Rolling Through the Park Cities on Bus 237
A ticket on Bus 237 only costs about $2.50, but it’s a pricey service for Highland Park and University Park.
University Park contributed $6.4 million in sales tax dollars to Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) in fiscal year 2023, while Highland Park chipped in $6.3 million, according to information presented at a Nov. 5 University Park City Council work session.
Some of that money is returned to be spent on transit-related projects through a program negotiated with DART in 2017. But the only other service HP and UP receive is their single bus route.
The value of DART services has been questioned recently by some of its 13 member cities. Six, including Highland Park, have passed resolutions supporting a reduction in the amount of sales tax collected by DART. And the DART debate was an item of discussion at the Nov. 5 University Park work session.
But does anyone ride Bus 237, and would we miss it if it went away?
I decided to ride the bus through the Park Cities one Friday afternoon to find out. My 9-and 12-year-olds, who are always up for adventures in public transportation, went with me.
There were other riders on the bus, but they weren’t coming in droves. Five people boarded after we got on the bus at Preston Center at 4:36 p.m. On our ride back, two people got on at stops in the Park Cities, and one got off.
We were initially impressed with DART’s technology. When I scanned a QR code on the Preston Center bus stop sign, it told me the expected arrival time of Bus 237 and was only a couple minutes off.
The ride itself got rave reviews. “I could fall asleep in there. It was really comfortable,” my 9-year-old told me when we arrived at The Shops of Highland Park.
But by the time we got home, we were significantly less enamored of Bus 237.
The bus was about 10 minutes late arriving at The Shops of Highland Park, and I couldn’t get the QR code on the bus stop sign to work.
By the time we boarded the bus, it was 5:40 p.m. and had started raining. Unfortunately for us, a wrap-around bus ad covered the windows, which made it very challenging to see street signs and landmarks in the dark.
Guessing where to disembark doesn’t sound like it should be tricky for someone who travels up and down Preston Road daily. But I guessed wrong by about two blocks, and we arrived home very soggy after sloshing through the streets around The Plaza at Preston Center.
My takeaway: Bus 237 adds value for at least some people and their employers. But DART had better get rolling if it plans to woo riders who have other transportation options.
