Inmotion Take a Pass on Traffic SUMMER 2017 DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT 214-979-1111 Employer Annual Pass Employer Monthly Pass College and Secondary School Student Semester Pass Advance Pass Sales for Conventions and Special Events THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT Businesses, colleges and groups can choose a pass program that’s just the right speed. Vanpool/Carpool Residential Annual Pass Advance Pass Sales for Groups Organizations can help reduce transportation costs for their employees, students, tenants, event attendees or groups through one of DART’s consumer pass programs. The agency offers a variety of pass and payment options at a lower cost over buying transit passes individually. Continued on Page 28 00000
Take a Pass on Traffic When Southwest Airlines joined DART’s Employer Annual Pass Program in 2013, Lonny Hurwitz, a network planner with the Dallas-based airline, signed up immediately. “I ride the Green Line and I choose to take the train to work for the convenience, consistency of service and reduction of stress from not having to drive in traffic every day,” Hurwitz said. Richard West, who works in Southwest’s corporate communications group, joined the pass program about three years ago. “Riding DART is a good way for me to avoid the unpredictable traffic between Rowlett and Dallas Love Field,” West said. Southwest Airlines is one of about 200 companies that participates in DART’s Employer Annual Pass Program. The program gives employers the ability to provide workers with transit and vanpool benefits. Employers either subsidize the cost or allow payment with pre-tax dollars. Employers and employees also may split the cost of commuter transit programs, with both groups receiving tax benefits. Participants can purchase a DART annual pass at 75 percent of the cost of the individual annual pass rate. According to the American Public Transportation Association’s January Transit Savings Report, a person who commutes by public transportation can save more than $9,000 annually over commuting by car. 2 Commuters who participate in DART’s Employer Annual Pass Program skip fighting traffic and arrive at work less stressed and with more money in their pocket. “The Employer Annual Pass Program is a great way for employers to encourage their employees to reduce their commuting costs while also combating the growing challenges of parking and traffic,” West said. Bob English, DART’s senior manager of consumer programs, said his team is continually educating employers on the advantages of the annual pass program. “Earlier this year, we switched to HubSpot, a customer relationship management system,” English said. “This new tool will help us better understand and manage the needs of current and prospective customers so that we can identify the pass program that’s best for them.” In addition to the Employer Annual Pass Program, DART also has programs for property managers, high schools and colleges, residential properties, groups and conferences/conventions. “Our region has seen tremendous growth and there is no indication of a slowdown anytime soon,” English said. “For the companies relocating here, DART passes are a proven, popular recruitment and retention tool. And for employees, transit pass programs introduce them to the DART System – one of the many advantages of living in North Texas.” 8 Learn more: Epass.DART.org 8Continued from front page
Tap and Go GoPass makes accessing ® the DART System quick and easy Every weekday, Maria Hernandez boards the Route 350 bus along Parker Road in East Plano, puts $2.50 in quarters in the farebox and rides the bus until it reaches her job as a housekeeper in Addison. And every afternoon, she reverses the trip. Since she is paid daily, she pays her fare daily, too. Soon, Hernandez will be able to pay with cash at the nearby grocery store and add money to her account on either the new GoPass mobile app or the new GoPass Tap card. She will get the same savings and convenience as those daily DART riders who buy a monthly pass. “For people in low- and moderateincome households who make up the unbanked or underbanked population, cash is king,” Chief Financial Officer David Leininger said. “Unfortunately, their reliance on cash means they typically pay more for services, including public transportation.” DART now is working with automated fare collection specialist Vix Technology and cash payment expert PayNearMe to develop better options for its cash-based customers. GoPass will include a mobile wallet DART launched GoPass in September 2013. In its current form, GoPass makes purchasing transit and admission passes easy, but customers must have a credit or debit card to do that. Now the agency is working