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Object Name

Ad, Print

Title

DART Advertising Insert 'The Way We Got Here'

Date

ca March 19, 1996

Scope & Content

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) advertisement entitled 'The Way We Got Here'. This was most likely a newspaper insert.

This advertisement is a foldout with a front and back page, and two middle pages that represent a whole picture when opened out. Transcription is as follows:

Side 1, Left: The Way We Get There

[Left Sidebar] Examine this image carefully and commit it to memory, because you'll never see it in Dallas. DART's Light Rail runs on electricity, so it creates about as much pollution as a golf cart and probably less noise than your car.

[Body]
Year 1996. It's just around the corner, yet it's a year that will mark big changes for all of us in the Dallas area. Because 1996 is the year that light rail will slip noiselessly into our lives, and suddenly, getting around the region will never be the same. Imagine electrically-powered rail cars carrying you 40 feet above the trinity river, then, just minutes later, 120 feet beneath North Cental Expressway. Imagine buses, on new cross-town routes, shuttling passengers to and from light rail station, while additional HOV lanes ease congestions on the interstates. And imagine sleek commuter rail cars linking first Dallas and Irving, then later expanding to Fort Worth and D/FW airport. Imagine it all, but don't imagine for long, because year 1996 is almost here.

[Picture Description] Each sleek, modern light rail will carry 150 passengers cleanly and quietly on a 20-mile starter system from Oak Cliff to Park Lane.

[Timeline]
1983. DART is created by choice of 58% of voters and approval of one-cent sales tax.

1984. Suburban express bus service launched. DART Board selects Light Rail as flagship for future of mass transit in Dallas.

1986. Bus ridership reaches an average of 199,000 weekday riders.

1988. Major cost-cutting efforts mandate efficient, 20-year plan, to include development of HOV Lanes and Commuter & Light Rail, with no need for long-term debt.

1989. Board approval of new System Plan shifts agency from planning into major construction. DARTAbout Van Service replaces full-size buses in less populated areas.

1990. First Light Rail construction breaks ground with relocation of San Jacinto Street.

Side 1, Right : What Does DART Do For Dallas & The Region?

[Top Sidebar]
Work on the $841 million light rail system will directly result in 64,000 new jobs and more than $2.6 million in business revenues through 1996. In addition, construction will help boost our local economy with $600 million in contracts, many of which DART will award to disadvantaged, minority, or woman-owned businesses.

DART carries 20,000 students to class daily. And every year, our specially equipped HandiRides vans offer a measure of independence to 17,000 disabled residents. Also, 38% of our fleet is wheelchair lift-equipped

DART also does things for people who don't ride the bus. For instance, suburbs not served by the Light Rail starter system share $13 million a year in mobility improvements such as curb cuts for buses and automated signalization which ease traffic flow.

Every, DART assists in bringing major conventions to the area by providing transportation for 250,000 through 3,000 private charters.

In recent years, we took 44,000 football fans to see the Cowboys and 25,000 cowboys to see Garth Brooks

DART keeps track of all 880 buses and 128 vans via a GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) system. This federally funded system is similar to the one used during the Persian Gulf War. We're the first transit agency in the world selected to use this technology

At a time when non-renewable resources are becoming more and more scarce, DART recycles its own oil, antifreeze, freon, tires and batteries, and is currently introducing environmentally-friendly Compressed Natural Gas and Liquified Natural Gas vehicles into its fleet.

[Top Right Sidebar]
Every weekday, DART takes more than 80,000 cars off of Dallas area streets and highways by transporting 170,000 riders over 60,727 miles.

And every day that DART takes those 80,000 cars off the streets, it's also taking 33,000 pounds of emissions out of the air we breathe. In the case of poisonous carbon monoxide alone, that amounts to 24 million fewer pounds annually

In its first year of operation the I-30 HOV lane reduced hydrocarbon emission by about 85 tons. Also beginning in 1993, DART launched a program to encourage thse healthy trends by reducing fares to 25¢ on Ozone Alert Days.

[Bottom Right Sidebar]
While you read this page, state-of-the-art constuction techiques are being employed 120 feet underground as the massive Cityplace light rail station takes shape, at the midway point in the tunnel.

Not only do DART riders save on gas, oil and parking, but most auto insurance compaies offer discounts to people who use public transportion.

[Timeline]
1991. Our I-30 HOV Lane, the first of five planned for the DART service area, opens for traffic. (Others include LBJ, Stemmons, South R.L.Thorton/U.S 67 and North Central Expressway.)

