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Dallas County is offering a free shuttle to an early voting location for the first time.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the Dallas County Elections Department partnered to offer the service to the Elections Department after record early voting turnout last week. The shuttles will run daily through Election Day, Nov. 3.
On weekdays, voters can ride the DART Green or Orange line to Southwestern Medical District/Parkland Station or Burbank Station, then transfer to bus route 525. Passengers will pay the regular fare for these routes.
A taxi-style van will pick up voters for free from the Regal Row bus stop near the La Quinta Inn & Suites to complete their trip to the Round Table Drive election facility near North Stemmons Freeway. The shuttle runs every 30 minutes.
On weekends when the 525 route is inactive, DART will operate a van service directly from Burbank Station every 20 minutes to and from the Elections Department.
Every year, DART provides free rides on all services on Election Day. This year, transit officials added Oct. 17 and Oct. 24 as free days, too.
DART has capped bus passenger capacity at 50% — 20 people — to encourage social distancing. Once a bus is half full, another one stationed close by continues the route.
DART staff clean the Green and Orange lines every 90 minutes, and the Red and Blue lines each hour. Hand sanitizer stations are on all transit vehicles, and free masks are available for riders who don’t have them.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, our biggest concern has been making sure our buses, trains, light rail, GoLink and the GRE are as clean as humanly possible,” said Gordon Shattles, DART director of external relations.