Another wave of unbearable heat has Dallas Area Rapid Transit riders dashing indoors to cool off.
Since late June, DART has been using 18 transit centers as cooling stations, including the busy Arapaho Center Station in Richardson.
Fred McGregor is grateful the center’s doors have opened, allowing him a cool place that feels like “heaven” to wait for his bus ride to work.
“That heat is painful,” said McGregor. “That’s punishment. If you want to punish somebody put them out there.”
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The centers are open to customers and people experiencing homelessness.
“It’s really intended for our riders, but right now with the heat the way things are going, we want to make sure everyone can get out of those temperatures,” said Gordon Shattles, DART’s assistant vice president of external relations.
A shortage of workers has prevented DART from opening additional cooling centers, he added saying the agency is looking for the right person who is both informed and compassionate.
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“As we’re bringing in new individuals, we’re going to start opening hopefully more stations. We wanted to open the ones we could immediately,” Shattles said.
Dangerous temperatures and excessive heat warnings issued by the National Weather Service led DART to reduce speeds on all light rail lines and the Trinity Railway Express from Dallas to Fort Worth.
Riders should expect delays of 10 to 20 minutes during the afternoon, according to a press release Monday.
“Right now, we’re seeing 150-160 degrees on those steel rails, so to prevent warping or what is referred to in the industry as ‘sun-kinking’ which can actually deform the rail, we reduce the speeds,” said Shattles.
DART’s cooling centers are staffed seven days a week and are open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
