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Texas House Bill 3187 is moving through the Texas legislature and could affect over 100,000 Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) riders in North Texas.
Texas lawmakers in the House Transportation Committee voted 9-2 on Tuesday to advance the bill.
The bill would redistribute DART’s voter-approved sales tax funding, stripping essential operational and capital funds from the agency and forcing immediate and irreversible cuts. The bill could destroy the region’s public transportation system, eliminate thousands of jobs, and riders would immediately lose access to a transit system, many of whom use the system for work, school, and healthcare.
“This bill isn’t a tweak to funding. It’s a full-on dismantling of the DART system,” said Jeamy Molina, Chief Communications Officer, DART. “The people of North Texas voted twice to fund a unified, regional transit system. House Bill 3187 completely ignores their voice and puts the future of public transportation in jeopardy.”
If passed, the bill would kill over $3.5 billion in transit-oriented development projects, cancel planned capital improvements, and slash service levels by more than 30%.
