Richardson | June 2023

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A worker installs a new vinyl seat on a Dallas Area Rapid Transit bus. COURTESY DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT

DART buses get interior upgrades

BY CECILIA LENZEN

coee—that’s the last thing you want to start your day with,” Shattles said. The new seats will make it easier to avoid situations like that, he added. DART vehicles began receiving new vinyl seating in May, and the process is expected to be completed in November, according to a DART news release. Swapping fabric cushions with vinyl ones is “not a quick process,” Shattles said. The agency has set up a “conveyor system” for buses to swap cloth seats out with vinyl ones when they pull into a station at the end of their route. The process takes about 30-45 minutes per bus, and the agency has a eet of 163 vehicles. The change does not include DART’s electric buses, which already have vinyl seats. DART is using on-board contract cleaning personnel to remove trash and debris aboard light rail vehicles throughout the day. Buses receive nightly cleaning, Shattles said. Custer Road reconstruction Work continues on converting Custer Road between Arapaho Road and Campbell Road from four lanes to two with a continuous left turn lane in the middle. Work on northbound lanes from Worcester Way to Campbell Road has been completed. Other work includes sidewalk replacements. Timeline: Winter 2020-fall 2023 Cost: $9.46 million Funding source: 2015 bond program

Dallas Area Rapid Transit is replac- ing 34,000 fabric seat cushions with new vinyl ones across its bus eet. The change is meant to ensure a cleaner and more comfortable expe- rience for passengers, spokesperson Gordon Shattles said. The vinyl seats will be easier to clean than the former fabric ones, he added. “The long-term goal of this is to make sure we have a very clean system for all of our riders,” Shattles said. “A lot of folks were worried after COVID[-19], [but] we want to make sure that our riders have a safe, ... clean and eective ride.” Previously, workers would remove dirty cloth seats in the evening and replace them with clean ones. Shat- tles said the vinyl seats will be wiped clean throughout the day. “I know as a passenger, when you come inside [a bus] where someone spilled their coee but it’s blended in so you sit down in a pile of

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RICHARDSON EDITION • JUNE 2023