happy_train

This is a trip report focusing mainly on the transit available in and around Dallas.

Many of my thoughts about Dallas can probably be counteracted or at least explained by saying “What do you expect? It’s Texas!”

Sprawl
The sprawl is severe; I guess that’s why they call it the Metroplex. The whole of Dallas appears to be a series of garden apartment complexes and a series of office parks connected by a vast freeway/tollway network. The sheer number of lane miles and bridges must be an incredible maintenance burden (offset a bit, perhaps, by the lack of freezing/thawing).

DFW
The airport immediately demonstrates the sprawling nature of the area; DFW is the 2nd largest airport in the US (after Denver) and the 4th largest in the world. Although Denver is bigger in land area, it is really a quite centralized airport; DFW is the opposite, with 5 independent terminals with unending miles of roadways, ramps. Basically, the airport is a sea of beige concrete as far as the eye can see. The sheer number of cars, vans, and buses driving through and around the airport is staggering. Although it does have a new (2005) people mover called Skylink, it only operates inside security to connect gates, mostly for the benefit of American Airlines connecting passengers. It has 10 stops (2 at each of the 5 terminals) and does at least provide a nice aerial view of the terminal area. However, since it doesn’t serve any long-term parking or the consolidated rental car facility, it is of very limited use for O/D passengers at the airport.

Downtown Dallas
The downtown area appears to suffer from the “There’s no there there” syndrome. I was out in the early afternoon on Friday and there were hardly any people around (except panhandlers) and hardly any businesses open. I had to wander for 20 minutes to locate a place to buy a soda and a candy bar. There does appear to be a good amount of residential conversion/construction in the downtown area, but I’m not sure exactly what amenities developers think are going to attract residents. There are a number of notable high rises, but they appear to be a solution in search of a problem. Another reason why there were so few people on the streets and so few street-level businesses might be the network of underground passageways; however, these were incredible in that they were failures in every conceivable way – virtually no access signage from the street, limited or confusing signage once inside (making navigation very difficult), and empty, endless corridors that are both ugly and unfriendly (all of which, of course, are only open during regular weekday work hours).

Neighborhoods/Inner Suburbs
Although the sprawl and the associated brutally bland office parks and garden apartment complexes rule, I did come across a few nicer areas. The Uptown and West Village neighborhoods appear to be the “high rent districts” within the city of Dallas (as evidenced by the presence of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, among others) and are pretty nice; much of the area, particularly the West Village, is in a general New Urbanism style. This, of course, makes them incredibly mixed-use and pedestrian friendly compared with the rest of Dallas. The north end of the area only is close enough to be served by the DART Cityplace subway station, but it is really on the edge. The M-Line historic streetcar line does run through the area – more on that later. In addition, I passed through some of the very nice inner suburbs to the north known as the Park Cities (University Park and Highland Park). These seem to be from the golden era of suburbs (if one can be cited) and are give off a general garden city-type feel. For example, Highland Park has Highland Park Village, a National Historic Landmark dating from 1931 that was the 2nd shopping center in the US (after the famed Country Club Plaza in KC).

Transit – Airport Access
I decided to go car-free for the first day, so I went for the Trinity Railway Express (TRE commuter rail) connection at DFW. This requires two separate shuttle buses from the terminal (each on a 15-minute headway). After waiting for the train in the heat (no station building), I made the slow trip to downtown Dallas, then switched to the light rail to the station near my hotel. In total, the trip took about 2 hours and 15 minutes (and this was during the shoulder of the PM peak) – this for a 17-mile trip mapped to be a 30-45 minute drive in traffic. On the plus side, the trip only cost $5 total for a premium day pass. The next day I had decided to pick up my rental car at the other airport, Love Field (home of Southwest Airlines), since it was much closer to my hotel (8 miles as the crow flies, 20-40 minute driving time). The transit trip was still tough, however. After just missing a light rail train and having to wait the full 20-minute headway, I had the choice of a 15-minute trip with a transfer to a bus on a 60-minute headway, or a 30-minute trip with a transfer to a bus on a 40-minute headway. Luckily I managed to pick up the timetables the day before and was able to just make the once-an-hour bus. For the entire 30-minute trip, I was one of only 4 passengers.




