6 May 22 - 28, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Baker was eventually moved into a DART department that does not require him to op- erate a vehicle because of his injury. Months after he’d been hurt, Baker said he was in- structed to see a new doctor within the DART network for an evaluation. That doc- tor disagreed with his prior diagnosis, and Baker was told he’d have to begin paying DART back for the treatments he’d received. It will take him two years to pay off the bal- ance. “The hardship it puts me through, man,” Baker said. “It was a nightmare.” A System Under Pressure W hile DART has made strides to im- prove ridership in recent years, the number has never really bounced back to pre-COVID highs. Nearly 20% fewer riders took the DART last year than in 2019. While customer satisfaction in the transit agency topped 70% last year, some Dallasites still have to hold their nose to even consider utilizing the system. Nationally, transit agencies have seen a spike in onboard crime since COVID-19, and in 2022, the organization reallocated $110 million to advanced security measures to help restore community trust in the transit system. Nonetheless, the drivers themselves of- ten don’t feel safe while carrying out their jobs. In 2023, a study by Urban.org found that “major assaults” on transit employees, defined as assaults resulting in a fatality or injury that requires medical transport, had tripled across the United States over the prior 15 years. Bus drivers are almost twice as likely to be involved in a major assault as a rail worker, the study found. “A lot of operators have been assaulted very badly, but when that stuff happens, that’s when [DART] really wants to start be- ing your friend,” Morris said. “Like that’s when you can probably get your vacation day that you put in a request for two months ago.” Cooper and Martin both said they have witnessed shootings that left them emo- tionally distraught. In Martin’s case, a shooting near her bus resulted in bullets “flying by the driver’s window,” and she pressed a panic button that is located near the driver’s seat and alerts the agency to an emergency. DART police officers, though, never showed up, she said. Carter said the average wait time for DART police is between six and 12 minutes, but that the specific location of the shooting Martin witnessed could have meant the case was transferred over to the Dallas Police De- partment. Even if the case wasn’t within DPD’s jurisdiction, Carter added, DART po- lice operate gives priority to calls with a vic- tim. Because there was no victim in Martin’s case, police could have been attending to more severe calls elsewhere. Cooper said she has experienced riders brandishing knives and guns while on her bus. On one occasion, she said she over- heard two riders get into an altercation that escalated into threats to shoot a weapon. She pressed her panic button dis- creetly, and said the phone in her bus be- gan ringing soon after. Cooper believes that call violates DART’s policies, and that monitors should have been able to tune into the bus’s cameras to see the situation for themselves. “I didn’t want to dare pick the phone up and get shot, because [the riders] would know that I pushed the button,” Cooper said. “[The cameras] work when DART wants them to work. For example, if you have an earbud in, oh, they saw you with the earbud in. But they don’t see you when a gun is out or when a knife is out.” In Cooper’s experience, DART police of- ficers have been slow to respond in incidents like the threat she overheard, a problem that could be further exacerbated if a bill labeled the “DART killer” is passed by the state leg- islature. House Bill 3187, filed by state Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano, advanced out of commit- tee earlier this month. The bill calls for a 25% reduction of the 1-cent sales tax that is paid to DART by member cities, a funding cut that DART officials say would result in “a full-on dismantling” of the system. In a preliminary forecast shared with the DART board of directors earlier this year, DART Chief Financial Officer Jamie Adel- man warned of a workforce reduction of nearly 1,000 people if the bill passes into law. Nearly half of those layoffs would be bus and rail operators, Adelman said, with fare enforcement and transit security posi- tions likely also being cut. A more recent estimate puts that work- force impact at 5,800 jobs, according to a May news release from DART. While that release does not clarify what roles would be slashed, it does claim services would need to be reduced by 30%, “undermining DART’s ability to prepare for major international events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup.” Legislation like the “DART killer” bill would threaten the jobs of the individuals who are still driving for the agency. It could also make the issues facing bus drivers even worse, Jeamy Molina, an executive vice president and chief communications officer for DART said. “If HB 3187 comes to pass, all of these is- sues that [the Observer] is talking about not only get exacerbated, but it will stop service to 30% of the