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The Farmers Branch City Council has until next Tuesday, Feb. 24, to finalize ballots asking Farmers Branch residents whether to stay or leave the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system.
The council convened into closed executive session in regard to DART during study session on Tuesday, Feb. 17, returning to the regular city council meeting to discuss and review alternative public transit service and approve a resolution to adopt an improved governance structure for DART in collaboration with the twelve other member cities.
City Manager Ben Williamson presented the council with multiple documents and said the city released a Request for Information (RFI) to allow the city to ensure uninterrupted transit should the DART withdrawal election in May occur and should voters decide to withdraw from DART.
“This is unique for Farmers Branch and is going to be tailored for Farmers Branch as well,” he told council in his presentation. He said that paratransit needs would be addressed. “This would purely be saying, ‘There is an alternative solution to consider.’”
The RFI framework would include continuity for all riders and would connect to the larger regional transportation systems as well, be American Disability Act (ADA) compliant, include data that would allow the city council to make informed decisions about service.
The city received three responses to the RFI, from RideCo, UZURV and VIA Transportation.
“All three confirmed the feasibility and readiness,” Williamson. The responses confirm there will be no service cliff, ADA riders will be protected and the city retains control, transparency and accountability if voters decide Farmers Branch should leave the DART system. “The goal is to maintain the current service level but doesn’t mean it can’t be a better standard of care in delivering that service level,” he said.
Council Member Tina Bennett-Burton asked, and Williamson confirmed, that the fee to residents would not be higher than the current fees that DART charges.
Council Member David Reid asked Williamson to confirm that service with one of the alternative transportation companies would be in place before the May election so voters would have a chance to ride and try the new transportation system and see that the switch, if voters decide to leave DART, would be seamless.
“It also allows the voters to be more informed and understand what the future could be should there be another direction the voters would like to go,” Williamson said.
“One of the great things I like it is it now puts the service on the residents’ schedule as opposed to having to rely on the current provider’s schedule, is that correct?” Reid said.
Williamson confirmed.
“I have so many questions and so many things that I want to say,” Council Member Elizabeth Villafranca said. “I do believe that it is important that if Irving and Plano are pulling out of the vote in May, that we definitely should pull out. I do not want us to be the new big fish in town.”
Villafranca asked if door-to-door service would only include the 12 square miles in Farmers Branch.
Williamson said council will be able to expand the service to include points of interest outside of city limits and connect to other transit systems. “Would there be changes? Absolutely. But would we still connect to the greater regional transit systems that connect DFW? That would be the goal.”
Council Member Roger Neal asked about Williamson’s confidence that the three companies would be able to scale to handle Farmers Branch’s needs.
Williamson said at least two of the three companies, and VIA in particular, have shown the ability to scale and provide the proof of service the city needs.
Neal also asked costs. “I was just somewhat surprised to see these estimates of $3 million to $3.2 million and balancing that against what we pay DART at $24 - $25 million. I was like, maybe their numbers are too low or DART’s too high. I’m not sure.”
Williamson said he is confident that the depth of the costs provided by the companies and the city’s own research that the costs are on track with what other cities are paying based on population and service levels.
Reid made, and Bennett Burton seconded, a motion to move forward to receive more information about VIA. The motion passed 4-1 with Villafranca opposing the motion.
Council also unanimously approved a resolution to adopt an improved governance structure for DART in collaboration with the twelve other member cities.
“This represents a win in the discussions. We want to make sure we give a special shout out to the City of Dallas and the City of Irving for working tirelessly to build a structure that the rest of the cities are considering supporting,” Williamson said.
Nothing is final yet, Williamson said, but the changed structure will probably provide a weighted seat on the board based on population and sales tax based on the multiple models he has seen proposed.
Plano, Irving and Carrollton have passed similar resolutions, all ofwhich will go to the Texas Legislature in the next legislative session, Williamson said. The legislature controls the structure of DART and has final say in the DART governance.
City Attorney David Berman said the legislature can take this up in the summer or fall of 2027, after they convene for the next session. There is a chance the bill involving DART could die in committee, on the calendar or not be signed by the governor.
Council members expressed concern that legislation could die and not be brought up before the state legislature at all, which Williamson confirmed, but Mayor Terry Lynne said because of conversations he’s had with the other mayors and DART representatives, he does not think that is likely to happen. “I think the opportunity for this to pass, to be considered and to be passed, is very high because the stakes are high. The elected state legislators I have met with would all, everybody has given indication of support for this particular item. We can’t predict what they do down there, but I think this is probably one of the easier things to solve.”
The proposed governance structure and funding plans were approved by Dallas City Council and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) Regional Transportation Council earlier this month, reducing Dallas to 45% of the DART board, giving smaller cities more representation on the board of directors, and with funding from NCTCOG, giving cities some of their sales tax back.
Farmers Branch Mayor Terry Lynne was quoted in the Dallas Morning News on Feb. 14 as saying that he’d recommend the Farmers Branch City Council recall their May election. However, the council could not vote Tuesday to withdraw from the election on Feb. 24, because by law they are not allowed to discuss anything that is not posted at least 72 hours in advance to comply with the Texas Open Meetings Act.
Addison Mayor Bruce Arfsten placed an item on the Addison City Council agenda for the Feb. 24 City Council meeting for the council to consider cancellng the scheduled election related to Addison's potential withdrawal from DART.
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