States in the next decade. According to the report, DART averages 171,000 weekday passenger boardings and more than 56 million trips provided.
According to DART, the plan guides the agency’s decisions around customer experiences and creating spaces in the communities DART serves, ensuring that investments and service improvements move riders closer to the places that connect them.
“Point B is more than a strategy; it is DART’s commitment to our riders and our region,” said Nadine Lee, DART president and CEO. “We made a promise to be transparent to all our stakeholders about how we are working with our employees, for our customers and in partnership with our communities and stakeholders to strengthen our system. This report not only delivers on that promise but also celebrates the work underway to deliver a transit system that is clean, safe, more connected and ready for the future of North Texas.”
The strategic goals of Point B include:
Some of the significant milestones included in the report include:
In addition, DART’s board of directors approved two contracts for a combined $24.6 million to improve rider experiences.
DART approved a $16.8 million contract with Preferred Technologies LLC to upgrade DART’s surveillance system, which will replace thousands of cameras and unify DART’s hardware and software, increasing efficiency and collaboration between DART Police Department and operations. The cameras and related systems will cover trains, buses, platforms, bus stops and facilities and include advanced analytics capabilities to improve response times. Fieldwork will begin in early 2026.
“This upgraded camera system is part of a multi-step process to ensure our trains, buses and facilities are as secure as possible for our employees and riders, said Randall Byant, chair of DART’s board of directors. “We have a duty to maintain a secure system for North Texas, and it’s a primary priority of my tenure as board chair.”
DART also approved a $7.8 million contract for bus stop and shelter cleaning services with Texas Elite Facility Services. This contract extension doubles the cleaning frequency for bus shelters, which DART said is a priority as DART is set to install 1,200 new next-generation shelters. The contract also standardizes inspections from the vendor and DART.
Dart also launched new touchscreen ticket vending machines systemwide to make fare purchases faster and easier for riders.
The new machines, provide access in 11 languages, allow riders to purchase day or three-hour passes, purchase and reload their GoPass app using cash, check GoPass balances and transactions, pay with cash, credit or debit cards or mobile wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet and Samsung Wallet. The coins accept bills and coins, but not pennies.
“These machines will visibly improve the rider experience and reduce fare evasion, all as part of a larger effort to modernize our fare collection system,” said Jamie Adelman, executive vice president and chief financial officer for DART.
The new vending machines will replace older machines through mid-2026.
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