Cheaper alternative plans to expensive Dallas D-2 subway possible

Some Dallas leaders are already promoting new plans since the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Agency, DART, announced the long-planned downtown subway is off the drawing board for now.

DART has removed the so-called “D-2” second downtown rail path from the agency’s 20-year financial plan.

A much less expensive option, discussed in the past, could be a streetcar link through the downtown area.

A streetcar serves Oak Cliff and the Bishop Arts area and crosses the Trinity River to the edge of downtown.

“I think that it’s really important to have public transportation more accessible actually,” said transit rider Lauren Koben.

The McKinney Avenue Trolley serves Uptown Dallas but stops at the northern edge of downtown.

“I would love to connect that with the Bishop Arts trolley through downtown. And in many ways, putting D-2 on the proverbial back burner opens this conversation up,” said Downtown Dallas Inc CEO Jennifer Scripps.

The downtown business group is already making efforts to advance a streetcar plan, Scripps said.

Dallas has just one subway station now, beneath the City Place building on the Central Expressway.

The D-2 subway was a $1.7 billion plan to dig another tunnel under downtown with several stations to the surface.

It was based on much higher ridership before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“And now we’re seeing about 68% to 70% of that ridership return. What is the best use of those funds,” said DART spokesman Gordon Shattles.

Some of the savings will go toward added security with more DART police officers and 100 new blue-shirt security people.

“I think that’s a plus because we have lot of riff-raff on the train that shouldn’t be riding the train. So, I feel like that will help us,” DART Rider Tamikia Thompson said.

The agency is also spending more to improve cleanliness on buses and trains.  

“We have cleaners in the central business district that join on and off those trains and clean them throughout the day. So, as opposed to just being cleaned at the beginning and end, they’re cleaned in the middle as well,” Shattles said.

Thompson said that is a needed improvement, as well.

“I think that will be good for DART, people just riding the train because nobody wants to ride a dirty train with all this trash on it,” she said.

Station platforms on the older red and blue line stations have also been extended to allow longer trains with more cars. That will allow additional capacity on all trains passing through the existing single downtown path if ridership demand does return.

Scripps said DART leaders made a presentation to leaders of the downtown business group about the changes this week.

“It seems like they’re taking a very pragmatic approach while ridership recovers post-pandemic. And this plan for D-2 isn’t the best use of resources currently. It’s not to say it can’t come back.” Scripps said.

The existing Oak Cliff streetcar is a greatly reduced segment from plans that were suggested years ago.

At one point both a streetcar on the surface and a subway below ground were envisioned for downtown paths.

A streetcar path could be designed to serve a planned new Dallas Convention Center and a possible high-speed rail station.

High-speed rail is back in consideration with the announcement last week that government-backed Amtrak has joined with Texas Central, the private high-speed rail development company for a planned route from downtown Dallas to Houston.

Scripps said the experience of streetcars in other cities is exciting to downtown Dallas business people.

“Streetcars have proven to be good generators for street-level activity. They provide retail opportunities and they’re really excellent for tourism. So, those are all things that downtown would love to see. It could be a real amenity,” Scripps said.

Lauren Koben said more public transportation options would be good for other riders.

“Get people out of their cars. I think that’s really better for our city,” Koben said.

DART is still building the Silver Line rail connection between Plano and DFW Airport that some North Dallas residents tried to stop.