Officials at Dallas City Hall used a meeting on Monday to criticize DART's efforts to solicit community input during a major overhaul of the transit agency's bus network. DART changed several bus routes in January as part of an effort to make travel easier, especially for people using the bus to get to work.
"Throughout the reconstruction of the bus we did not get our input on when you changed the system," said Dallas City Council Member Tennell Atkins. "DART did not go into my community and say 'hey we're going to make these changes' and have the opportunity to give input."'
During a meeting of the Dallas City Council's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, City Council Member Cara Mendelsohn noted that the transit agency had extended a key bus route in her district. But she also found flaws with DART's process for hearing what residents wanted and conveying information about the changes to them.
"There were no community meetings. There was no solicitation of any kind of input from the district. I did write several letters. I asked for it publicly," Mendelsohn said. "So thank you for listening to me, but I think you do need to make sure you're doing a better job of reaching out to the actual riders."
DART hired a consultant for the bus network redesign project in 2019 and implemented the changes in January. The goal of the new routes is to give riders better access to employment locations.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow NewsRadio 1080 KRLD