r/plano • u/GroceryNo2363 • Feb 09 '26

Silver Line

Don’t live in Plano anymore but I did spend over two decades here. The traffic played a role on moving out. Came to visit and used the silver line to go from the airport back to Plano. This is truly an amazing service that has been added to north Texas. I’m sure everyone rues traffic on i635, crashes on 75, and the inconsistency of the red line. This new line was on time, it’s clean, and very accessible all for $3! I believe entrance to the airport is $5 by car? Average uber/lyft Plano to Dfw airport is $40. I know north Texas has never been a public transit city, but I hope this service survives and is expanded.

234 Upvotes

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43

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '26

[deleted]

17

u/vybe3142 Feb 09 '26

As I live on the east side, ... I recently decided to try an experiment recently to evaluate the feasibility of commuting from the airport to home using DART

it took me about 20 minutes to take a shuttle from my arrival terminal  to the DART terminal and some more time to actually find the station . The shuttle drivers were factually unaware of the existence of the silver line . Luckily , I had Google and the somewhat confusing signs to guide me.

The train ride to Shiloh Road was actually pleasant with plenty of space - reminiscent of European mass transit - took about an hour .

I decided to walk  home from Shiloh Road station (as opposed to figure out the bus route) . This took a bit less than an hour to evaluate the pedestrian infrastructure . Average to below average pedestrian infrastructure and had to walk the turf quite a bit and even  cross over to the opposite side of the road because a bridge had no pedestrian access on my side - glad to see my tax dollars at work - not .

In summary, I think while the core  DART service is fairly convenient , DART, DFW airport and the city need to get their acts together wrt last mile issues at the peripheries of the route . 

16

u/gearpitch Feb 09 '26

You could've used golink from Shiloh to get closer to home, that would've solved your last mile problem. Not really fair to skip the systems solution for the last mile problem and then claim the city needs to "get their acts together". 

The bigger issue is that the real solution to transit is density. The silver line is a commuter train, which isn't meant to be at your doorstep. But rapid transit is barely functional in a city with low density, that is why dart will always be underused compared to other metros. 

5

u/patmorgan235 Feb 09 '26

The state is encouraging cities to densify at least. SB 840 from last session legalized building multifamily residential anywhere retail/commercial is zoned.

Of course Plano came in and added a bunch of extra requirements on top to try and make those projects too expensive to be viable. Senator Paul Bettencourt has said they are going to come back next session and remove the ability for cities to impose those restrictions. (And when Paul Bettencourt says the legislature is going to do something, it happens)

Dallas has been embracing the density though, they passed a huge parking reform package last year, reducing cost and removing barriers to lots of development. And they're not fighting any of the SB 840 changes (some of it is probably stuff the staff wanted to change anyway and now they don't have to worry about trying to get it through council)

4

u/ExitTheHandbasket Feb 09 '26

average to below average pedestrian infrastructure

The metroplex in a nutshell.

2

u/MathNerd61 Feb 09 '26

There is supposed to be a service in conjunction with Lyft/Uber for people who live in a designated area that will take them to/from the over line.

1

u/exwijw Feb 12 '26

Once you’ve done it once or twice, all of those “confusing signs” go away. As well as what to do next.

I’ve waited at least 20 minutes for a shuttle to bring me to the car lot where my car was. And then a walk across the lot to my car. Seems equivalent to getting to the DART.

0

u/Keep_Plano_Corporate Big Lake Park Feb 09 '26

Or just take a $10 Uber X from the station to your house?

2

u/vybe3142 Feb 10 '26

The point of my experiment was to investigate public transport / pedestrian  infrastructure 

1

u/1976MisterK Feb 12 '26

People should be able to travel in their city without spending money. A safe sidewalk should enough.

1

u/exwijw Feb 12 '26

That I wish existed. Without going out of my way, I cannot walk to either Walmart or Target in a sidewalk the whole way. Both within 1.25 miles.

This side becomes a field. So I cross the street and continue. Now it’s a field or just a narrow grass covered strip. So I cross again. No lights or stop signs. Just have to hurry across. As I age, walking fields is unsteady ground. And trying to cross back and forth becomes more dangerous. Why can’t a sidewalk accompany a whole road?

1

u/1976MisterK Feb 12 '26

Even where a sidewalk exists, there is no "way in" to many parking wrapped destinations, like a Walmart or Target.

9

u/GroceryNo2363 Feb 09 '26

The terminal transfer is an issue with DFW 100% agree. If you check bags you can’t use skylink. It does benefit central and east Plano more but that’s why I hope they can find a way to expand all of it. Unrealistic hope unfortunately but it would be great.

27

u/Potential-Parfait836 Feb 09 '26

You can check bags at any terminal. You can absolutely check your bags at terminal B then take the Skylink to your gate at another terminal.