on an enhanced version of GoPass, which will be available in November 2017. The upgraded app will allow customers to add money to a transit account, which they can use to pay for their DART passes. DART riders will be able to pay with cash at PayNearMe’s more than 900 retail partners to add money to their account. Customers also can keep a credit or debit card on file. GoPass Tap is a reloadable payment card for transit Next year, PayNearMe’s retail locations also will sell DART’s new GoPass Tap card. As with the updated GoPass mobile app, customers can put money on an account with cash or a credit or debit card, then use the account to purchase mobile passes whenever needed. The tap cards will be reloadable and registrable, so if the card is lost, one’s money is protected. DART is installing electronic validators on buses and at rail platforms. Riders will simply tap their GoPass Tap card, a contactless credit/debit card or use Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay at the reader. Unlike the fareboxes, the system will debit the exact fare. On the trains, fare enforcement officers will have hand-held devices to verify that customers did tap before boarding. By creating more cash-based options, DART wants to make it easier for riders like Hernandez to pay for their transit trips in the way that is most convenient. 8 Learn more: GoPass.org Beginning in mid-2018, customers will be able to use cash to load value onto a reloadable GoPass Tap transit card. Riders must touch the GoPass Tap card to the electronic validator – located on the rail platform or at the bus entrance– every time they board and the fare will be deducted automatically. 3
Funding the Future New fare products, features are key parts of upcoming changes Six of the 10 most popular DART fare products are some form of a daily pass, be it a two-hour, midday or all-day pass. To provide better value for our customers, DART plans to roll out new pass products with the November 2017 and August 2018 fare changes. Half-day pass at half-day price Whether it’s due to one’s shift, activity or the availability of other transportation, DART staff have observed that many customers ride the system during only one half of the day. For some of these riders, the Two-Hour Pass didn’t last long enough and a Day Pass was more than they needed. To replace both, DART is introducing a half-day fare. Passes purchased or activated in the morning, known as an A.M. Pass, will be valid for unlimited trips on all modes from the start of service until noon. Passes purchased or activated after 12 p.m. – a P.M. Pass – will be good from noon until midnight. Together, the two will cost the same as a day pass, but benefit those who may leave in the afternoon and return home the next morning. Pending DART Board approval, the agency intends to introduce the new A.M./P.M. passes this November and eliminate the Two-Hour and Day passes. In August 2018, the agency will reintroduce a Single Ride bus fare and eliminate the 7-Day Pass. The option of buying a Midday Pass, which allows unlimited travel between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, will remain, although the fare may change after August 2018. Never overpay with fare capping As part of the fare restructure, DART is introducing fare capping, which be available in the GoPass mobile app in May 2018, and with the GoPass Tap card in August/September 2018. The account management system will ensure that riders never overpay daily or monthly. Once a person purchases both an A.M. Pass and a P.M. Pass in the same day, the system won’t charge another fare to the GoPass app or GoPass Tap account for the remainder of the day. Similarly, once a customer purchases 32 half-day passes within a calendar month, the system will credit a monthly pass to the person’s GoPass app or GoPass Tap card account. Fare changes are part of financial plan All of DART’s revenue sources, including sales tax and passenger revenue, must grow to financially support the maintenance and expansion of the DART System. The agency’s 20-Year Financial Plan assumes an increase to the average fare about every five years. The DART Board is expected to vote on a new fare structure by August 2017. If approved, most of the fare changes would take effect the following year. Seniors going to and from medical appointments and other destinations will save money with the proposed half-day pass if they can schedule their travel to take place either entirely in the morning or in the afternoon. 8 Learn more: DART.org/FareRestructure 4