area here in North Texas. We won’t be able to get new buses,” Molina said. “Like [the Observer] heard from drivers, we know [the buses are] old and we know that it takes time to work on them. Our mechanics are having to do a lot of work, and that’s only going to get exponentially worse year after year.” HB 3187 failed to get a second reading be- fore a May 15 deadline, likely killing its chances, although, an identical Senate bill, SB 1557, remains alive. Garcia, the driver whose shoulders are “all torn up,” can’t find it in herself to care about Molina’s dire warning. “They’re reaping what they’ve been sow- ing,” she said. “[DART’s] not transparent, so you reap what you sow. You’ve been doing it quietly and silencing us [drivers], and doing this evil to us, so I believe it just comes back on you.” Cooper shared that lack of sympathy. She’s in the process of trying to get seen by a doctor for a new injury, which was caused when her 30-foot bus hit a seemingly in- nocuous pothole and lurched forward, throwing her against the steering wheel and her seatbelt. “It makes you upset, it makes you uneasy, it makes you not even want to go to work,” Cooper said. “But you go, because, I mean, you need the money to live. I’m not trying to be homeless.” ▼ CITY HALL WHERE DID WE PARK? DALLAS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORTS OVERHAUL OF PARKING CODE.BY EMMA RUBY W hen customers come into Russel Tibbits’ coffee shop, Little Joy Coffee, it’s a good bet they’ve strolled in from the surrounding Elmwood neighborhood in Oak Cliff. A parking spot out front of the shop sits empty most days, he told the Dallas City Council on May 14. And the parking lot down the street he’s forced to pay for be- cause of the parking minimum require- ments outlined in the Dallas parking code — that sits empty too. Council members say small business owners like Tibbits will especially benefit from the update to the parking code that was overwhelmingly approved this month. Council member Cara Mendelsohn was the only council member to vote against the change to the ordinance that governs pri- vate, off-street parking across the city. Dallas has been working toward an over- haul of the parking code for the last six years, and the debate has earned 28 meet- ings of the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee, six City Plan Commission dis- cussions, two briefings at the City Council’s Economic Development Committee, and, including last week’s vote, three discussions at the City Council. The city’s parking code was adopted in 1965, and although it has been tweaked several times since then, council member Chad West has been a ma- jor champion of the approved overhaul. “Today is the culmination of a 6-year pro- cess,” West said. “As in any compromise, no one got everything they wanted, but I think we are going in the right direction. Our city’s parking code is wildly out of date.” In his remarks, he reminded the council that at the time Dallas’ parking code was ad- opted, smoking was allowed on airplanes, women were not permitted to open a bank account alone and some schools were still segregated. The council overwhelmingly applauded the efforts of city staff who drafted the final code adjustment, which will eliminate park- ing requirements for land within a half-mile of transit, small-scale apartment complexes, places of worship smaller than 20,000 square feet and bars, restaurants, and com- mercial spaces smaller than 2,500 square feet. Apartment complexes with more than 20 units will be required to provide parking on a sliding scale depending on the number of units in the development. An amendment approved last week will require city staff to update the council on off-street parking reg- ulations every two years. The amendment will also require businesses to provide a parking space or drop-off point for handi- capped residents, even if that business chooses to opt out of providing additional parking. Council member Paul Ridley raised con- cerns about disability access prior to last week, but approved of the changes. “Over the past several months, I have heard from all sides of this issue,” Ridley said. “While I may not agree with every de- tail of this proposal, I am confident that what we are passing today is good for Dallas and good for my district.” Mendelsohn, though, was not convinced. She has voiced frustration that the Dallas Senior Affairs Commission and the city’s Commission on Disabilities were not briefed on the proposal. After hearing Mendelsohn’s concerns recently, the deputy director of Dallas’ Planning and Urban Design Depart- ment, Andreea Udrea, said she was able to meet with the leaders of each group, but scheduling did not allow her to brief the full commissions before last week’s vote. “This is another example where we have a commission in place and we’re briefing them after the council has taken action. This is backwards,” Mendelsohn said. She also argued that the changes to the parking code are too “urbanistic” for District 12, which she described as more sub- Jacob Vaughn Riders board a DART bus. Ridership has never bounced back to pre-COVID numbers. Unfair Park from p4 >> p8
