University Park could mark the fifth city to hold a withdrawal election from Dallas Area Rapid Transit in 2026.
The University Park City Council will vote on January 6 to advance a DART withdrawal election, according to the meeting agenda. If this passes, officials will send the measure to voters on May 2, where they will decide whether to “dissolve the Dallas Area Rapid Transit System (DART) in the City of University Park.”
DART member cities may leave DART only once every 6 years, so the next available window is 2026, as The Dallas Express reported. Many member cities have grown increasingly frustrated with the agency’s spending, governance, and services.
Four others – Farmers Branch, Highland Park, Irving, and Plano – decided in November 2025 to hold DART withdrawal elections on May 2, as The Dallas Express reported. In December, the Addison City Council refused to send the matter to voters.
The Ordinance
University Park council members are planning a special work session with DART officials on January 5 to discuss city services, according to the agenda memo.
“Following this discussion, the City Council will consider an Ordinance to withdraw from DART during their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, January 6,” the memo reads.
If the ordinance proceeds, voters will decide if DART should “be continued” in University Park.
The measure cited University Park’s history with the agency.
University Park joined DART alongside 14 other member cities in 1983, pledging 1% sales tax to the agency.
Carrollton and Farmers Branch held similar elections in 1985 to withdraw from DART, but chose to stay, as The Dallas Express reported. Coppell and Flower Mound successfully left in 1989. Four more cities voted to stay in 1996.
In total, University Park has contributed more than $100 million in sales tax to the regional transit system.
“Despite these longstanding contributions, the City currently receives minimal direct transit service, with no light rail operations within its boundaries and a substantial reduction of DART bus service over the years culminating in a single route along Preston Road,” the ordinance reads.
In 2023, University Park contributed $6.4 million in sales tax to DART, but received back only $1.8 million in services, as The Dallas Express exclusively reported. Meanwhile, Dallas contributed $407.8 million – but got $690.5 million in services.
Meanwhile, DART made historic service cuts in fall 2025, citing a $42 to $43 million budget shortfall, as The Dallas Express reported. Meanwhile, from 2020 to 2024, the agency paid its executives more than $2.4 million in bonuses.
DART member cities also “operate at a competitive disadvantage relative to non-member cities in terms of fiscal flexibility and budgeting,” according to the ordinance.
When the Texas legislature passed an annual cap on property tax increases, this hampered cities’ abilities to compensate for the large funding commitment to DART, officials wrote in the ordinance.
If voters decide to withdraw, DART would halt services immediately after the election. The city would likely be required to continue paying off the agency for a portion of its billions of dollars in debt.
In Plano, former City Councilman Shelby Williams previously described this to The Dallas Express as an “exit barrier” – incentivizing DART to increase debt, to discourage cities from leaving. He estimated his city could continue paying for seven to eight years.
Cities like Plano have been negotiating with DART to find alternative plans ahead of the withdrawal elections, according to Fox 4. As The Dallas Express reported, Irving officials have been considering options with providers like Uber and Via should voters decide to leave DART.
Groups like the Dallas Area Transit Alliance, with ties to left-wing activist networks, have been organizing opposition to withdrawal efforts at local council meetings, as The Dallas Express also reported.
If voters decide to remain with DART, cities’ next window to leave will be 2032.
