Dallas Area Rapid Transit is rolling out a plan to slash services and lengthen wait times, sparking public backlash. Amid growing concerns about accountability, The Dallas Express has launched an investigation.

The DART board — which oversees nearly $2 billion in annual spending — isn’t elected by the public. Local mayors and city councils appoint their members. In the coming weeks, The Dallas Express will investigate these appointed officials, the public servants who selected them, and whether any have faced consequences for the system’s ongoing failures. We will earnestly seek answers from the agency’s officials and community leaders.

While DART is making the “largest cuts” in its history, it is still pushing ahead on its $2 billion Silver Line. The agency has also moved to dismiss sexual assault claims and failed to provide the city council with recent crime data. Cities have spent over $17 billion on DART since 1984 (as of 2017), and this amount has continued to grow through recent capital projects and debt issuance.

DART Chair Gary Slagel was first appointed to represent Richardson on the agency’s board in 2011. The board’s longest-serving member is Mark Enoch, first appointed to represent Garland, Glenn Heights, and Rowlett in 1997.

Earlier this year, DART pledged to send 5 percent of its revenue to “member cities” for two years, in anticipation of a bill that never passed, as The Dallas Express reported. This caused a $42–43 million drop in the agency’s revenue, prompting the service cuts.

Despite the service cuts, the agency is forging ahead on its massive $2 billion Silver Line, which will run from the DFW International Airport to Plano. This project has been years in the making, as construction started in 2021 after a lengthy planning process. As The Dallas Express previously reported, the project poses traffic and safety concerns to nearby residents. 

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While DART cuts service and continues the expensive Silver Line project, it recently filed to dismiss legal claims over drivers sexually assaulting disabled passengers. 

After a disabled woman’s family complained a DART driver was “grooming” her in 2022, the agency said it would stop assigning him to drive her again, as The Dallas Express reported. Just weeks later, however, he picked her up for a ride and sexually assaulted her. Now, her family is suing, claiming DART failed to protect disabled passengers. 

The agency recently filed to dismiss the victim’s claims. This follows a history of sexual assaults in Dallas, and across the state, by drivers with DART and similar transit services. 

DART reported a 25 percent increase in crime in 2023, according to Fox 4. By early 2024, crime had increased by another 18 percent.

City Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn asked on X for DART’s most recent crime numbers, as its website only shows “offenses and arrests” as recently as 2022. She said she has “asked repeatedly” for DART’s most recent numbers.

All in all, DART appears to be cutting services while pursuing a $2 billion project, trying to dismiss sexual assault claims, and ignoring a city councilwoman’s request for crime data. 

The Dallas Express is asking an important question: Who holds DART accountable?