Voters in Highland Park and Farmers Branch will vote next year on whether to leave the Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
The councils of Highland Park and Farmers Branch voted on November 4 to convene special elections on May 2, 2026, in which their citizens will decide whether to leave DART. The Plano City Council will vote on November 5, and the Irving City Council will vote on November 6, on holding similar elections.
DART member cities have grown increasingly frustrated with the agency’s spending and governance – seeking reforms in the state legislature, as The Dallas Express previously reported. Meanwhile, DART lines have reportedly been bringing homeless people to the suburbs as crime continues to grow.
“DART leadership will continue to be transparent and collaborative and operate in good faith because the residents of North Texas deserve that from us,” a DART representative said, according to NBC DFW. “The future of North Texas mobility depends on partnership.”
Highland Park
The Highland Park Town Council passed a measure letting its voters choose whether to leave DART. The ordinance prompted an election across the town in 2026 to decide whether to “dissolve the Dallas Area Rapid Transit System in the Town of Highland Park.”
“Highland Park taxpayers have invested in the regional system for more than 40 years,” Mayor Will Beecherl said in a press release. “This election ensures that our residents – who fund this contribution – have a say in whether the return on that investment meets the needs of our community today.”
Staff recommended the council approve the measure. The Texas Transportation Code only allows member cities to call elections to withdraw once every six years, so next year is the nearest window to leave.
“Shall the Dallas Area Rapid Transit System be continued in the Town of Highland Park?” the city will ask its citizens in the upcoming election, per the ordinance.
Highland Park joined DART in 1983, alongside 14 other member cities, contributing a 1% local sales tax to the agency, according to the release. In total, the town has contributed more than $107 million to DART, with $8 million annually in recent years.
However, DART reportedly operates no light rail services within the city’s boundaries and offers a single bus route on Preston Road, which averages 60 riders per day.
Officials cited an independent study – exclusively reported by The Dallas Express – that found Highland Park contributed $6.3 million to DART in 2023, but received only $1.9 million in return for services.
While this is modest compared to the agency’s $1.7 billion annual budget, according to the release, the contribution is a major commitment as the 2.2-square-mile town works to update its infrastructure.
DART member cities send 1% of local sales tax to support the agency, which restricts their fiscal flexibility and budgeting, according to the release. When the state legislature limited the annual increase in local property taxes in 2019, this allegedly exacerbated the issue.
Meanwhile, Highland Park shares a single representative on the DART board with three other member cities. At the same time, Dallas maintains a vast majority on the board, as The Dallas Express previously reported. Mayors expressed concerns that this imbalance makes it difficult to represent their constituents.
“This arrangement effectively amounts to taxation without meaningful representation,” the release reads. “This inequity underscores the Town’s call for governance reform to ensure fair representation, fiscal accountability, and balanced decision-making across all member cities.”
Highland Park officials stated that they remain committed to regional collaboration and intend to continue partnering with DART on mutually beneficial projects. They said the agency’s financial and governance structures are “no longer sustainable or equitable.”
“Is it fair for non-member municipalities and their residents to benefit from the DART system while the full financial burden continues to rest on just thirteen member cities and their taxpayers?” the release said.
If voters decide to withdraw from DART, the town would follow the procedures outlined in state law, including “required timelines and financial reconciliation.”
“DART is structured as a regional system, but its funding model relies almost entirely on a handful of member cities,” Beecherl said. “A truly regional transportation approach must be funded regionally, not disproportionately by a small number of municipalities.”
Farmers Branch
The same day, the Farmers Branch City Council voted 3-2 to call an election on leaving DART, as KERA reported.
“Shall the Dallas Area Rapid Transit System be continued in the City of Farmers Branch?” the city will ask its citizens, according to the recently passed ordinance. If voters say yes, the city would “dissolve the Dallas Area Rapid Transit System (DART) in the City of Farmers Branch.”
Farmers Branch has partnered with DART since 1984, contributing a total of $500 million. City officials have made repeated requests for updated transit services and formally asked for data showing the “return on its investment.”
However, the council cited an independent study – exclusively reported by The Dallas Express – that found Farmers Branch contributed $24.3 million to DART in 2023, but received only $20.8 million in return for services.
DART promotes itself as a regional transit system, but relies on 13 member cities to fund its operations, according to the ordinance. Officials called for a funding system that makes joining the agency “equitable and desirable.” They also expressed concerns about flexibility in committing 1% of sales tax to the agency, after 2019 legislation limited annual property tax increases.
“The City Council of the City of Farmers Branch has determined that it is in the best interest of the City to call an election and submit the issue of continued participation in DART to the citizens,” the ordinance reads.
At the meeting, residents expressed concerns about leaving DART, according to KERA. Aniya Robertson, of Carrollton, said she relies on public transit to get to college.
“If it was just dropped, I wouldn’t finish college,” she reportedly said.
When Plano announced that the council would meet for a similar vote, officials stated that the city had already secured funding for a local alternative to DART, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The Bigger Picture
Carrollton and Farmers Branch held similar elections to withdraw from DART in 1985, but they ultimately failed, according to KERA. In 1989, Coppell and Flower Mound successfully left the agency. In 1996, four cities voted on withdrawing from DART again, but residents decided to stay.
DART spent more than $2.4 million on executive bonuses from 2020 to 2024, and over $800,000 in total on executive bonuses last year alone, as The Dallas Express exclusively reported.
Meanwhile, DART is billions of dollars in debt. This is divided among member cities, which, former Plano City Councilman Shelby Williams had said, poses an “exit barrier” to keep member cities from leaving.
DART has also been struggling with rising crime across the system. Group A Offenses – including arson, assault, robbery, and drugs – increased nearly 44% since last year.
For months, DART member cities have grown frustrated with imbalances in the agency’s spending and governance, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
The DART board of directors approved a “General Mobility Program” in March, returning 5% of annual sales tax revenue to several member cities. Cities like Plano still went to the Texas legislature, seeking more permanent solutions – supporting bills to reform the DART board, and allow cities to redirect some of their sales tax revenue.
In July, DART Board Chair Gary Slagel demanded member cities drop reforms in exchange for GMP funding, as The Dallas Express exclusively reported. Carrollton Mayor Steve Babick previously told The Dallas Express that DART had turned the compromise into a “poison pill.”
The Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments offered on November 3 to help DART and member cities find a resolution. As The Dallas Express previously reported, NCTCOG is a metropolitan planning organization — essentially a shadow government — that controls how billions in federal transportation dollars are spent across the region.
“It is important for the future of the region that some ability exists to resolve specific local government concerns without injuring the delivery of transit,” RTC officials wrote in a press release. “It is also important that those who live, work and go to school in cities that are members of a transit system today are provided with a seamless transit service that works for them.”
Cities’ next window to vote on leaving DART is 2026. At the time of publication, two cities had already taken the opportunity. This week, Plano and Irving may join them as well.