Trinity Railway Express (commuter rail)

TRE is a 35-mile line linking downtown Fort Worth with downtown Dallas, with 6 intermediate stations, including CentrePort near DFW airport. The service operates 6 days a week, with weekday service generally slightly better than hourly throughout the day and Saturday service every 90 minutes. The service is jointly operated by DART and Fort Worth’s transit system (called The T). As a result, TRE fares are regionally integrated and, like other fares, incredibly low. The line is split into two fare zones; single rides are $1.50 for 1 and $2.50 for 2 and include a transfer to local transit. Also, the regional day passes include TRE. The bi-level cars were quite nice, although the (heavily advertised) on-board wi-fi didn’t work. The travel was quite slow, though, as the TRE line is single track in many places with a lot of grade crossings and shares the corridor with both Amtrak and freight operations. I was glad to see that they appear to be building significant sections of elevated structures to bypass many grade crossings, but I suspect this is more for the benefit of the traffic than the trains. Although I was essentially heading in the off-peak direction (toward downtown Dallas in the shoulder of the PM peak), there was significant ridership, including to the circus at the special events only stop at the American Airlines Center.




DART Bus

The bus network moves about 140k average weekday riders and is quite extensive in scope – almost 750 buses, nearly 12,000 bus stops (coincidentally, about the same # as NYCT) on about 120 routes, all covering a massive 700 square-mile service area. More than 75% of the fleet is made up of RTS buses made by NovaBus – a close cousin of our familiar RTSes (although, I have to admit, with a nicer interior, a better color scheme, and a much better flatter-front sign). The network is incredibly sprawling, though, matching the city, and as a result, the service frequencies are very low. Most of the “core” routes appear to operate at about 20 minutes peak, 40 minutes off-peak. DART has local routes serving the CBD or inner city area, express routes to suburban park-and-ride lots and transit centers (although operated with the same buses as those used for local services), crosstown grid routes, rail feeder routes, and shuttles/flex services that experiment with some on-demand services and some use of smaller vehicles like mini-buses and vans. The general route design is oriented around transit/transfer centers and rail stations; this layout, which often leads to the need for transfers, combined with low frequencies and large distances, leads to incredibly long transit trips. As in many cities, these factors (along with a multitude of others) explain why bus transit is the choice of last/only resort for most, and predominantly patronized by very low-income minorities (who, ironically, can probably least afford the loads of time required to get around this way). Interestingly, NTD reports an absolutely dismal 4.48% farebox recovery ratio for DART bus (as compared with 35% for light rail), perhaps accurately reflecting the relatively low density of ridership as well as the very low fares.




DART Light Rail - Overview

The system currently features 34 stations over 44 miles on two lines (Red and Blue) and about 62k average weekday riders. Schematically the network consists of each line having branches on each end (north and south) and sharing a central segment, sort of like two Ys back to back with the stems overlapping. The shared segment is about 8.5 miles with 10 stations. It features the yard/shop at the south end, the city’s Convention Center, Union Station (intermodal), the CBD (slow at-grade section along LRT-only transit mall), a tunnel with a deep subway station (see below), and Mockingbird Station (in an open cut about 40 feet deep with a large, successful TOD adjacent). This core segment certainly highlights the flexibility of light rail. The outer portions of the lines feel very interurban in nature, with stations pretty widely spaced, allowing many sections of sustained maximum speed (65mph). The outer stations are generally very park-and-ride/shuttle oriented. Although there are many destinations near the lines, the fact that they are primarily reused existing/former rail corridors (meaning not in the center of the action by nature) combined with the generally sprawling nature of Dallas make these nearby destinations not close enough or properly connected (i.e. no sidewalks) to make them accessible without shuttles or cars. I did see some concentrations of development (including in TOD style) along the lines but not near stations, so maybe there are opportunities for future infill stations. The northern Red Line is particularly interesting, as 4 of the 11 stations are elevated (each has redundant elevators and stairs but no escalators).




Light Rail Service Plan and Fares

The two lines operate a basic 10-minute peak, 20-minute off-peak, and 30-minute late evening headway. The northern Red Line is heavier, and DART has additional rush hour trips leading to 10tph in the peak hour. On weekends the 20-minute headway operates from about 10am-7pm with 30-minute or less service other times. Maybe I’m spoiled by NYC service levels, but I don’t think this is enough service in the non-shared segments. I am a complete convert to Portland TriMet’s 15-minute “Frequent Service” concept, a highly successful and effective marketing and service plan that promotes 15-minute headways as the tipping point between needing to consult schedules and being able to arrive randomly and encounter a reasonable wait – so I think urban rail transit should never have less than a 15-minute headway, except for maybe late nights. This frequency seems to reinforce the commuter-oriented nature of the service and makes off-peak trips onerous, particularly considering the need to transfer, often multiple times, to/from shuttles or circulators at stations. Although there is no real-time information (electronic signs mostly just show date/time), there are pylons at each station showing scheduled times, and my experience was that trains were right on schedule). One of the most noticeable things about DART is the bargain – free parking at many of the outlying rail stations and bus transfer centers, $3 local day pass (local bus and light rail), and $5 premium day pass (all services, including express buses and TRE commuter rail to Fort Worth, and transit there too). It is also important to note that I never had my tickets checked and never saw anyone actively checking for tickets. I saw some fare officers/police around, but I never saw them asking to see tickets (including on the TRE).




