In preparation for the grand opening of the DART Orange Line in July, the Irving Chamber of Commerce and presenting sponsors DART and KSWRP welcomed business professionals and elected officials to the Quarterly Luncheon on April 25th. The 14-mile, $1.3 billion Orange Line is expected to generate at least $400 billion in transit-oriented development in Irving. Guest speakers Steve Medina, Officer in Charge for the Irving 1, Irving 2, and Irving 3 projects and Gary Thomas, President/Executive Director of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), detailed the long and rewarding process of bringing the Orange Line to Irving and the innumerable amount of opportunities that are being developed everyday.
The luncheon highlighted Irving's great accessibility to the metroplex and to the world, continuing to provide new and invaluable opportunities for alternative methods of transportation. With the completion of the first stages of the Orange Line in July, riders will have access from Las Colinas to downtown Dallas. By the fall of 2014, riders can expect a direct route from downtown Dallas to Terminal A at DFW Airport, one of the few American transit opportunities with a direct rail connection to a major airport.
The company responsible for the construction of the Orange Line is KSWRP, a join venture of Kiewit, Stacy and Witbeck, Reyes, and Parsons, which combines four of the most respected firms in the design-build transit industry, completing more than 50 transportation design-build projects in the last 10 years. Kiewit, the lead partner of the joint venture, is one of the largest general contractors in North America and specializes in alternative project delivery methods. Stacy and Witbeck is the largest transit contractor in the U.S. Reyes is a certified D/MBE civil contractor and Parsons is the lead designer for the joint venture.
Gary Thomas is responsible for a 13-city transit system over a 700-square mile area with bus, light rail, commuter rail, paratransit and high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane services. He administers the goals and policies of the DART Board of Directors, including the largest public transit expansion in North America. He also directs the agency's top managers and approximately 3,300 employees, emphasizing a strong customer focus to ensure that transit riders and taxpayers receive the best transit service available.
As our presenting speaker, Thomas put into perspective how Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is going to help transform neighborhoods and create new communities.
"To date there has been around $8 billion dollars worth of projects built, planned or announced around DART stations," said Thomas. "About $4 billion of that is in Irving alone. This type of public-private connection adds value to the destinations and will also generate additional property and sales taxes."
These projects coupled with light rail additions throughout North Texas are all part of a massive expansion program to double the amount of light rail service to 90 miles by 2014. DART's multi-billion dollar expansion is listed as one of the world's Top 100 Infrastructure projects, and it's creating thousands of jobs and generating billions in economic activity to help boost the North Texas economy. In addition, DART is expecting a roll out a series of new changes in ridership and security.
"To increase the convenience of both our bus and rail systems, and to make transfers between the two more seamless, we have rolled out a series of consumer-friendly communication tools under the name On the Go, In the Know," said Thomas.
Likewise, DART is stepping up security with an increased presence on trains, a new public awareness campaign, and new tools to contact DART police. With more than 270 police and fare enforcement on the DART system everyday and night coupled with joint operations with many police departments, DART is reassuring riders that riding DART is safe.
