Denton County Transportation Authority
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| Founded | 2002 |
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| Headquarters | 1660 South Stemmons, Suite 250 Lewisville, Texas 75067 |
| Service Area | Denton, Highland Village, Lewisville |
| Service Type | Bus, Demand Response |
| Alliance | DART |
| Routes | 11 UNT, 8 Denton, 2 Lewisville, 2 Commuter Express |
| Stations | None. |
| Daily Ridership | 5,677 (Average weekday) |
| Fuel type | Primarily diesel, also propane and biodiesel |
| Operator | |
| Website | www.dcta.net |
The Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) is the transit authority that operates in Denton County, Texas, which is northwest of Dallas County. The DCTA operates bus service in two cities within Denton County.
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[edit] History
[edit] Precursor Agencies
LINK was the city owned mass transit service operated by the City of Denton, Texas, from 2002 to 2006. LINK was absorbed into DCTA's local Denton bus routes, now called CONNECT.
Paratransit services in the three member cities were also absorbed and renamed DCTA ACCESS.
Neither Lewisville nor Highland Village (the other current members of DCTA) operated bus lines prior to DCTA's formation.
[edit] Creation of DCTA
The DCTA's creation was put to voters in 8 cities in Denton County. Denton, Lewisville and Highland Village approved the half-cent sales tax need to create the agency on September 13, 2003. The cities of Copper Canyon, Corinth, Double Oak, Flower Mound (which was a part of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system in the '80's before pulling out) and Shady Shores did not get the majority votes need to join the agency. Of the five that declined, only Corinth is on the future commuter rail line which will parallel Interstate 35, while Denton and Lewisville are on the line. Highland Village is not.
Other Denton County cities were ineligible to hold a vote to join for a variety of reasons. The Colony currently levies the state maximum of 2% in local sales tax, which would preclude adding an additional 0.5% to join DCTA. Carrollton extends into Denton County, but is already a member of DART.
The Corinth City Council voted in August of 2006 4-3 to give its citizens a chance to join the agency. Voters could have approved or denied the measure, which would have made the city find a way to pay the half-cent sales tax, along with a $200,000 buy in fee. That is roughly half the amount they would have paid had they joined the system in the beginning. However, one council member, Lynn Mayfield, opted to rescind her vote thereby killing the measure.
[edit] Bus service
The DCTA currently operates express bus service to Downtown Dallas; one route from Denton, the other one from Lewisville with reverse commute options on both routes. The agency's local service consists of eight unique routes in Denton and a bidirectional circular route in Lewisville. The largest portion of DCTA bus service is shuttle service sponsored by the University of North Texas (UNT).
[edit] Future Rail Service
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This article or section contains information about a planned or expected public transportation infrastructure. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches, and more information becomes available. |
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The agency hopes to have a commuter rail line run from Denton to Carrollton, which will link up to the green line at the future Carrolton Square station. The green line is a light rail line in the DART system that will run from Carrollton to Pleasant Grove in southeast Dallas and pass through downtown Dallas. The DCTA is targeting 2010 as the opening date for the rail line.[1] The planned route is a former Union Pacific rail line which roughly parallels the congested Interstate 35E. The Denton portion of the rail right of way has been converted to a trail system and the commuter line will run parallel to the trail.
The DCTA is currently completing an environmental study for the project, which is expected to be completed at the end of 2007.
For updated information on the rail line DCTA has created a separate web page.
[edit] Member cities
The following cities voted to join the DCTA on September 13, 2003 and levy a half cent sales tax to finance the system.
