Confidence in DART rising with ridership Page: 1 of 2
This text is part of the collection entitled: DART Historical Archive and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART).
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Media Relations Contact:
Morgan Lyons
Mark A. Ball
October 28, 2008
Customer survey shows increase in satisfaction
Confidence in DART rising with ridership
Ridership isn't the only thing going up at Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). A new survey shows
that 94% of customers report overall satisfaction with the transit agency, an increase from 91 % in
2007.
The survey results follow the release of Fiscal Year 2008 ridership data reporting record ridership of
116.8 million passenger trips as well as ridership records in DART Rail, Trinity Railway Express
commuter rail and High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes.
Asked if DART's services are better than last year, 87% say yes, compared to 77% in 2007, and
96% say they'd recommend DART to others, compared to 93% a year ago. The survey was
conducted in August 2008. Approximately 45,000 customer satisfaction surveys were distributed to
bus and rail riders in the 13-member cities that make up DART.
"These positive numbers represent the hard work of all of our employees. It takes each of us to do
the job right, and it certainly looks like that is being accomplished," said Gary Thomas, DART
president and executive director.
Survey respondents reported improvements in buses being on schedule (86%, up from 80% last
year). Customers said bus transfers were on schedule 90% of the time compared to 85% in 2007,
and feelings about bus cleanliness improved from 72% to 79%. Trains got a 95% on-time
performance rating, and train cleanliness increased five percentage points from 82% to 87%.
Making customers feel safe, secure
Responding to issues arising from the 2007 survey, DART Police have strengthened officer
deployment to raise the visibility of uniformed personnel throughout the system. Consequently more
customers, 87%, say they feel safe at bus stops and rail stations - up from 80% last year.
"While we are pleased with the improved ranking, we recognize that progress still needs to be
made," said DART Police Chief James Spiller. "We feel like we are doing a good job; however, the
public's perception needs to be strengthened, so we will look for even more positive changes."
Spiller added, "We implemented a problem-solving policing campaign where we look beyond the
incident and get to the root cause of the problems. We've held community forums with leaders from
businesses, communities, judicial, school districts and other police agencies to work together to
solve problems of mutual interest. Safety and security on our system is a joint venture with our
member cities and communities, and together we can make all of our communities and areas safe."
New customers, new opportunities
A growing percentage of DART's customers are new to the system. In fact, 74% of those surveyed
say they are leaving their cars at home and riding DART as a remedy for high gas prices, an
increase from 64% in 2007. "We appreciate our loyal riders who have been with us for years, and we
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Lyons, Morgan & Ball, Mark. Confidence in DART rising with ridership, text, October 28, 2008; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1226528/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART).