EastAllen
New Member
Reged: 09/28/05
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I work closed to downtown Dallas. Every day I take the
light rail to work. It works out pretty good. I don't deal
with traffic and my gasoline bill is down about 70%. However I read DART is struggling because cities like ours don't want to participate (1% sales tax increase). I would
love to be able to take a bus near my house and get to a rail station in Allen, not Plano. What do you guys think?
Are you in favor of Dart coming to Allen or you rather keep it out of our fair city?
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denisew
Member
Reged: 02/18/02
Loc: Allen, TX
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I don't want the extra tax. There is a cap as to how high of a tax rate we can charge and I think we're already there. If we gave 1% (or whatever the rate is) to DART, our other city services would suffer. I don't think it is such a big deal to drive to Plano to use DART. We do have to purchase a train ticket, don't we? My vote would be against having DART in Allen.
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V-Girl
Member
Reged: 07/12/01
Loc: Allen, TX, US
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I'm with Denise on this one. My hubby takes the light rail almost daily to Childrens or Parkland or UTSW. He doesn't mind driving to Plano or even Richardson to catch the train. I don't even know where they would put parking for a station.
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Will work for shoes (& purses)!
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Al C
Member
Reged: 02/16/01
Loc: Allen, TX
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I wish they could figure out a way to get a rail station here. I would definitely use it every work day. 1% isn't a lot and I don't think any other service would "suffer" if we made a little room for DART. And it IS a big deal to drive to Plano to use the rail because you can never find a parking space at the Parker station. There are quite a few spaces for a station with ample parking room ... near Bethany and Century ... Ridgemont between Greenville and 75 ... downtown ...
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Pirate
Member
Reged: 06/20/03
Loc: Allen, TX
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Denise,
There would be no extra tax. As you've mentioned, the sales tax rate for the City of Allen is already at the legislative mandated current local sales tax cap of 2%.
You are correct in that in order for Allen to join DART, the City of Allen would have to be willing to reduce the city tax rate to 1% so DART could pick up the other 1%, but the total tax rate would stay the same.
I too am for keeping DART out of Allen because I agree the lost tax revenue would affect services & it's a short drive to the DART station in Plano between Park & Parker.
Al,
What makes you think DART would provide ample parking in Allen if has already shown it doesn't at it's other stations?
Edited by Pirate (10/27/05 04:02 PM)
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EastAllen
New Member
Reged: 09/28/05
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The problem is not that DART doesn't provide enough parking at the Parker Station, the problem is that the station serves four cities (Plano, Allen, Mckinney & Frisco). The rails are already in place to go all the way to Mckinney,
and it would help revive downtown Allen. To me it is unbelievable that a city like Allen has no public transportation.
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Pirate
Member
Reged: 06/20/03
Loc: Allen, TX
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One think I forgot to mention on my original post was that in addition to giving up sales tax revenue, Allen would also have to make a lump sum payment to DART just like Carrollton did when they joined DARTa few years ago.
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Nickel
Member
Reged: 01/18/05
Loc: Allen, TX
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wasn't there parking (or land maybe) set aside for DART at one time in downtown Allen. I believe it was near the Belmont and Eaton Court.
I'm on the fence about the issue, mostly for the reasons already mentioned. Also, if we did elect to join, I think it would take a long time to see a payoff - ie a station built and operating.
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MsAlyce
Member
Reged: 04/03/04
Loc: Allen,Texas,USA
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Nicole, Dart owns the rail line now, they don't own parking they just own all the right-of-way for the line and the easement. They lease that to a business, in downtown that business uses it for parking.
The lump sum to buy into to Dart would be large, Allen would have to put in what other cities have put in with the same population over the last 20+ years. I don't know the exact amount but that would have to be up front money then the one cent tax would be levied also.
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Before & After Activity Center for Children 972/390-7162
Edited by MsAlyce (10/27/05 11:01 PM)
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allensince1979
Member
Reged: 06/18/01
Loc: allen, Tx. usa
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With the price of gas and the very real concern for global warming we should all be looking to public transportation as the way of the future. I don't think a responsible solution is to say we will drive 1/2 way to another town that has already paid for their share of the dart rail. Maybe Dart should start charging non Plano residents who park their cars there. Gas is not going to get much cheaper than it is now and the pollution problem is not going to go away just because some look the other way.
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Motu
Member
Reged: 07/09/02
Loc: Allen, TX, USA
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I think that Allensince1979 has it EXACTLY right. It is very conceited of us as Allenites to want to use the DART rail but think that Plano should just pay for it. I am very glad when I see the Parker Road station as crowded as it is with cars, because it tells me how many people are using the rail. It also is a prime example of supply and demand and this station is definitely showing the demand. An additional station in Allen and probably 2-3 in McKinney would do amazing things for US 75 traffic.
