Denton County Transportation Authority provides transit services including A-train, Connect bus, Access paratransit and on-demand rideshare services for communities across the county, including Denton, Lewisville and Highland Village. But did you know DCTA also provides services outside Denton County?
In fact, DCTA operates services such as Commuter Vanpool, a system of motorist-driven vans serving employees across several counties, and Frisco Demand Response, a transit service for the elderly and disabled that has served the city of Frisco and parts of Plano in Collin County since 2015.
Next, DCTA is planning to serve as the provider for another Collin County service. It’s called Collin County Rides and is currently provided by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). DCTA will assume operating the service on February 1, 2024 in place of DART, getting a customer base of about 350 people where they need and want to go.
The Collin County Rides service is specifically offered for residents who live in the city of Allen or the town of Fairview, and are either 65 and up or have a qualifying disability. The operations of Collin County Rides are based on the same level of service DCTA currently provides with Frisco Demand Response, and will offer riders transit trips tailored to their specific needs to or from Allen or Fairview to any location in Collin County. DCTA will operate a dedicated fleet of late model minivans, and will supplement the service as needed with taxicabs and Lyft vehicles.
Providing these services not only fulfills the mission of DCTA, it also allows DCTA to earn additional revenue to offset the costs of operating its full transit system.
The transition is already underway, with platform provider services being set up for transfer between DART and DCTA, and communications being sent to customers informing them of the coming change.
DCTA is working to make the impact on customers as light as possible, and in the case of Collin County Rides, existing customers need only to download a new DCTA version of the mobile app and log in to their account using their familiar credentials. The app will look and act the same as the previous app used under DART, because the back-end software platform will remain the same.
By the way, DCTA offers still more services that extend outside Denton County. Those include the North Texas Xpress bus that connects Denton and North Fort Worth/Tarrant County daily, and Coppell Lyft Program providing last-mile transportation for employees of companies to connect to transit stops.
So as you see a GoZone vehicle or an A-train loaded with passengers, remember that DCTA offers many more services that may not be quite as recognizable, but are no less critical to providing mobility services to your neighbors and to populations that need them the most.
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