University Park Plans Paratransit Services After DART Exit

University Park city leaders are working to ensure disabled and elderly residents don’t lose their transportation options if voters choose to exit the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system this May.

The University Park City Council reviewed plans last week for maintaining paratransit services after a potential DART withdrawal, addressing one of the more pressing practical questions surrounding the city’s push to leave the regional transit authority. A withdrawal vote is scheduled for May, and city officials want residents to know that accessible transportation won’t simply disappear if the measure passes.

Paratransit services provide door-to-door transportation for residents who cannot use standard fixed-route buses due to disability or age. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, any public transit system must offer a paratransit alternative to its fixed-route services. The question for University Park is what happens to those obligations and, more importantly, to those riders, once the city is no longer part of DART.

University Park is one of several North Dallas suburbs that have been exploring DART exits, driven largely by frustration over what local officials describe as inadequate service returns relative to the sales tax dollars flowing into the authority. University Park residents pay a one-cent sales tax to DART, and city leaders have argued that the city sees far less in service than comparable contributions from other member cities.

The withdrawal debate has picked up momentum across the Park Cities and nearby suburbs, and the May vote will give University Park residents a direct say on whether to leave the authority entirely. But exiting DART doesn’t eliminate every transit obligation. Cities that operate their own transit programs still need to meet federal accessibility standards if they use federal funds, and providing paratransit to residents who depend on it is both a legal requirement and a basic service expectation.

Council members discussed contracting with private providers or neighboring transit networks to fill any service gaps. The goal, according to city officials, is to have a framework in place before Election Day so voters can weigh the full picture, not just the tax savings side of the equation.

The paratransit conversation matters beyond University Park. Across North Dallas, as suburban cities debate DART membership, the question of what happens to vulnerable residents often gets overshadowed by the larger financial and political arguments. Paratransit riders tend to be seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income residents without other transportation options. They are also among the least likely to own vehicles and the most likely to feel the effects of any service disruption.

For University Park, a relatively affluent city with high car ownership rates, the paratransit population is smaller than in other DART member cities. But city leaders appear to understand that the needs of those residents carry real weight, and they are treating the question seriously rather than treating it as an afterthought to the broader withdrawal debate.

From a Texas politics standpoint, the DART withdrawal push fits into a wider pattern of suburban municipalities reasserting local control over regional authorities. The Texas Legislature has given cities clearer pathways to exit regional transit systems in recent sessions, reflecting the broader conservative push to decentralize services that gained momentum in Austin. North Dallas suburbs have been among the most vocal advocates of that shift.

Whether University Park voters approve the withdrawal in May will depend on how city leaders make the case. Preserving paratransit access is part of that case. If council members can show that the city has a credible plan to serve its most transit-dependent residents without DART, the withdrawal argument becomes harder to oppose on humanitarian grounds alone.

The May election is still weeks away, and the paratransit planning is ongoing. Council members have not finalized contracts or service agreements, and those details will matter to riders who rely on the service today. City officials have signaled they intend to bring more specifics forward before the vote.

For residents who use paratransit now, the message from the council seems to be this: the city sees you, and it is working to make sure you are not the collateral damage of a political decision aimed primarily at saving sales tax revenue.