Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Going Places

Monday, December 6, 2010

DART promotes DFW DART Dude

Dude Does it the DART Way
(click here to read article at www.dart.org)



Kevin Sharpe – the self-styled "DFW DART Dude" – recently became a public transit superhero of sorts when his video testimonial extolling the virtues of riding won him a luxurious stay at the Hotel Palomar and dinner at Central 214.



Look! There on the train!

It's a businessman. It's a graduate student. It's that DART Dude!


Kevin Sharpe, a.k.a. DFW DART Dude, traveled to Europe with the money he saved taking public transit.


The getaway was a top prize in a contest sponsored by DART, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T), and the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA). Shonna Walker, an avid rider of The T, won a luxury stay at Fort Worth's Worthington and dinner at Vidalia's, and DCTA commuter Aubra Thomas of Carrollton won a regional transit pass.

It was all part of Stop Talking Out of Your Tailpipe, a joint campaign aimed at curbing the excuses some people use for not taking transit. Commuters were invited to share their reasons for riding on the transit agencies' Facebook pages.

Sharpe's video – starring himself as DFW DART Dude reporting from several European locales – was an instant hit. Why Europe? Sharpe will tell you DART has saved him thousands every year, enough to pay for his overseas excursion last summer.

Back home in Big D, DFW DART Dude – by day disguised as the mild-mannered Newspaper in Education manager for The Dallas Morning News – continues the never-ending battle for car-free commuting, clean air and the DART way at dfwdartdude.blogspot.com.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Great new update promoting this season's expansion!

Green Line goes live in a few months! What a great way to end the first decade of the new millenium here in Dallas. Four more years to go before we get to DFW!!!


Saturday, August 21, 2010

Mo' pub! Mo' pub! Mo' pub!

Got some digital pub on dallasnews.com for winning the DART contest.

The reporter on his blog refers to the economy as a reason why ridership is down-slash-flat, which --at first-- seemed odd to me...but I get it.

Ya'd think that in a down economy ridership would go UP since public transportation is a way to save money...however, fewer jobs means fewer employees which means fewer commuters...and it's not like unemployeed people are literally driving around looking for work.

Another factor..downtown office buildings are empty...lots of high rises are barren and there's no development going on...so ridership into the central business district is down...

Now...on the flip side...downtown residential space is growing since lots of those empty office buildings are being converted/renovated...but
price points are premium...that's a whole other topic...grrrr!!!!

With more young people moving downtown into the CBD and all those urban styled lofts and nyc-priced condos...ya'd expect to see a tick in ridership OUT of the city and INTO the burbs with all the suburban office parks ...that's where there's a big ol' disconnect...a majority of these suburban office parks are off the beaten path and not connected to the rail system and stations...shuttles to and fro are a reasonable solution to connect DART to these office parks (i'm talking to YOU Addison!)...but riders are turned off by the idea about "transfering"...Here's where you see an example of people hanging on to "cultural memories" that prevents them from embracing change (that's a whole 'nother topic too!)

No clue where I'm going here...so I'll just hafta solve this crisis later...i gotta go walk my dog Kitty...but, this thought just crossed my mind...

Downtown Dallas needs a Bohemian shot in the arm...timing's prime with all the emptiness for the creative class to come in and take over and get some organic development started...they're nearly finished with their Oak Cliff/Bishop Street invasion and it doesn't seem like they're able to commit to Deep Ellum (which I don't blame them because there's just this odd feeling that The Man is lurking somewhere waiting to go all corporate down there at any moment...)

but there just doesn't seem to be authentic creatives occupying downtown space since attitudes about premium pricing is pretty accepting...people are paying for overpriced places because it seems to be the thing to do...the few 20-somethings moving into downtown with their parents' money --- are enablers...