Dallas College students have access to free Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) services through the DART Go Pass app or holographic ID card stickers. All students are eligible; they can set it up via eConnect on the current credit student menu. The pass will be renewed after the semester.

The integration of new technology has impacted the way DART’s users interact.

“Everything is all on one app,” Jubenal Aguilar, former editor at Brookhaven Courier and now the school’s journalism lab specialist, mentioned. The Go Pass app is an all-in-one travel tool that helps riders by offering a plethora of resources at their fingertips. This means students can now use the app to track their buses in real-time, get notifications if the bus will be delayed, and request a GoLink car, which provides free rides to where riders need to go and is available in areas with limited transit options. “If not available, they will send an Uber,” Aguilar said.

According to The Dallas Morning News, DART has partnered with Uber to increase the availability of vehicles that drop off riders at their desired destination. By “integrating” Uber on the Go Pass app, the rider is paired to the vehicle they need, whether it’s wheelchair accessible or not. By DART providing subsidies, carpooling or Uber-pooling is made easier and more affordable for all walks of life, not just people with disabilities. Apart from being easy to use, it is an environmentally healthier option. By sharing rides individuals decrease the amount of carbon dioxide emitted and the amount of fossil fuels needed to power a city.

Most importantly, sharing rides lowers the amount of traffic. This smart move of partnering with Uber is a result of DART transitioning into an eco-friendlier company.

Riders of DART can visit other Dallas College campuses — including Cedar Valley, Brookhaven, Richland, Mountain View, North Lake, and El Centro — by taking the bus that arrives at the Eastfield campus in front of the G building. The #18 downtown bus’ last stop is the West End Station. From there, students can board the corresponding “Line” on the light rail train. The next step is to request a Go Link Service via the Go Pass app at no additional cost. Riders traveling to El Centro Campus can request a stop at Elm @ Lamar by using the yellow buttons stationed on the window side in each row, or by asking the bus driver to make a stop. Riders can also use DART to go from home to work or school and vice versa.

As DART continues to improve its technology and transit services, the transit agency still faces challenges. According to The Dallas Morning News, there are 13 member cities of DART, and seven of these have decided it is beneficial to cut their contribution — a penny sales tax — to the public transportation company. This will equal an amount of  “six billion dollars in two decades,” according to the news article “End of the Line? DART Faces Uncertain Future As North Texas Cities Try to Cut Funding.”

Member cities strongly dislike the way DART handles safety and cleanliness. According to a recent article in The Dallas Express, there have been 1055 calls directed to the DART Police Department. The Dallas Express has underscored the increase in violence through rider’s stories and the high amounts of homeless people and drug addicts who roam the transit system. DART has responded to this issue by employing 100 new armed security guards and launching the Cares program, addressing homelessness and mental health.

When I spoke to Aguilar, he emphasized the system must stray away from its previous vision, which “was to have what they call an ‘open transportation system.’ That is why you see that anyone can just hop on the train.” He stressed the importance of implementing fencing, mentioning the examples of transit systems in other cities that have this feature and, as a result, the crime rates for users are lower. While DART leaders have said the budget cut proposal would make riding with them much more inconvenient, transit agencies like DART manage well even with such cuts. Some DART board members are considering more effective spending. All members strayed from the idea of cutting any services.

As of now, DART’s board is planning to allocate a large portion of the budget to continue construction on the Silver Line, which is designed to drop off riders at schools “known for their academic rigor,” concert venues and other places of social opportunity. They also want to modernize the buses by furthering their expansion of vinyl seats, which are cleaner than fabric seats, and improve video surveillance systems.

DART’s new campaign, “Live Green, Ride Clean,” is about keeping stations, bus stops and vehicles clean. The transit agency addresses the comprehensive cleaning standards by having hired “over 250 employees,” who clean all the facilities daily. Apart from those 250 employees, the vehicles are also “brought into rail and service yards where they are deep cleaned before they are put back into revenue service the following morning.”

The transit agency implements trash bins at bus stops and plenty at train stops as well. The custodians also take care of the trash that is littered in train stops. DART also has a no phone and boom box noise policy, along with no smoking, no eating or drinking. This campaign and these priority regulations work to ensure the cleanliness of vehicles and train stops, creating a respectable environment for all riders.

For more information about the GoPass App, visit the cashiers’ desk in the B Building, or visit DART.org.