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RWK
Member
Reged: 09/18/03
Loc: Allen
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In order for Allen to be able to join Dart there would have to be an election. When the truth about how much money it would cost to join I don't think the voters of Allen would pass it. I'm not sure how much it would cost but I remember seeing something in the news some time back that it was hundreds of millions of dollars. It would be at least 15 years before a rail line would be running in Allen. That is along time to pay before you would get the result you want. As for the 1% of tax money, That would be millions of dollars that the city need to keep here each year. Dart is a poor run system that only gets 20% of its money from fares. If a regular business operated that way they would be out of business in 6 months. There was some thing in the paper the other day about the parking problem in Plano and they are thinking of charging non city riders a fee for using Dart. I think that is wrong because even tho I don't live in Plano I shop there sometimes and pay there 1% sales tax. I have been on the train 2 times and I had to fight to get parking space at the Parker Road Station and it wasn't really any quicker than driving and unless you are going to someplace near a rail station you have to eiither have to walk or ride a crowded bus. I will vote no if there is an electionto join Dart.
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SB
Member
Reged: 09/07/03
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RWK has it exactly right. If you shop in Plano and probably most allenites do, then you are contributing to DART (in addition to the City of Plano general fund). I favor DART in Allen (at least light-rail) but right now we may get more benefit from that 1% sales tax charge if it's dedicated to economic development.
One place where I've heard there is plenty of parking is at the George Bush DART station.
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allensince1979
Member
Reged: 06/18/01
Loc: allen, Tx. usa
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Quote:
It would be at least 15 years before a rail line would be running in Allen. That is along time to pay before you would get the result you want.
This is part of the problem there is no planning for the future here, in fifteen years when gas is 5 or 6 dollars a gallon, the polution is so bad we can't see the skyline, and the traffic is so bad we'll need an extra hour to get to work we will be wondering why dart is all around us but not here, why we still have no shopping here. Maybe Allen will find a way to blow all of our polution south to Plano by then, so we won't have to worry about it. I think Plano needs to start charging non-residents a parking fee to help pay for our share of dart. It seems most of us are all for saving the environment until it's to close to home.
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MsAlyce
Member
Reged: 04/03/04
Loc: Allen,Texas,USA
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To both you and RWK, I say Plano has been contributing since DART rail was just some far away thought. Paying for a system that in the begining looked like it was only going to help Dallas. They paid for years without seeing any real benefit! I know I moved up the street (north on 75) to get away from Plano to live in Allen 16+ years ago. I shop in Allen, I can't think of much that I go to Plano for except my doctor of 22+ years. Oh I have bought a couple of cars there, but Allen doesn't have any dealerships.
It maybe unpopular but I think Planoites should have priorty parking at their Dart stations. People in Richardson in their parking lots... well you get the idea. Those towns have been paying for many years, they gave up an economic development board for the future of mass transit. Now that they have finally gotten a rail connection they deserve to park in the lots paid for by their continued support of the system.
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RWK
Member
Reged: 09/18/03
Loc: Allen
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In fifteen years The Dart line north will be outdated. Have you ever tried to get a seat during rush hour or a parking space, impossible some days - Monday thru Friday.
They will need more North and South lines because one line is not enough and if they planned another line by the time they built it, it would be out dated. I imagine that as more people ride the train from Plano they will have to go South to find a parking space and seat. If they put a train in Allen the people in Plano would drive to Allen to catch it because it would be full by time it got to Plano. The only time the train is full is a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening so it would not be profitable to add more trains that would just sit idle the rest of the time. Car pooling would be a better way to get to work if you have other workers that live and work near you.
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vrs
Member
Reged: 04/20/00
Loc: Allen, Texas
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I have only one word to add to this thread:
telecommuting 
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When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this - you haven't.
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Po_Boy
Member
Reged: 09/05/03
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My thoughts exactly vrs
There is not much reason to move people just to move information which most office workers do.
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EastAllen
New Member
Reged: 09/28/05
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I think some of you touched a very important issue, planning for the future. If it takes a long time to build,
that should not be a reason not to do it. If you don't plan now for it, all of us would have to pay later.
I used to drive three hours everyday to and from work, about 80% of that time was spend driving 10 miles per hour stuck in that wonderful parking lot that is Central Expressway. Now I take the rail and yes I do have to take a bus form the rail station to my job, it takes me two hours a day to do this using the DART system.
