DART Rail Service


The City of Allen continues to investigate moving rail transit farther north in the US 75 corridor.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) studied the regional rail issue in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and determined the northern extension of DART in the US 75 corridor has one of the largest ridership potential.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit logo
There are three core issues to resolve in order to address implementation of a regional rail plan for the cities not currently within in the DART or Fort Worth T transit service areas.

  • Funding - DART participation requires the dedication of 1 cent of the sales tax dollars generated in the service area for local funding. Currently the 2 cent sales tax dollars generated in Allen is distributed as follows:
    • 1 cent - allocated to City of Allen General Fund Annual Budget.
    • ½ cent - allocated to Allen Economic Development Corporation which is approximately $9.55 million in the FY2017 budget. AEDC works to attract high quality businesses to Allen to increase tax base and local employment. Examples include Cabela's, Watters Creek at Montgomery Farm, The Village at Allen, Greenling, Frontier Communications, and Cisco Data Center.
    • ½ cent - allocated to Allen Community Development Corporation which is approximately $9.55 million in the FY2017 budget. CDC identifies and authorizes funds for quality of life projects, equipment purchases and community programs. Examples include Allen Event Center, park and trail development and improvements, renovation and redesign for The Courses at Watters Creek, and the annual Allen USA Celebration.
    • Therefore, becoming a DART member city would mean that each year the City of Allen would lose the ½ cent allocated to AEDC and the ½ cent for ACDC. In FY2017, that would be approximately $19.1 million.

  • Governance

    - Determination of how the regional system will be integrated into existing systems.
  • Technical - Determination of the best mode of transportation through DART (light rail, commuter rail, or new technology).
The first step in resolving these issues is to work through the legislative process to provide for the creation of a regional system and to provide a funding mechanism. For funding, a menu of additional local option taxes are proposed on a county-wide basis as many of the non-member DART cities, including Allen, are unable to allocate additional sales tax to be dedicated for this transit. Past legislative sessions have not provided either the funding mechanism or governance mechanism needed to resolve the regional rail issues.

Please contact the Engineering Department if you need additional information at 214.509.4576.