Case study: Rail failure in Dallas

The longest light rail system in the US has been a failure. They took a "build it and they will come" strategy, but nobody is coming. Fail.

It simply doesn't go where people need to go. The rail system is focused on downtown Dallas and only a tiny percentage of metro jobs are downtown.

Houston has been much smarter by sticking with HOV/HOT buses for long-distance commutes instead of expensive and inflexible light rail lines.

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20120611-editorial-wheres-the-dart-ridership-plan.ece

Building the light-rail system with the longest reach in North America is something that Dallas Area Rapid Transit can rightly be proud of. “On time and under budget,” as the agency’s leaders like to say about the multibillion-dollar construction juggernaut.
Then there’s the really hard part: Putting riders on those trains and keeping them there. That’s one place where DART shouldn’t be crowing about its record.
In an article charting the performance of DART’s 55 light-rail stations, Dallas Morning News transportation writer Michael Lindenberger showed this week that many locations now serve far fewer riders than when they opened.
As DART gets ready to extend service to two more communities this year — Irving and Rowlett — it must forge a plan to build ridership over the long term.

In fact, board members need to put the brakes on approving higher fares sought by DART staff until the agency can get moving on a fresh ridership strategy. A new focus on attracting customers would be a wise message, given the proposal to double the cost of the day pass from just six years ago.

We know there will be no magic bullet and that DART’s jurisdiction ends at its property line. Yet it needs to partner more effectively with its 13 member cities, where possible, to build and grow a loyal customer base. Efforts fall in these general areas:

Messaging: DART needs to tell its story better with testimonials and talking points about how using mass transit saves money. The agency offers free parking in lots across most member cities, for example. Promote, promote, promote.

Amenities: How about doughnuts, bagels and coffee carts to start the day, and chilled drinks, water and taco vendors to cap it off? What about WiFi on trains?
Accessibility and signage: Some DART stations are hidden away so well that it’s hard even for locals to get there. Others are nearly inaccessible to pedestrians. Every city hall in DART’s service area must help the public find and reach these locations.
Development: Fostering dense communities around stations builds long-term, permanent ridership. Yet development and commercial activity appears stalled in several spots. Again, DART must partner with city officials to avoid avoidable transit-oriented business busts.

Promotions: DART is now offering free weekly passes to prospective riders who trade in a gasoline receipt they got for the last fill-up. Good move, but it had only limited hours and scattered sign-up locations. Do more of this, perhaps branching out to free monthly passes in the future. Get serious.
Bottom line for us is seeing DART kick it up several notches. It’s reasonable to ask whether the agency would be in its current financial squeeze had it been working as intently on attracting passengers as it has been on extending its network to 90 miles of track by 2014.