1992. The first major Light Rail construction begins on the Trinity River rail bridge and N. Central tunnel. Acquisition of all railroad right-of-way required for the System Plan is completed

1993. Thirteen self-propelled cars purchased for Commuter Rail connection Dallas, D/FW Airport and Fort Worth

800 days. You are here. Light Rail operational in approximately 800 days. Second tunnel beneath North Central breaks through three months agead of schedule.

1995. First Light Rail cars arrived for final assembly and testing. Phase 1 of Commuter Rail in service(Connecting Dallas and Irving with stops at Medical/Market Center).

1996. Light Rail starter system in operation.

Page 2, Left: What Does DART Do For Dallas & The Region?

[Top Sidebar]
The role that Atlanta's MARTA played in helping secure the 1996 Summer Olympics underscores the true impact that a transit system can have on the prosperity of a region

While the bright paint jobs on our buses do match the sunny disposition of our operators, there is actually a more practical reason: yellow has proven to be the most visible, and thus the safest color we could choose.

DART also goes to the people, supporting over 85 neighborhood-based exhibits and conduction more than 150 informative how-to-ride-DART clinics every year.

Electrically powered streetcars like the one above served as the primary means of transportation for Dallas residents during and immediately after World War II. Sometimes the best new ideas have their roots based on what has worked well in the past.

A new program from DART allows you to bring your bicycle on board certain buses during off-peak hours. You may not, however, ride it up and down the aisle. For more imformation pick up a DART bike map at area bike shops.

Each rail stations will use art to reflect the personality of its neghborhood. For instance, to honor rock legand and Oak Cliff native, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Hampton Station will imbed in brick pavers the lyrics to the song, "Tick Tock", which he wrote along with his brother, Jimmy.

Birds won't be hurt by landing on Light Rail's overhead wires. They'd have to touch the ground at the same time, which, for a bird, whould be really difficult to do.

[Picture Description]
DART Service Area

Commuter Rail. This diesel-electric system will link Union Station with the Medical/Market Center, the South Irving Transit Center, Fort Worth and ultimately, D/FW Airport. Compared to Light Rail, Commuter Rail is closer in appearance to a passenger train, and thus seems to offer something a bit more romantic, until you find out that it doesn't make tha "Woo-Woo" sound.

The DART System covers 700 square miles (nearly two-thirds the size of Rhode Island). In addition to conventional buses, HandiRides and DARTAbout vans, the system also includes articulated buses (with that funny elbow-joint thing) and Hop-A-Bus, (with routes to the West End, Arts District, Farmers Market and Deep Ellum). By the way, Hop-A-Buses really do come to a complete stop, and despite their rather zippy-sounding name, you never have to actually jump onto a moving bus.

High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes (HOV). This is the single lane on I-30 reserved for the more than 16,000 daily DART bus riders, carpoolers and vanpoolers (in vehicles carrying at least one other passenger). On average, HOV drivers travel 30 miles per hour faster than those in adjacent lanes, and can sometimes be seen sickering a lot for that reason.

DARTAbout. In less populated suburbs, our economical DARTAbout vans transport about 1,500 passengers a day on request. That's a lot of darting about.

Modelled on the efficient hub-and-spoke pattern used by major airlines, DART's current network of Transit Centers provides a convenient place to park your car and catch a bus, or a transfer between routs.

[Bottom Left Sidebar]
The Zipper Machine, Dallas' most lovable motor vehicle, is the strange looking device responsible for repositioning the barriers along the I-30 HOV lane

Side 2, Right: The Way We Got Here
*
From the moment Dallas was born on these Texas Plains, far from a port or major waterway, our growth has been inseparably linked to transportatin. So instinctual was this drive, that when Dallas Area Rapid Transit was founded ten years ago, our clear mandate was to create a regional mobility system. Less clear, however, were the specifics of how to acomplish this immense task. Yet in true Texas style we persevered, overcoming hurdle after hurdle. Looking back over the first decase, DART has indeed accomplished much in terms of new construction. But day in and day out, we've also continued to provide a service that is not only vital to thousands and thousands of riders, but also essential to our collective civic and economic success. Today, DART and the entire Dallas Region stand on the brink of a new era. No longer a futuristic vision, rail service is an imminent reality. For those who have supported us along the way, we thank you. For those of you who have questioned or complained, wondered why or just not cared, we offer this review.

DART

We'd like you to take another look.

[end of transcription]

It's thought this may have been a preliminary mockup of a newspaper insert because it was signed by L. O. King, Jr. on 19 March 1994. It's unknown as to how he obtainted the item before 1996, when it was probably released to the public.

Search Terms

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Dallas Area Rapid Transit
DART
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Collection

Leroy O. King, Jr. Collection

Catalog Number

CP.2008.GC.2-2