The fireworks in Dallas went off without a hitch Monday night, but the same can't be said for DART's handling of public transportation, according to riders.
Because it was a holiday, the DART rail Green Line was supposed to be on a 15-minute service schedule instead of the normal 30-minute schedule. But despite the higher frequency of trains, many riders still complained, saying they had to wait much longer.
"The fireworks show was good, but it's the fact that DART really needs to step up its game," said Breann Blocker. "It doesn't need to be doing this. It had enough practice with the Cotton Bowl. They said they were going to step up, and they haven't."
"About every 15 minutes, you're able to move around 500 or 600 people on a light rail vehicle, and unfortunately that's just going to take some time," said DART spokesman Morgan Lyons.
Complaints about long waits for the Green Line surfaced during last fall's Texas-OU game at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park. Some passengers said they were stranded on platforms for hours as full trains rushed by.
DART recently experimented with new schedules and held several test runs ahead to alleviate the delays.
"What we need to do is take a look at last night's reports and see if there's anything we can do differently," said Lyons. "There will always be some kind of a wait associated with any major event, whether you're at the train station or in the parking lot. Our goal is to make it as quick as possible for folks."
Another test run is scheduled for August.
NBC DFW's Kim Fischer contributed to this report.
