Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) proposes to add the Lovers Lane Station to the red, or Mustang, bus route 768 in order to offer riders more alternatives.
During a workshop held March 26 at SMU in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, two DART representatives explained the proposal, with maps showing the current route of the 768 bus and its future itinerary if the proposal is approved.
According to DART service planner Cameron Muhic, the Mustang route would discontinue its service on two blocks of University Boulevard between Matilda Street and Greenville Avenue because a stop sign was added when Central Market opened.
“The bus would go up Matilda and down Greenville so people in this area wouldn’t have to walk more than two blocks to get to a bus station,” Muhic said.
Currently, riders, who are SMU students for the most part, have to get off the train at Mockingbird Station to catch the Mustang bus. Adding the Lovers Lane Station to the bus route would offer them a second option, according to Muhic.
With the current itinerary, the red bus stops at Lovers Lane and Amesbury, so people getting off the train at Lovers Lane must walk to that bus station. With the slight change, they wouldn’t have to walk since the bus would come in and out of the train station, Muhic said.
Muhic and his colleague Garl B. Latham, who is the community affairs representative, encouraged students to fill out surveys created by DART Service Planning. The purpose of these surveys is “to determine the transportation needs of the riders on routes 527, 569 and 768.”
In other words, the goal of the surveys is to ask riders where they’re coming from and where they’re going to in order to serve them as best as possible, according to Muhic.
A public hearing will be held in May. If the proposal is passed, DART will start making the changes in early October, Muhic said.
In the case SMU students and other riders disagree with the proposal, what is decided “will depend on which action the board takes,” Muhic said. The board may do the changes anyway for safety and cost saving reasons, he said.
“Some people will think it’s an inconvenience, but it will give them more options,” he said.
The bad economy is also a factor, as the board tries to minimize the negative impact on people, according to Muhic.
“The service is paid in part by DART and in part by SMU,” Latham said.
It is free because most of the people using the Mustang bus are students, but they can ride any bus and train in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for free.
SMU business services manager David Hayden showed the transit pass that allows the SMU community “to get on all DART, Trinity Railroad and Fort Worth Transit [the T] for free.” The pass costs $5 and is renewable annually at no cost, Hayden said. Students, faculty and staff may get it at the Pony Express desk in the Student Center.
According to Hayden, it is a great opportunity since the Dallas portion of the pass is worth $40 per month and so $480 per year for regular services. Other services, including all-day passes cost $2 per day and so are worth more than $900 per year.
“We’ve given out about 4,000 transit passes since SMU and DART initiated them last September,” he said.
According to Latham, “if you live on campus, the Mustang bus is good for any function outside the community.” It takes you straight to Mockingbird, and from there you can go everywhere 700 square miles around the area, he said.
The Mustang comes every 20 minutes from 7 a.m. until 6:45 p.m. and every 45 minutes until 9:45 p.m. There are two drivers on duty all the time, according to Muhic.
Hayden said another advantage is you can be downtown in five minutes and you don’t have to worry about parking.
“You just go, do what you need to do and come back,” he said.
It’s been three years since SMU started benefiting from route 768 and the relation between DART, SMU and the bus system has been incredible, Hayden said.
“It’s nice, it’s clean, it’s safe. It’s a great opportunity,” he said.
