Parker_Road_Station

Parker Road station

Parker Road station

DART Light Rail station in Plano, Texas

Parker Road station (formerly East Plano Transit Center) is an intermodal transit facility in Plano, Texas. The station is located near the intersection of Parker Road (FM 544) and North Central Expressway (US 75). Operated by Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the station services DART Light Rail, three bus routes, and four on-demand service zones.

Quick Facts General information, Location ...

The station is the northern terminus of the Red Line.[1] It is also the northern terminus of the Orange Line during weekday peak hours.[5]

History

Plano Transit Center

The first DART facility in Plano was the Plano Transit Center, a small park-and-ride lot located at a former drive-in theater. The facility was very rudimentary, lacking passenger shelters or benches.[6]

In early 1989, DART opened the West Plano Transit Center four miles west of Plano Transit Center.[7] When this did not substantially decrease ridership at the lot, DART opted to build an expanded east Plano facility.[8]

East Plano Transit Center

In 1990, DART purchased 19.2 acres of land for the new East Plano Transit Center. The land was adjacent to a disused Southern Pacific rail corridor that DART was studying for a then-proposed light rail system.[9] The transit center, built at a $7.5 million cost, opened on April 20, 1993.[2]

Parker Road

On December 7, 2002, to celebrate the coming train service, DART and the city of Plano offered free preview rides from Bush Turnpike to East Plano Transit Center. The event also celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Texas Electric Railway, which operated on the same right-of-way from 1902 to 1948.[10]

The Red Line was officially extended to East Plano Transit Center on December 9, 2002 as part of the line's fourth and final extension.[3] Following the extension, the station was renamed to Parker Road.

Fair Share Parking

On April 2, 2012, DART began a pilot program known as "Fair Share Parking". The program, operated by a private contractor, required commuters from non-DART member cities to pay a daily fee for parking at the station. Residents of DART member cities could park for free as long as they applied for and displayed a special resident permit. Parker Road was one of two stations to be included in the program at launch, the other being North Carrollton/Frankford. The program was intended to improve parking availability and to make up for the lack of sales tax revenue from non-residents.[11] However, most commuters at Parker Road simply switched to parking at Bush Turnpike station, which regularly approached capacity in the months following the change.[12]

After the initiative failed to make a profit, DART opted to end it on April 2, 2014 when its contract with the private operator expired.[13] While most stations simply dropped the initiative altogether, Parker Road continued to utilize the resident permits by reserving lots at the station for permit holders.[14][15]

References

  1. [1]
    "Parker Road Station". Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  2. [2]
    "Metro Report". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. April 21, 1993. pp. 33A – via NewsBank.
  3. [3]
    "Briefs". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. December 10, 2002. pp. 22A – via NewsBank.
  4. [4]
    "DART Reference Book" (PDF). Dallas Area Rapid Transit. March 2023. p. 33. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  5. [5]
    "Orange Line". Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  6. [6]
    McKinney, Anne (October 10, 1987). "DART Must Do More For Plano Riders". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. pp. 13G – via NewsBank.
  7. [7]
    Scott, Steve (January 21, 1989). "West-Side DART Center Opens Jan. 30 - Interior work at facility to continue". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. pp. 1G – via NewsBank.
  8. [8]
    "City Council to hold DART hearing Monday - Members seek comment on new service plan". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. June 24, 1989. pp. 2G – via NewsBank.
  9. [9]
    Lewis, Melanie (June 14, 1990). "DART land buy approved - Station, parking lot planned in east Plano". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. pp. 2G – via NewsBank.
  10. [10]
    Washington, April M. (December 8, 2002). "Plano welcomes DART with a little holiday flair - Celebration also marks 100th anniversary of region's first railway". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. pp. 37A – via NewsBank.
  11. [11]
    Conrad, Bill (March 21, 2012). "Paid parking program begins next month: Daily fee of $2-5 would be applied to riders from non-DART cities". Plano Star-Courier. Star Local Media. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  12. [12]
    Wilonsky, Robert (March 25, 2013). "One year in DART's paid-parking experiment in Plano, Carrollton is not faring nearly as well as expected". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation – via NewsBank.
  13. [13]
    "Top stories of 2013: DART nixes paid parking program". Plano Star-Courier. Star Local Media. December 27, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  14. [14]
    Formby, Brandon (March 31, 2014). "DART ends paid parking, creates reserved lot in Plano". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation – via NewsBank.
  15. [15]
    "DART's Free Reserved Parking". Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Retrieved January 22, 2024.


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