If you think we can avoid planning for this, just look at the traffic between the BUSH Turnpike and Exchange driveway
at any time of the day or weekend. It takes forever to drive those 10 miles. It will only get worse.
East Allen
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Al C
Member
Reged: 02/16/01
Loc: Allen, TX
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Quote:
What makes you think DART would provide ample parking in Allen if has already shown it doesn't at it's other stations?
Wherever the farthest north station happens to be, that's where the parking issues will be ... no matter what because that's where all the folks from Allen and northward will go to hop the train. I didn't say that I think parking would be great, but it would increase the options for us to use any of the local stations. If there were to be two or three stations in Allen, the Parker Road station parking issues wouldn't be quite so bad.
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Al C
Member
Reged: 02/16/01
Loc: Allen, TX
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Quote:
One place where I've heard there is plenty of parking is at the George Bush DART station.
Not true.
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amanda0815
Member
Reged: 05/24/05
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I take the train into downtown Dallas everyday. If I get a late start in the morning, the only place I can find a parking space is at Arapaho station in Richardson. I sent an e-mail to DART about the parking situation at the Parker Road station and they have no plans and nowhere to expand the parking lot to. I think DART is such a valuable service - I've cut my gasoline and parking expenses by about $200 a month. I'd be willing to pay a parking fee to the City of Plano or DART to get a spot at the Parker Road Station and I don't mind the 10 minute drive down Greenville.
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denisew
Member
Reged: 02/18/02
Loc: Allen, TX
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Al C - You're right about that. When we used DART rail to go to the State Fair on fall break, we had to drive all the way down to George Bush to find one parking spot. I think that is because we left a little later in the morning and most commuters had already taken all the spots at the other Plano stations. My family doesn't have a need to use DART on a daily basis, but for the one or two times a year we do use it, it is nice to be able to drive five minutes into Plano, park and ride. I just don't think we need it in Allen. Like vrs said, there are other options that will cut down pollution - telecommuting as she said and also car pooling. Hopefully we will soon be using an alternative source for fuel instead of fossil fuels - something from a more renewable source - like corn.
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jmw0240
New Member
Reged: 10/30/05
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No way -- Dart does not need to come to Allen. My boyfriend's sister is one of those kids that rides that thing to Dallas to all her friends' apartments -- to the bad parts of town -- and those people come up as far as the Parker station to meet other kids like that. I don't want them here, Allen has enough problems with little mischevious kids!!
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civicminded
Member
Reged: 04/24/02
Loc: Lone Star State
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Hmmm, it's both a personal and a regional kinda thing. Personally, some will want/need/use such Mass transit options. I like the idea, and use the rail parts of it, though not out of need. But regionally, such areas as this with four million folks, and double this someday, must consider such options.
But the point was recently made about who will use DART to get here. It's a two way method for sure, and trouble-makers have used this method to move around. 
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EastAllen
New Member
Reged: 09/28/05
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I didn't think of that, the bad kids take the buses to go and do bad things in neighborhoods. That's just a bad reason not to want public transportation. Of all the bad excuses, that takes the cake. Kind of sad to think like that.
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allensince1979
Member
Reged: 06/18/01
Loc: allen, Tx. usa
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I thought so too... like I already said protecting the enviornment is important until it hits to close to home.
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jaw
Member
Reged: 10/08/02
Loc: Allen, TX USA
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If Allen decided to join DART, Allen would receive bus service as soon as possible. The buses would provide cross town transportation and possibly transportation to the train station at Parker Road. I have been taking mass transit for almost 7 years and I find it to be longer but more relaxing. I would love to telecommute, but my boss frowns upon it. He likes to have us in the office. I would vote for DART to receive local services until the train arrives. Allen would probably switch the 1% sales tax from Econmic Development to Mass Transit. Having mass transit in your city may bring more businesses because employees from all over the metroplex would have another option besides driving their car to work.
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MsAlyce
Member
Reged: 04/03/04
Loc: Allen,Texas,USA
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From what I understand employers also like mass transit, so their employees can get to work.
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Before & After Activity Center for Children 972/390-7162
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andro1
Member
Reged: 11/05/03
Loc: Allen, TX, USA
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That's good to know...the fact that if we decide to join Dart while the train service may take time, the bus service would start up sooner. I guess my 3 cents is firstly we are a bedroom community. Most of us commute south for our jobs. Given this, for our city to thrive it makes sense to have alternate means of transport. Secondly, 75 is getting a little crowded and it helps to relieve even a little pressure off it. Thirdly I believe it would help our seniors in making them more mobile. A lot of them are scared of the traffic -especially downtown - and having Dart would help.
My 3 cents.
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