Texas State Bills Could Kill Transit Funding in Dallas, Austin

Texas state legislators are proposing bills that would gut funding for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system and the massive public transit project in Austin known as Project Connect.

As Joshua Fechter explains in The Texas Tribune, “North Texas legislators want to reroute 25% of the sales tax revenue collected by DART, which serves Dallas and 12 neighboring cities, toward a ‘general mobility program.’ Those cities could then draw upon those funds to pay for projects like building sidewalks and roads and installing traffic signals.” The loss of revenue would be catastrophic for the transit agency, which would have to make service cuts and layoffs that would eliminate service for over 125,000 riders. 

According to Fechter, “Regional transportation planners warn cutting DART’s funding so drastically will hamper mobility across the entire Dallas-Fort Worth region, worsen air quality and throw a wrench in public transit plans for next year’s FIFA World Cup, when the region will host nine matches.”

Two bills sponsored by state Republicans would eliminate Project Connect’s funding plan. The bills’ sponsors argue that the funding mechanism used to create revenue for the project, which was approved by Austin voters, should not be used for paying debt and therefore cannot support Project Connect’s capital costs.