DART Current and Future Rail Services A-train to Denton (operated by DCTA) NW PLANO PARK & RIDE PLANO i JACK HATCHELL TRANSIT CTR. Pres g NORTH CARROLLTON/FRANKFORD TRINITY MILLS CARROLLTON ADDISON RICHARDSON DOWNTOWN CARROLLTON DFW NORTH TEXRail Project (under construction by FWTA) Terminal B DFW AIRPORT Terminal A DFW BELT LINE NORTH LAKE COLLEGE LAS COLINAS URBAN CENTER BACHMAN UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS LOVE FIELD BURBANK IRVING To Fort Worth CENTREPORT/ DFW AIRPORT WEST IRVING DOWNTOWN IRVING/ HERITAGE CROSSING MEDICAL/ MARKET CENTER UNIVERSITY PARK HIGHLAND PARK INWOOD/LOVE FIELD SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL DISTRICT/ PARKLAND MARKET CENTER VICTORY UNION STATION y COCKRELL HILL 8TH & CORINTH DALLAS ZOO TRE to Fort Worth BELL RICHLAND HILLS RED BIRD TRANSIT CTR. FORT WORTH ITC T&P STATION FORT WORTH UNT DALLAS VICTORY WEST TRANSFER CTR. WEST END AKARD ROSA PARKS PLAZA UNION STATION UNION STATION CONVENTION CENTER Projects under development in Downtown Dallas: • Dallas CBD Second Light Rail Alignment (D2) • Dallas Streetcar Central Link EAST TRANSFER CTR. ST. PAUL DEEP ELLUM PEARL/ARTS DISTRICT GLENN HEIGHTS GLENN HEIGHTS PARK & RIDE Rail System Legend Currently Operating DART Rail Red Line DART Rail Blue Line DART Rail Green Line DART Rail Orange Line DART Rail Orange Line (Selected Weekday Trips Rush Hour Only) Trinity Railway Express (TRE) DCTA A-train M-Line Trolley Dallas Streetcar TYLER/VERNON HAMPTON WESTMORELAND MORRELL ILLINOIS KIEST VA MEDICAL CENTER LEDBETTER CAMP WISDOM LAKE JUNE BUCKNER CONVENTION CENTER CEDARS MOCKINGBIRD DALLAS CITYPLACE/UPTOWN DEEP ELLUM BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER FAIR PARK MLK, JR. LAWNVIEW HATCHER WHITE ROCK LOVERS LANE White Rock Lake LAKE RAY HUBBARD TRANSIT CTR. ROYAL LANE WALNUT HILL/DENTON IRVING CONVENTION CENTER FOREST LANE PARK LANE WALNUT HILL S. GARLAND TRANSIT CTR. Lake Ray Hubbard LAKE HIGHLANDS FOREST/JUPITER LBJ/SKILLMAN ROWLETT FARMERS BRANCH FARMERS BRANCH LBJ/CENTRAL ADDISON TRANSIT CTR. SPRING VALLEY GARLAND DOWNTOWN GARLAND DOWNTOWN ROWLETT ARAPAHO CENTER urnpike T 12TH STREET GALATYN PARK CITYLINE/BUSH PARKER ROAD DOWNTOWN PLANO SHILOH ROAD Inset Map Planning/Design Underway Cotton Belt Proposed Cotton Belt station 5 T e r e Bu i v s n i r i R t o r PEARL/ARTS DISTRICT ST. PAUL AKARD WEST END Dallas North Tollway d e h n t Ge TEXRail
Celebrating Riders of All Ages DART’s Transit Education team was busy this spring presenting its two signature, annual events: the Student Art Contest and the Older Americans Month Information & Health Fair. Student Art Contest On April 29, students, families, friends, teachers, members of the creative community and DART staff gathered at the Dallas Museum of Art to celebrate the young people whose art best illustrated the theme, “The adventure starts here.” This year’s art contest attracted the attention of 171 schools, and from these schools came 2,246 individual entries. Judges selected 28 winners, including this year’s Best of Show: Caitlin Savage from Plano East Senior High School. To view this year’s winners’ artwork, visit DART.org/artcontest. Older Americans Month Information & Health Fair Age Out Loud was the theme for this year’s Older Americans Month Information & Health Fair. On May 11, about 1,400 seniors from throughout North Texas took part in the one-day event that offered free health screenings, information and resources, prizes and giveaways, lunch and more. Photo highlights from the Older Americans event are available at DART.org/seniors. DALLAS AREA RAP MARKETING & COM P.O. BOX 660163 DALLAS, TX 75266Address Service Reques CONNECT WITH DAR At an event held during National Poli incident in Downtown Dallas. The ag PUBLISHED JULY 2017 132-021-0517 CW
PID TRANSIT MMUNICATIONS Inmotion 6-7203 sted THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT Faye Moses Wilkins DART Board Chair Nevin Grinnell Vice President Chief Marketing Officer Morgan Lyons Assistant Vice President External Relations Linda Webb-Mañon Senior Manager External Communications Lyle Miller Senior Manager Creative Services Denise Johnson Manager Customer Information/Production Christine Wilson Senior Graphic Designer Karen Ptacek Linda Webb-Mañon Writers Lupe Hernandez D’Angelo Lee II Reginald Loftin Photographers To subscribe or update your subscription, contact us: Online: www.DART.org/publications Phone: 214.749.3249 Mail: ART Customer Information (routes & schedules) 214.979.1111 DART Administrative Offices 214.749.3278 Inmotion - Marketing Department Dallas Area Rapid Transit P.O. Box 660163 Dallas, TX 75266-7203 lice Week in May, DART honored the parents of Officer Brent Thompson, who was fatally shot last summer while responding to an gency also unveiled a new sign, which renamed the street in front of DART Police Headquarters as Officer Brent Thompson Way. 6
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