First of all I do have to admit I do not have much
experience riding mass transit, however the ones I have rode are significantly
much better than what Dallas is giving us right now. Second I have always felt one
reason for rapid transit is to help get cars off the road. And if there is ever
a city that needs to get cars off the road it is Dallas. Two other cities that
could use reduced traffic that I know of are Los Angeles and Houston. I have
spent some time in both of those cities and all day long traffic just doesn’t
benefit anyone, however I live in the Dallas area so I will want to talk about
where we stand.
I am going to speak most specifically about the train system,
yet I have traveled by bus in Dallas and Austin long before the DART train system
was ever built. Basically at various times in my life I have tried to do what
is right for our environment and use mass transportation. And if you live in
Texas you already know that is actually a bit of a chore.
My experiences using train or metro systems previously include
Washington DC, London and Madrid. I first used the metro in DC when I was a
teenager and outside of getting the hang of it so to speak I managed to get
around quite well. It was not a large system at that time, yet it got me to
where I wanted to go. I have used it since including recently with my youngest
daughter who lives there now. My family once visited DC in the early 2000’s and
rode it from a hotel outside of DC into downtown and it was rather nice
generally speaking. By no means I am saying it is perfect, but it is definitely
functional and has only minimal of the problems that Dallas has.
I spent a week or so in London while I was in college and
rode their system extensively. We did not rent a car so to go anywhere we had
to use their metro system. And it got us around the entire London area
including riding out to the equivalent of suburbs in the United States. I was able
to find some pretty unique things to do and had no trouble getting there. The
trains ran regularly and same as DC has little of the same problems that
plaques Dallas.
We also spent a week in Madrid and pretty much the same. We
had to use the system to get around and outside of the forced marches our
daughter took us on (family joke) it was very beneficial. The phrase it is just
over there means something completely different to a college student than an
older couple.
Another aspect of these other systems is that you can
connect to trains that go to places less than a hundred miles away so there are
day trip options you just don’t have from Dallas even though there are places
you could go that would be entertaining for tourists visiting Dallas.
The problem is getting people to ride DART that normally drive.
And I hate saying this, but DART does not manage its riders well. It is almost
like DART is taking a Christian approach and letting the homeless and mentally unstable
have carte blanche on their system. I saw an occasional problem in the above
mentioned systems, but nothing like what goes on in Dallas. Even the regular
riders that use mass transportation because they need it are frustrated.
I reread my first sentence and I guess I should clarify. I
do ride DART in Dallas to get around for many reasons from going to work, to
going to my doctor and for other various destinations. My wife and my oldest
daughter do not want me to ride. My wife has been on DART trains and buses and
she is just not comfortable with some of the clientele. And I understand why,
there are people on the system that take away from feeling safe, secure, even
healthy in fact way too many. Yes some people should be able to ride, but when
the system is bogged down so much that regular riders are uncomfortable there
is a general problem that needs to be addressed. No one wants to say it out loud
because we all want to be considerate, yet for a system to work people have to
see a benefit to riding it. That is not happening in Dallas and it is the
people who need mass transportation to get to work, shopping or other necessities
that provide the bulk of the revenue are hindered and uncomfortable and if they
could they would not ride. This would of course doom DART.
I think most of the problem is a logistics problem with how
DART is set up. I do not manage nor understand the management of mass
transportation so I do not feel confident in making a complete overhaul
recommendation, but it feels that is what is needed.
To be successful DART needs paying riders and to help make
DART beneficial to Dallas many of those paying riders need to be people that
would normally drive to work at the very least. And that will not happen until DART
decides to address the problem with the people who are not just impoverished, but
significantly marginalized. It sounds cruel, but they cannot continue to allow
these people to be such a problem that other people do not want to use the
system.
And I know we need to do more as a society to help the
marginalized people, but if we also want to increase ridership and help those
who need mass transportation to go about their daily lives, DART cannot be a
surrogate answer to homelessness. I have seen fights between people who could
barely understand who they are and for many average Americans they just aren’t
going to accept this while riding. It is a harsh reality, but true that most
Americans do not want these types of problems interfering with their lives or
worse subject them to conditions that make them uncomfortable to downright
scared.
I would love to continue to ride DART, but am under orders
from family members not to even think about it. (I have though). It is rough
when you have seen other cities do very well with their systems and outside of
an occasional individual most riders are going about their general day and you
feel little concern.
Management of DART may need to make some hard decisions or
they will continue to struggle with limited ridership in a city that desperately
needs them to fill up those trains.
And again I know we need to do more for the marginalized,
yet those answers are even more difficult.
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