Trying out the bus in Dallas: 1986

Dallas launched the Dallas Area Rapid Transit when I lived in a Dallas suburb during the 1980s. Before DART, Dallas had a bus system downtown (so I’d heard), but the suburbs had nothing. The idea of taking a bus was foreign to many, reprehensible to some, and frightening to the rest. Come to think of it—just like now, whether you are in Dallas or DC.

I’m a big believer in public transportation, and I voted for the increased taxes to start DART rolling. I vowed I would take a bus to work if ever there were one.

And lo, it came to pass. DART created a bus route from the suburb where I lived to the suburb where I worked. Great!

But even I, a veteran bus taker, felt uncertain, even scared, about doing it. Why was taking the bus in Dallas so hard? I had taken buses in many cities. I had had no sweaty palms in Detroit, in Toronto, in Boston. No trepidation. No planning for three weeks. But figuring out how to take the bus to work seemed overwhelming.

I finally figured out why it seemed so hard: There was no one to ask about it. In Detroit, you approach a bus stop and say to one of the people standing there, “When is the next express bus?” or “Is this where you catch the bus to Jefferson Avenue?” Not so in Dallas. No one was standing at the bus stops I drove past on my way to work. No one.

I decided I would just have to try it.

So I waited at the bus stop closest to my house and boarded a bus that took me to the North Irving Transit Center, where I got off to wait for my second bus. Despite its important-sounding name, the North Irving Transit Center was just a curb where numerous buses converged. It had no building. It had no bus shelter. It had no benches. I’m sure that by now, 30 years later, they have benches. OK, I’m not sure, but one would hope.

All in all, my first DART experience ever was successful: I didn’t have to wait long for my second bus, which dropped me off a half block from my office. 

Other positive things: The drivers were courteous. The buses were really nice—brand new, in fact. No graffiti, no litter, no torn seats. The seats were plush velveteen. There were no drunks exposing themselves. In fact, it wasn’t like Detroit at all.

Of course, I had to compare the bus transit time (45 minutes, door to door) to driving time. When I drove to work, I stepped from my kitchen into my garage, drove to work, and parked in the office parking lot right outside my building. Total time, door to door: 18-20 minutes.

I know what some of you are saying. You’re saying, “What?! Of course you should have driven to work. Driving to work was a no-brainer!”  

Not so fast, Corvette-breath. For me, public transportation had (has) lots of advantages. For one, I hate driving in traffic, and every day I faced more cars and more construction. A lot like driving now, actually.

On the bus, I could read a book, do the crossword puzzle, maybe catch a nap. I knew I would live longer with a little down time twice a day.

And there was another compelling argument for taking the bus. I typically worked late, frantically trying to meet deadlines or somehow get a head start on the next day. Not a healthy lifestyle. The bus schedule forced me to leave work at 5:30, to catch the 5:40 bus. Until 5:40, the buses ran every 20 minutes. After that, the once-an-hour schedule started. So, if I didn’t catch the 5:40 bus, I didn’t get home until nearly 7:30. (Ask me how I found that out!)

Perhaps most important, by taking the bus I was doing my part to save the earth—reducing pollution and highway construction and the relentless northward expansion of Dallas suburbs to the Oklahoma border.

I continued to take the bus to work, and, in fact found another advantage: Buses tend to have the same riders on the same schedule, and a small community of bus riders is thus established. At each stop, one knows who will get on and who will get off. It’s very comforting.