DART’s $288.3 million fare-gate proposal leaves the annual operating bill and a funded deployment date for security on every bus and train unresolved in the agency’s October 27 briefing materials.
The posted agenda designated the security presentation for Tuesday’s Board Special Committee on Safety and Security as a briefing only. The presentation describes proposals and future work. The Dallas Express could not independently verify the committee’s October 27 votes or directions through a recording or postmeeting minutes.
The main October 27 section discusses fare changes and rider conduct, including proposals to require a destination and deboarding at the end of the line. Gate costs and train staffing appear in the October 13 material reproduced in an appendix.
The new documents put a price and tentative schedule on station gates, advancing the staffing-cost review previously reported by The Dallas Express. They do not establish a commitment to Level IV security aboard every bus and train, 24/7.
A Construction Estimate Without An Annual Operating Bill
The preliminary estimate totals $288,325,000 for 66 light rail stations. It includes approximately $161.5 million in station work, $43.7 million for gates and software, $53.3 million in design and other soft costs, $21.45 million in other project costs, and $8.4 million in reserves.
The other-cost category includes police and operations, along with flagging and real estate. However, the presentation does not provide a recurring annual budget for operating, maintaining and staffing the gated system or identify a dedicated funding package for the full proposal. It labels the estimate preliminary and subject to change.
Its tentative schedule calls for a four-to-six-gate demonstration in December 2028. A general-deployment line runs from January 2028 through December 2031, although the same slide places final design and construction award in December 2028. The dates require clarification before readers can treat them as a reliable rollout schedule.
Rail Staffing Leaves Bus Coverage Unresolved
The presentation proposes 25 additional transit security officers in fiscal year 2027 and another 25 in fiscal year 2028, reaching 150. It does not give a firm date for full onboard deployment.
The accompanying rail model calls for security on at least one light rail vehicle in each train, plus the Silver Line and Trinity Railway Express. It uses two 10-hour shifts daily. Each weekday shift would include 35 police officers, 23 fare enforcement officers and 26 transit security officers, with relief coverage.
That model prices the additional annual staffing requirement at $9.5 million using regular pay or $14.2 million using overtime. It does not price an officer aboard every bus or establish coverage of every trip from the first departure through the last arrival. Shift start and end times are absent.
DART’s police department operates around the clock. That department-wide schedule does not establish continuous personnel coverage aboard each vehicle.
Three Personnel Categories With Different Authority
DART police officers are licensed Texas peace officers. Contracted transit security officers are armed security personnel; their contract identifies Inter-Con Security Systems Inc. as the provider and describes a supplemental role supporting police and fare enforcement staff.
Fare enforcement officers inspect proof of payment and can issue citations. They cannot carry weapons while performing those duties and are not peace officers, under Section 452.0612 of the Texas Transportation Code. Counting all three groups as police would misstate their authority.
Level IV refers to training required for personal protection officers under the Texas Department of Public Safety’s private security requirements. Applicants generally must provide Level II, III and IV training certificates and a declaration of psychological and emotional health, according to the department’s licensing guidance.
An armed transit security job title does not establish that an employee holds that qualification. The reviewed DART materials do not document Level IV credentials for the proposed deployment. The mixed rail model therefore does not establish Level IV security on every bus and train throughout operating hours.
Prior Funding Does Not Establish The Full Deployment
The board approved its fiscal year 2027 budget on September 22, according to minutes included in the October 27 board packet. The accompanying budget presentation lists an $8 million operating-funding increase while moving the transit security contract into the operating budget.
That presentation lists 219 police officers, 74 fare enforcement officers, 100 transit security officers and 155 armed security guards. Those are figures in budget materials, not verified counts of filled positions or employees simultaneously aboard vehicles. They do not establish funding for the complete every-train staffing option or the $288.3 million gate proposal.
Operation Access has a separate scope. DART announced a 90-day demonstration expected to begin in late fall and continue into winter at five initial stations. The trial would test controlled access, enforcement and staffing needs.
“Every customer should be able to ride DART safely, comfortably and with confidence,” David Leininger, then DART’s interim president and CEO, said in the September 9 announcement.
