D.A.R.T. / Other Trains, Dallas

Although no one in our group drinks, we decided to be safe and take the train into downtown! What a great option. For only $1 USD round trip ($.50 USD for students/youth), you can take off from as far north as Plano, go through Richardson, Garland and into downtown.

We took the train from Garland to West End, and it was great!

I was in a hurry and the train had just pulled up. I thought well I'll buy the ticket when I switch trains to save time. I had been on the train dozens of times and no one ever asked for a ticket. Well the one time I didn't buy one police officers were riding the train and checking tickets. In order to save yourself from an embarrising situation and potetially hefty fine; I would advise to buy the ticket before you step foot on the train.

DART

Working hard to make the going easy >>>> that's their slogan :D

If you want to explore Texas the laid back way - you gotta get on the DART (just like in Dublin (same name) it provides you with a good net to about 13 other cities ... so lean back and enjoy the ride AND safe the planet ;)

Routes to note:

From Dallas International Airport /Forthworth via the Trinity Railway Express (TRE)

And since we talkin' Texas where everything is BIG ... the service is too... so what can you get from your DART experience:

>DART takes you back to historic beginnings
> DART Music Station is back on track!
> DART Officials Step Up Rail/Bus Security En Espa?ol
> DART Security Initiatives
> Ride DART to Special Events
> DART to Shopping, Dining, Entertainment and Sporting Events
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THE NITTY GRITTY BIT:

DAY PASSES**
Local $2.50 Premium $4.50 Reduced* $1.00
All Day Passes valid only on the date of purchase
through 3 a.m. the following day.

SINGLE RIDE FARES
Single ride options are good for 90 minutes of train travel or a single bus trip (no transfers). Rail Only Tickets are not valid on buses.
Local $1.25 Premium $2.25 Reduced* $.50
Paratransit-eligible riders using bus and rail service
(with valid Paratransit photo ID) FREE

MONTHLY PASSES
Local $40 Premium $70 Reduced* $15

WHERE TO PURCHASE
Bus Fares: Insert the exact fare into the farebox as you board. Fareboxes accept $1 bills, and/or coins, including $1 coins. Day Passes and single ride fares are available on buses.
Rail Fares: Purchase Day Passes or a Rail Only single ride fare from a Ticket Vending Machine (TVM) found at all DART Rail stations. TVMs will accept coins, $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills. (How to use DART TVMs.)
Monthly Passes: Available at DART Pass Outlet Locations, the DART Store at Akard Station and the DART Store Online.

Try to NOT take taxis whenever possible! They are pretty expensive, and it can really add up if you are taking them all the time. Make sure when you book a hotel (etc.) reservation that you check on things like location to the main area you would like to be and whether the hotel offers free shuttle service. If you can get a place near where you will be spending MOST of your time, you may be able to walk there and only take a taxi a couple of times. If your hotel does offer shuttle service, find out if it is free or if they charge a fee and also how far a radius they are willing to travel from the hotel. Also, Dallas does have rapid transit, called DART. However, it is very limited in where it goes since it is pretty new. Again, just check with the place you are staying to see how far the closest DART line is and the hours it runs.

The Dart (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) system is an easy and efficient service to use. The light rail covers 34 stations. Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) are located on the platforms at all rail stations. You can also buy DART tickets at Minyard Food Stores and Albertsons. Single-ride tickets and Day Passes purchased from TVMs are already time/date stamped and ready to use. All other rail tickets must be time/date stamped before boarding by inserting them in the Validator machine located at each rail station. Failing to validate your ticket is grounds for a citation and fine.

The website has information on maps, fares etc.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit, or DART, offers over a hundred regularly scheduled bus routes throughout the city. Light rail lines and a downtown subway are currently under construction.

I haven't used any of them, since I either rode with my daughter, or on the convention buses or in my rental car.

The Dallas Convention Center didn't have enough space, so they built it right over the roads and railroad tracks. The Convention Center has been expanded since I attended a convention there in 1997 but even in those days, you walked from one section to another and could look out on the roads below you.. It now has more than 1 million square feet of exhibit area, including nearly 800,000 square feet of same level, contiguous prime exhibit space. It has heliport/vertiport and light rail access., and it also has a massive truck docking area. There are also two parking garages.

The DART Convention Center Station is served by the downtown segment of the DART Red and Blue Rail lines. It is located on the southwest corner of Lamar Street and Memorial Drive at ground level below the Dallas Convention Center expansion. Facilities include ramps for mobility-impaired passengers and customer information.

I'm spending my honeymoon in Dallas, on of the best ways I've learned to travel in order to keep the stress level low is to have reservations in hotels beforehand and to avoid having to use a car. This is why I only travel to cities that have well developed mass transit rail systems. I found a super 8 motel (55 bucks a night) within walking distance from a DART light rail station and we will be spending a week in Dallas sans car and you can keep very busy with the destinations that are within reach of light rail. Dallas has two well developed lines, red and blue and they are already working on new lines.

We found the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) train system to be quite handy - since we had turned our rental car in after finishing up with our Oklahoma weekend excusion. For US$2 per day, you can use the train and bus system as many times as you wish. We used it to travel to both the West End Market Place area and to the Park Lane shopping mall to the north of city centre.

Light Rail : This system goes from Park Lane in the north through Downtown to both West and South Oak Cliff. It connects to many popular attractions.

DART : operates rail and bus services around most of the popular entertainment, cultural and shopping areas.