Dallas Area Rapid Transit has elected Randall Bryant as its new board chair, replacing Gary Slagel as the top official.
DART elected Bryant as board chair on October 28, according to a press release, replacing Slagel, who had held office since 2023.
DART confirmed that the officer elections are part of a routine two year rotation. The agency did not specify whether former Chair Gary Slagel will continue serving on the board representing Richardson, Addison, Highland Park, and University Park.
Slagel led the agency through recent service cuts and offered kickbacks to suburbs to drop reform legislation, as The Dallas Express exclusively reported.
Bryant, age 38, is the youngest board chair in the agency’s history, according to the release. He will serve a two-year term. The Dallas City Council first appointed him in 2024 to fill a vacancy, and he was reappointed in May 2025.
Bryant called it an “honor” to lead DART into what he called “the next era.”
“I’m dedicated to developing amicable legislative solutions on governance and funding, ensuring a safe and secure system, expanding the use of innovation and technology across the Agency, extending dedicated service to new member cities, and partnering with local school districts to drive trade education benefitting DART and our future workforce,” Bryant said.
Bryant was chair of the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce, and served as a member of the Dallas Citizens Council and the North Texas Commission, which “manages the region’s unified advocacy at the state and federal levels.”
Bryant is CEO of Politics United Marketing, a regional firm that provides “government affairs, public relations, and political consultancy services to public entities, corporations, and political committees.”
After joining DART, Bryant was elected to the board of the American Public Transportation Association. He will now represent DART on the Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments. As The Dallas Express reported, NCTCOG holds massive influence over transportation funding across the region.
Bryant will replace Slagel, a former Richardson mayor who has served on the board since 2011. He was first elected chair two years ago.
Mayors of participating DART cities have become increasingly critical of DART’s funding and governance structure, and some cities may reconsider their membership in 2026.
For example, Plano gave $109.6 million in sales taxes to DART but received only $44.6 million in services – a $65 million annual deficit, according to a 2023 study obtained by The Dallas Express. Meanwhile, Dallas contributed just $407.8 million to DART, but received $690.5 million in services in return.
The DART board also spent a total of $2.4 million on executive bonuses from 2020 to 2024, as The Dallas Express exclusively reported.
Dallas maintains a vast majority on the DART board, while cities like Plano and Farmers Branch share a single representative, an imbalance that mayors said makes it difficult to represent their constituents.
Crime has also been increasing across the DART system. Group A Offenses – including arson, assault, robbery, and drugs – doubled from 3.4 per 100,000 riders in January to 6.81 in June. These crimes have increased by nearly 44% since last year.
Amid these frustrations, the DART board of directors approved a “General Mobility Program” in March – returning 5% of annual sales tax revenue to several member cities. Still, the cities went to the Texas legislature, supporting bills to reform the DART board and divert some of its sales tax revenue.
DART Board Chair Gary Slagel demanded that the member cities drop reforms in exchange for the GMP funding, as The Dallas Express exclusively reported.
Carrollton Mayor Steve Babick previously told The Dallas Express that DART had proposed the funding as a compromise, only to turn it into a “poison pill.”
The GMP funding caused a $42-43 million financial shortfall for DART, leading to massive service cuts in September that slashed routes and lengthened wait times.
The Board also selected Marc C. Abraham to serve as Vice Chair, appointed Carmen Garcia as Secretary, and designated Mark C. Enoch as Assistant Secretary.