With transportation going into a crucial stage as the nation gets hit with a shortage of bus drivers, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit launched new GoLink Zones in Plano according to a Community Impact article from December 3 which reports,
“Ahead of the launch of its bus network redesign next year, Dallas Area Rapid Transit plans to begin operating its new GoLink zones beginning Dec. 6.
DART’s GoLink service offers on-demand, curb-to-curb shuttles to anywhere within each specified zone. In all, DART plans to add 13 new GoLink zones throughout its service area that will replace some of its traditional fixed-route service when the network changes go into effect Jan. 24. All existing bus routes will continue operating until then. The new GoLink service areas will give DART a total of 30 of the zones. GoLink service also offers connections to DART transit facilities.
The agency is adding two GoLink zones in central Plano and east Plano to give the city a total of five. The central Plano zone will cover portions of three current bus routes. The other zone will cover portions of two existing bus routes in the eastern portion of the city and extend into Richardson.”
An overview map of the GoLink zones was provided in a Dallas Magazine article from December 3 where it can be seen that the additional zones in Plano will be connected all around Dallas, spanning from Glenn Heights to Far North Plano, as the DART system seeks to ease both the ongoing and future transportation problems.
However, all these are still in the pilot phase as DART still needs to conduct more tests and gather more data and opinions from the people of Dallas according to a Dallas Weekly article from December 1. In it they say,
“DART is tracking how many riders use the South Dallas pilot to measure its success in our neighborhood. Shattles says DART is actively comparing South Dallas numbers to GoLink pilots in southeast Garland and south Irving, both of which launched in October 2020.
In January, when the pilot ends, DART’s board of directors will reevaluate the program’s effectiveness. To be considered successful, the program needs to transport 21 unique riders a week, Shattles says.”
The board of directors in DART will be the ones who will give the final decision whether the pilot will become permanent. However, the board has yet to give their perspective regarding the ongoing state of DART.