Bus Stops

DART scales up bus service for Dallas' booming northern 'burbs

DART is improving its suburban offerings.

Photo courtesy of DART

Two major employment centers on the outer edge of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit service area are new focal points for bus service improvements that DART will deploy on March 13.

Bus service to the booming Legacy area of northwest Plano, with all of the major corporate headquarters activity, is being beefed up.

In addition, a new express route linking new corporate campuses to Parker Road Rail Station is being opened.

Further to the west, access to Orange Line Belt Line Station in the Cypress Waters area of far northwest Dallas will be streamlined with adjustments to two existing routes.

Legacy bus
Express Bus Route 208 will be extended north from the Northwest Plano Park & Ride into Legacy West, directly serving JC Penney, JP Morgan Chase, FedEx Office, Toyota, Liberty Mutual, and Frito Lay. This service operates on alternate trips, approximately every 30 minutes during morning and evening rush hours.

For passengers on buses terminating at Northwest Plano Park & Ride, service to destinations in Legacy West will be available on Routes 211, 346, and 452.

Express route
A new east-west Express Bus Route 211 will operate nonstop every 15 minutes, during peak periods only, between Parker Road Station and Northwest Plano Park & Ride, primarily along Spring Creek Parkway, then continuing into Legacy, serving Chase, JC Penney, FedEx, Liberty Mutual, and Toyota.

In addition, a revised Route 346 will combine existing Routes 346 and 348, serving destinations not reached by either Route 208 or Route 211, such as Granite Park, Bank of America, and Yum Brands. Service will be available during peak periods only.

Northwest Dallas action
Route 500 will no longer serve the Freeport area near DFW Airport on weekday trips. It will instead use Premier/Gateway routing (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and currently a part of Route 510). This will reduce travel time between Belt Line Station and Cypress Waters corporate headquarters, such as 7-Eleven and Core Logic. Weekend service will remain unchanged.

Route 510 will no longer serve the USINS Premier/Gateway segment and instead pick up Freeport service currently provided by Route 500 on weekdays; weekend service via Freeport will continue to be available on Route 500. Passengers will be able to connect to DART Rail at either Belt Line or Irving Convention Center stations.

transportation traffic

Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

politics

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Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates