DART Prez: Orange Line to DFW's Terminal A Will 'Complete That Big-City System'

Justin C

I hate how they show I-35E as I-35 on their little video. I cant watch it now.

lsle74

dallasmay

The think I wonder about is how Dart Riders will get to the other terminals. DFW has a tram, but it's on the other side of security, so you have to have already checked in at your terminal to use it. What would be really nice is if DFW would make Terminal A the "Master Check In" location, so to speak, and allow everyone flying out of DFW to check in there. Then you could take the Tram to whatever terminal you needed. Though I don't know how or if this would work for international fliers who have the added security -which makes me unsure how the tram connects to Terminal E right now...

fred

The next grant for which they should apply should be for finishing out the Knox-Henderson subway station.

Pub Crawler

The Knox Henderson location will really do well, with all the pedestrian shopping, restaurants and bars. If Dart is looking to move the ridership needle, here's your chance.

there's already a shell of a station underground...

... but the cost is too high. the price that the neighborhood has to pay for being stupidly short sighted when protesting the original station.

Just about to post the exact same comment!

swag

It seems problematic that it's only going to Terminal A. Arriving out-of-towners who exit security to claim luggage will have to ride those clumsy Terminal Link buses to even get to the train station. Crossing the road might be hard, but they're building 5.2 miles of new rail, why not another few thousand feet to add stations at Terminals C & E also?

So glad than in a few years Dallas finally be caught up with other "big cities" such as Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, Baltimore, Newark,, Atlanta, Boston, Burbank, Cleveland, Fort Lauderdale, San Francisco, and St Louis. All of which are half the size of Dallas and with smaller metros. Go "big city" Dallas!

Cowbell_Rockstar

dart is a huge failure. most stations are deserted, ghost towns!

dallasites love their cars too much, we will never be seattle, portland, san fran etc. etc.

dom

To be fair, the 386 square miles of Dallas vastly overlooks the 89 of Boston or the 59 of Minneapolis

Rangers100

That's because most DFW residents don't really want to live in a true city, and all the "inconveniences" that come with that. They'd rather sprawl out into far-flung burbs and pretend they live in a city.

Scruffygeist

Do you get a big chuckle out of that as you drive along Dallas's potholed streets to wait an hour for a table at P.F. Chang's at Northpark?

guest

Do the both of you smell each others turds and comment how fresh and rosy they are? and not those "chain" turds like they've got out in the 'burbs!

dallasmay

The only part of the city they want to have is the chain restaurants.

dom

Making it easier to cover those areas compared to ours is much easier. And the fact we are several decades behind is also a hindrance

Ed D.

I'd be happier about that Irving Convention Center station if they'd put it a lot closer to the Irving Convention Center. Atlanta, Chicago, and other cities with rail seem to grasp the idea that the station should be at the destination, not a third of a mile away. (Extra fun for folks with mobility issues.)

confussed

yea it's pretty ridiculous. though i dont plan on being at many conventions at the Irving Convention Center, arent many convention-goes usually toting things; briefcases, computers, work, swag, cameras, portfolio type things with them?

Cowbell_Rockstar

swag? really

Ed D.

The Dallas Comic Con has moved to the Irving Convention Center and, yes, there is swag to be had. The May 2012 event with Stan Lee is before the line opens but the Star Trek Fan Days in October should be fun, too.

Guest

I'm waited with baited breath! Though after the screwed up connection at Love Field, I can't say i'm overly optimistic...

dallasmay

The original plan called for a People Mover to connect the Inwood Station and Love Field. It got cut for money reasons. A simple bus made far more financial sense.

That said, I do agree with you.

You are correct - it is unbelievable that anyone could have created such a substandard Love Field Connection.

Oak Cliff Townie

Oh we're from Bid D my oh yes, You can tell we are from our Mass Transit Mess

Borborygmus

Three stars.

Scruffygeist

It'd certainly be an improvement, but I'm not going to declare it a success until the Cotton Belt Line is completed.

The current hub and spoke design doesn't really work for a very large majority of DART member city residents.

Rangers100

That's their own fault. Live downtown and DART is very convenient. Time to get out of the sprawl.

Scruffygeist

Genius plan, that. Serve the sector of the city with decades of problems drawing residents well rather than the places they actually do live.

DART light rail has already proven the lines don't attract residents to move within easy walking distance after the fact. Good thing we know the trains are filled with more shady characters than smug jerks.

Scruffygeist

I think you're just an ass. Since you know nothing about any of my variables: my car payment, my insurance, my route, my housing costs...

Plus learn to recognize a joke. What's not a joke is a hub and spoke design for a gigantic section of our metro area with multiple large pockets of offices that aren't downtown. They've got to throw some lateral connecting lines into the system at some point before they can lean back in their chairs, put their feet on their desks, and proclaim mass transit victory.

guest

Nah, you're just a smug jerk, who thinks they've got better financial sense. Two totally different things, but I can see where you got confused...it's hard to tell the difference when you've got your head so far up yer bumm!

dallasmay

It worked for me. My wife and I take take DART all the time and were able to go down to one car. Saves us about $700 on insurance and a couple of thousand dollars every year on gas, not to mention wear and tear and *gasp* a F***ing car payment. Shoot we pay our mortgage with the money we save by using DART.

But, hey, I have to live near these other "shady characters" in the M-Streets.

(Maybe I'm just smug. Or maybe I actually have better financial sense that you.)

John_McKee

Any idea of what kind of transit time we are looking at from downtown to DFW or Las Colinas? I work not to far from the future Las Colinas station and live on the MTA and am kind of toying with the idea of starting to take the rail when it opens because I really, really hate driving. I looked at taking the bus once and it would turn my <20 minute commute into something like an hour and a half.

Omar Jimenez

Okay, I know that there was a slideshow that DART Posted about thoses times. The time it will take from Parker RD to DFW would be about a 1 and a Half. So from the West End to DFW, it will be 50 mins.8 min. to Belt line and 16 min. to Irving CC from DFW.

The Proposed Changes for Next Year are up, and now the Orange Line will run from the Irving Convention Center in July and Belt Line in December and will stop at LBJ/Central. It will only run to Parker RD during Rush Hour. There will be buses that will run from Belt Line to DFW, and a new Crosstown Route that will run from Downtown Garland to Royal Lane, and the 39 will break off and just run to Inwood/Love Field Station. There will be a different route running from the station to Love Field. Starting on page 24, the list of changes are there http://www.dart.org/about/boar...

Downtown Resident

I entertained (briefly) the idea of using DART for my commute from Downtown to Plano, it would have been 3 hours. Eff that.

dallasmay

Where do you live in Plano that it takes you 3 hours from Plano to Downtown when riding DART? I've checked Google Maps and Even the furthest flung reaches of plano can be in Downtown in less than an hour and a half.

Still a long commute, but you are seriously exaggerating. And still, in morning and evening rush hour it would still take you an hour to even drive. (By the way, I did choose the absolute most difficult area of plano I could.)

Rangers100

Using DART buses?

I live downtown and use the DART bus to go to and from work near the Galleria. 20-30 minutes each way. Very convenient. Nice to sit and read on the bus instead of driving.

The Galleria isn't Plano, but the difference shouldn't be 2.5 hours.