By Sriya Reddy
Community leader and South Dallas resident Diane Ragsdale knows how hard it is to travel around the area using public transit. She hears it from her neighbors daily.
Residents struggle to find buses to get them where they need to go, which affects their ability to manage their health care, and find educational and job opportunities.
“How do I travel within the community without it taking me a significant long time?” she said they ask.
In 2018, about a dozen South Dallas-based nonprofit organizations came together, identified transportation as a major concern in their communities, and created the South Dallas/Fair Park Transportation Initiative.
In a 2019 survey of about 200 people that live and travel in South Dallas, the initiative learned that the main reasons why some don’t use Dallas Area Rapid Transit are they find transfers and connections inconvenient, bus stops are too far away, or they feel it is unsafe or unsanitary.
Soon after, the South Dallas/Fair Park Transportation Initiative partnered with DART to implement a solution, the South Dallas GoLink. A curbside on-demand service that allows riders to make appointments to reach their desired destination.
DART approved the GoLink pilot program to begin in April 2021. It was recently renewed for another year until January 2023.
The initiative and its work received support from numerous officials, including Commissioner John Wiley Price, District 7 Council member Adam Bazaldua and state Sen. Royce West.
Aundrey Evans, a resident of Ideal neighborhood, uses GoLink about twice a week to go to nearby rail stations.
“It’s more convenient because while I have to walk to the bus when it’s raining or cold, the GoLink just pulls up right up to my door and can take me to the nearest rail station,” Evans said. “I appreciate that.”
Evans said he’s seen GoLink vehicles all throughout his neighborhood, going back and forth, and that his neighbors and friends have a positive reception of the program.
Evans said his biggest complaint with GoLink is that there is no weekend service.
“The weekend is when a lot of people have time to do their errands and stuff,” he said. “When they can’t get a ride from either a taxi or Uber might be too expensive, the GoLink is another opportunity for them.”
There are currently about 30 different GoLink zones across the Dallas area.
“We use this as a feature for those areas which do not have the ridership to sustain fixed route bus service, but still we have a lot of people who need access to transportation,” DART spokesman Gordon Shattles said.
However, Ragsdale said that the organization’s work is not over yet.
“Like with many public institutions, you have to consistently hold them accountable,” Ragsdale said. “I mean, if we go away, I’m not lying, the South Dallas GoLink might go away. We just need to be real about this.”
Ragsdale recognizes that more work needs to be done to fully support South Dallas residents. She said the need for social services indicates the absence of social justice and systemic change is what will uplift South Dallas.
When the GoLink program was first implemented, the hours were 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ragsdale said the hours set the service up to be a failure because residents who work can’t use the GoLink. The hours changed to 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. when the service was renewed in January.
After the increase in hours, the number of riders that used the service increased as well. Riders went from about 20 a week in summer 2021 to now over 100 a week.
Ragsdale said that while she is appreciative of DART being receptive, she also said that DART could do more with outreach and marketing of the GoLink.
Shattles said DART has been meeting with community members and attending events to spread the word about GoLink.
GoLink has been a pilot program for about a year. Shattles said it was extended because COVID-19 had an impact on the number of people using the system, making it difficult to determine if it was a viable solution.
DART is now looking at whether this solution is a good fit for the community and that will determine if it becomes a permanent solution, he said.