DART’s LRVs

The Kinkisharyo LRVs are overall quite nice and very smooth (even at 65mph max speed) but are high-floor. Loading and unloading is quite slow because of the steps and the reasonably small doors (each articulated vehicle has two small double-panel and two single-panel doors per side). There is virtually no viable standing room except for in the stepwells (which I saw used heavily, despite warning signs to not do so), and no space for things like bikes, of which I saw quite a few. This is perhaps a consequence of a suburban commuter-oriented design and not expecting such heavy ridership as has occurred. Of course, the high-floor design also poses ADA issues, for which they have constructed mini-highs at the front end of each platform face (which require manual interaction with the operator). To address these issues, DART is spending $190 million to raise platforms 7 inches for level boarding and convert its entire fleet to “super LRVs” by inserting a 31-foot middle, low-floor section between the articulation with an additional two-panel low-floor door. The first couple of these are done and in service. Train consists were two and three cars peak and midday with one and two cars in the evening. Since each articulated vehicle is about 93 feet long, the new SLRV will be 124 feet. I wonder if this means that they will no longer be able to operate 3-car trains, as stations appear to be just long enough for the current vehicles. Although this may be a way to operate the new extensions without requiring more cars, it will also mean peak trains that are 1/3 of a car shorter.




The Southwest’s Only Subway

The core segment of the DART light rail system includes a 3.25-mile deep bored tunnel under the North Central Freeway which is probably the highlight of the light rail system. At roughly the midpoint of the tunnel is the Cityplace Station, 120 feet below the surface, which is the first and only subway station in the southwest. The station cavern is essentially split into a separate chamber for each direction (forming two halves of an island platform) with two cross-passages connecting them. The “way out” is all the way at one end of the station, and leads to a conventional elevator and two escalators up to the lower mezzanine level, where there are ticket machines. From the lower mezzanine there is access on either side to separate upper mezzanine levels, from which it is another couple of flights up to the street. Both sides have 2 escalators with a quite unique inclined elevator between them following roughly the same angle. The inclined elevator was really more of a cable-driven inclined plane. One of the two was out of order, so I rode the other; it was painfully slow and shuddered scarily a number of times. When I got off at the top a guy who had roughly paced me on the escalator told me I was lucky, that he saw someone get stuck on it the day before. It seems like a neat concept, and one that could be very useful in these types of situations to avoid long distances between stair/escalator and elevator entrances at either the top or bottom, but maybe the technology isn’t quite right. At the upper mezzanine levels there are conventional elevators on both sides, with wrap-around stairs on one (the side for the connection to the M-Line Streetcar) and escalators on the other (the side for the connection with the Cityplace development and Cityplace Tower, the 42-story corporate headquarters of 7-Eleven). I don’t have any photos of the station because there were signs everywhere saying “no photography without authorization” and a staffed police substation on the platform!




M-Line Streetcar

The M-Line historic streetcar service seems to have a lot of potential. It “connects” with the light rail at the Cityplace subway station, and it serves a fairly ritzy, fairly urban set of neighborhoods (Uptown and West Village). It also reaches the edge of Downtown Dallas and the Dallas Museum of Art. Unfortunately, the concept is not executed too well. At the north end, where the M-Line was extended to meet DART at the Cityplace station, there is no continuous sidewalk between the station entrance and the streetcar stop, and the station entrance faces away from the streetcar stop (favoring the freeway service road instead). These problems are in addition to the ones inherent of the deep subway station – all making the transfer a pretty long process. The other end of the line is much worse, however; the line literally ends on a dime in the middle of nowhere (which makes for a pretty funny scene). You must walk several blocks to reach the downtown light rail mall. Granted, they are discussing extending the line to the light rail, which would be a significant improvement. I also found the ride to be pretty terrible; the single-truck historic vehicle was so rough that I don’t think we ever got over about 10mph, literally, and any switching or curves caused the vehicle to shake and sway violently. While there might be some historic charm there, this service has the potential to be actually useful, but instead it seems to function solely as something of a tourist attraction. The lack of A/C also makes an impact, for sure. The hours and frequency aren’t too bad, actually, operating 7am-10pm weekdays and 10am-10pm weekends with 15-20 minute weekday headways and 25-minute weekend headways.




