Highland Park Voters Boot DART, First Texas Exit Since '89

DALLAS — Voters in the upscale Dallas suburb of Highland Park delivered a resounding rebuke to Dallas Area Rapid Transit on May 2, with 69.5% rejecting continued membership in the agency's sales tax-funded system, according to unofficial results reported by KERA News and the Texas Tribune. The vote marks the first city exit from DART — Texas' second-largest public transit authority — since Flower Mound and Coppell withdrew in 1989. Cities can hold such elections every six years amid long-simmering debates over costs versus benefits in car-dependent North Texas.

Highland Park's city council will canvass the results at a special meeting on May 13, after which DART services will cease entirely within city limits on May 14, the agency announced in a May 3 news release. That includes 15 bus stops, Route 237 service, the Park Cities GoLink on-demand zone, paratransit for riders with disabilities and park-and-ride facilities. Buses will continue passing through but skip all Highland Park stops, forcing riders to nearby areas. DART projects a $270 million hit to sales tax revenue over 20 years from the four-mile-square enclave north of downtown Dallas.

In contrast, voters in neighboring Addison and University Park reaffirmed their commitment. Addison — fresh off its first DART Silver Line rail station opening in October — approved staying with 69.6% support, per KERA tallies, while University Park voters backed retention 53.3% to 46.7%. No service changes are planned there, preserving bus, rail, GoLink and paratransit access amid DART's sprawling 700-square-mile network serving 13 North Texas cities.