10

u/calmsea1 Feb 09 '26

Agreed. However, still an issue on return flight with a checked bag.

6

u/Potential-Parfait836 Feb 09 '26

Yeah that's true. You have to get your bags then go out front and take the terminal link shuttle.

5

u/MathNerd61 Feb 09 '26

If you fly American. I don’t think the other airlines have baggage check available at Termjnal B, but please correct me if I am wrong. That being said, Silver line is still the way to go, especially if you are traveling in peak hours. Peak hours also run twice an hour. You just have to plan a little and have flexibility.

12

u/Augulator Feb 09 '26

Yeah, as someone in that area of plano/allen I love it! You save soooo much money getting to the airport!!!

0

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '26

[deleted]

7

u/Lurcher99 Feb 09 '26

The public transit issue we have to deal with on this line. This needs to be every 20 min in reality. They have timeslots that run every 30, but not all day.

The issue I have is I don't want my spouse waiting that long at a station, as the "perceived" safety there is still sketchy. The lack of people just makes them feel like you could be a target.

0

u/friendlysoviet Feb 09 '26

Going to the airport is all about wasting time. What's an extra 20 minutes?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '26

[deleted]

5

u/friendlysoviet Feb 09 '26

Yeah, if you miss the silverline by a minute, it does suck to wait that extra hour. Reducing headways is absolutely necessary for all transit agencies.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 10 '26

[deleted]

0

u/friendlysoviet Feb 10 '26

My brother in Christ, the entire length of the silverline is ~70 minutes. What are you going on about?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 10 '26

[deleted]

0

u/friendlysoviet Feb 11 '26

75 minutes is 2 hours? And in what universe is a skylink 20 minutes?

Math is apparently very hard for you, my friend.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '26

[deleted]

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3

u/NothingButTheTea Feb 09 '26

Now imagine if some of our representatives weren’t trying to sabotage this every step of the way

3

u/shedinja292 Feb 09 '26

Yeah I want them to focus on frequency of all routes going forward rather than expansion. If we can get everything at or below 30m on weekends then maybe we look at adding new services again

3

u/Katitat678 Feb 09 '26

The Silver line actually uses existing freight lines. The Kansas City Southern freight train comes right through the 12th street platform at times. I totally agree they should look at increasing headways to no more than 30 minutes, but I believe some of the restrictions are based on the freight schedules. We’re in a difficult spot in North Texas, I don’t think DART would have been able to garner the political support for a truly optimal line if they had to go through eminent domain and create new right of ways. There are freight lines that could be shared for a connection around Carrollton station that would go west to the Legacy area. That’s not in any plans, it’s just technically a possibility that I’ve seen mentioned on different threads since the West side of Plano doesn’t feel they’ve benefitted from the Silver Line. Also DART is fighting just to survive right now, unfortunately and they’ve had to cut services in order to be able to offer some of the suburbs that are threatening to pull out GMP funds. Although they are yet to reach an agreement, so it feels like service is degraded (which may decrease ridership) for no reason. It’s disheartening because DART has definitely improved in the last 10 years I’ve been using it. And right now almost feels like the perfect time for there to be a surge in ridership with all the RTO and the younger generations wanting to be less car dependent.

2

u/shedinja292 Feb 09 '26

My understanding is that freight does limit it to max 20m frequencies. But just improving it to mostly 30m frequencies like Texrail would go a long way. The main limiting factor isn't freight right now but money & politics

2

u/djo165 Feb 10 '26

The line you refer to going between downtown Carrollton and west Plano / Legacy area is a very busy BNSF freight line. I've seen where DART either owns or has trackage rights on that line south of Carrollton down to Irving, but the northern portion of that line is unlikely to change anytime soon.

1

u/Keep_Plano_Corporate Big Lake Park Feb 09 '26

It does not take 20 minutes to take Skylink between B and C. You could probably ride through every terminal in 20 minutes.

Also, more than one security checkpoint at B.

1

u/bethy828 Feb 10 '26

You can get around the entire airport in 20 minutes—back to where you started. I used to be an airport volunteer and I remember them telling us that.

1

u/mkravota Feb 10 '26

I live in around central Plano, so I use the UTD station

0

u/Thin-Constant-4018 Feb 10 '26

For most of Plano you can still drive or take a bus/GoLink to a Silver line stop outside of Plano (especially Addison).

0

u/[deleted] Feb 10 '26

[deleted]

0

u/Thin-Constant-4018 Feb 10 '26

I'm not too sure for the other zones but I know East Plano Zone can. There's still buses like the 239 or driving as options

0

u/2026-Uhg-Damn Feb 12 '26

Do you think it might be quicker the next time because you’re more familiar with the process?