DART Expansion

DART is growing by a lot. I saw the new Green Line under construction; part of it will open in September 2009 and the rest by the end of 2010, covering in total 27 additional miles with 20 new stations. It will share the CBD transit mall with the existing lines and will serve major destinations like Love Field and the Fair Park complex for the Texas State Fair. Further out, it is similar to the Red Line, following a former rail corridor parallel to a major freeway (northwest to the Red Line’s due north alignment). Beyond this, DART is also planning several other extensions; one of the furthest along is the Orange Line, which is programmed to be completed in stages from 2011-2013 and will share part of the new Green Line segment (including Love Field) while serving Irving, Las Colinas, and ultimately DFW Airport. One of the interesting problems that will result from these expansions is saturation of the CBD segment. They are saying it will be maxed out at 24tph (currently at 16tph peak) and will require a second downtown alignment (which would also provide redundancy in the core and serve more of it); subway alignments are even under consideration. Apparently back in around 1990 DART signed an agreement with the city committing to building a subway under the CBD when the existing mall reaches 24tph. With today’s costs, however, that might be tough. There are also additional commuter rail options being examined, including a sort of crosstown one that would roughly parallel the very congested inner “beltway,” the LBJ freeway, connecting the busy upper Red Line and the new Green Line with DFW airport.




Conclusion

Finally, you have reached the end of this way-too-long tome; thanks for reading! It was an interesting visit. I’m not really sure why anyone would want to live in Dallas, to be honest, although I imagine that it might be nice in the winter. Transit-wise, the light rail is a nice ride and built to reasonably high standards, although it functions in many ways more as a dense, inner electric commuter rail network than as urban transit (with perhaps the penetration of the CBD being one of the few clear distinctions). As the network builds, it will hopefully offer increasing returns to scale for transit riders, although this might be tempered by the lack of easy accessibility to destinations outside of the CBD. Overall, DART is perhaps an interesting case study in how to try to build a transit network virtually from scratch in a “modern” sprawling American metropolis (a feat some might say is not possible at all). I will be watching to see what they decide to do about increasing capacity in the CBD.

yk

Thank you for your trip report. AS someone who just moved out of Dallas (after living there for 3.5 years), I applaud you for using so much public transportation.

The public transportation in Dallas is rather pathetic, and really rarely anyone uses it, with the exception of the DART for commuters to get to downtown for work. However, unless you live and work along the same DART line, public transport is pretty useless.

When we were living there, if DH wants to take public transportation to get to work (which is only 10 miles; 20 min drive), it would have taken him well over 1 hour each way.

In terms of your comment about a deserted "Downtown", I guess it depends on which part of downtown you were walking around in. As for why no one walks? Well it does get over 100F in the summer.

I've rode the M-line trolley quite a few times. I do think it serves more as a touristy thing - though I suppose it serves some office workers during lunchtime. I think it was a nice gesture they maintain the streetcars and also keep it free of charge.

Lastly, re:
I’m not really sure why anyone would want to live in Dallas

I can think of a number of reasons:

1) Cost of living is much, much lower. One can get a lot of house/land for the $

2) No state income tax

3) Nice weather in the winter

4) Hub of AA; one can fly to so many places nonstop

5) A big enough metro to support several great art museums, a decent orchestra and opera company (not even counting Fort Worth); great sports team

I'd choose Dallas over Houston to live in a heart beat.

happy_train

Valid points all. I suppose I'm slightly biased against anywhere that can get to be over 100 degrees in the summer! Thanks for your response.

jcb

Hi happy_train - thanks for the transit trip report. I currently live in North Dallas and have lived most of my life in the DFW area. Due to your report, I now know a TON more about the DART and TRE. (Haven't been on it for several years, but one of these days I'll make the TRE trip from Dallas to FW again). I'm looking forward to 2010 when it may actually be beneficial to me.

Is part of your job to travel around to cities and look at public transit?

BTW, the old Tandy Center in Fort Worth use to have a "subway" connecting the parking lot to the center. It's long gone though.

Was this your first trip to Dallas/FW? There actually are several reasons why people choose to live here. Although, the summer heat and public transportation are probably not two of them. Thanks again!

yk

I do want to add that I have taken the DART a number of times during my stay in Dallas. DH & I would love to have taken the TRE to the airport, but as the OP describes, it is just too inconvenient.

We now live in a suburb of Boston. DH sold his car before we moved, and he rides his bicycle to work. He loves it and doesn't miss driving at all. I kept my car, but we take a fair amount of the T and the bus as well. It is so nice to have the option of efficient public transportation that we don't have to drive unless we want to.

OO

6) Great dining options.

7) Good theater

8) World class shopping

9) Some of the friendliest people in the US

10) Terrific place to raise a family

11) Excellent health care.

I don't know when I've been as upset as I was the day I learned we were being transferred. I went to work the next day with eyes so swollen from crying that everyone was afraid to ask me what happened!

AustinTraveler

happy_train, if you don't already post on City-Data, I hope you'll check it out. This report would be very much appreciated (and debated) on that forum.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/dallas/