Improving the Rider Experience

This article is an excerpt from the?Spring 2022 issue of the printed Inmotion newsletter.

To receive more Inmotion content digitally, sign up online at?DART.org/publications?or subscribe to the DART Daily blog.

Efforts will address service, environment, people, and information

A rider's experience doesn't begin when he or she boards a DART vehicle. It begins the moment they make the choice to use DART.

That experience includes the ease of using the agency's trip planning tools; purchasing a transit pass; interactions with DART employees; perceptions of the comfort, cleanliness, and safety of transit stops and vehicles; and any information the person receives from DART while traveling.

DART is renewing its focus on the rider experience and taking a tough look at the factors that drive our riders' satisfaction. The agency knows it has room for improvement, but there are many initiatives already in progress that will impact these drivers of satisfaction.

For example,?GoPass Tap card readers now accept contactless payment, which means riders can conveniently use their contactless credit/debit cards or payment-enabled mobile devices to pay their fare.

The agency has?completed the Platform Extensions project on the Red and Blue Lines. Longer platforms enable DART to operate three-car trains on any line, reducing crowding and increasing the number of level-boarding areas, which makes boarding and riding the trains more comfortable.

The?new DARTmart gives riders a one-stop shop?for GoPass Tap cards, passes, schedules, maps, a Customer Service phone line, and Lost & Found.

The agency is also doing?outreach to grow participation in the Discount GoPass Tap card pilot program, which gives our lowest-income riders the opportunity to ride DART at half the cost.