The city of McKinney is implementing plans outlined within its Town Center Study—a planning and design process intended to promote the revitalization of older sections of McKinney. The latest efforts can be seen in a May Texas Department of Transportation funding request for the overhaul of SH 5 and surrounding areas.

Along with the SH 5 improvements are plans for a potential rail station and surrounding transit-oriented development. The study outlines the potential eventual extension of either Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail service or another commuter rail service to McKinney from Plano and Dallas.

However, the potential rail station may be far in the future because of the large financial burden McKinney would be required to undertake, Mayor Brian Loughmiller said.

“There is interest in public transportation in McKinney,” Loughmiller said. “Most of the discussion has centered on internal routes in the city as opposed to connections to DART. The interest in transit-oriented development continues to be a topic of conversation as we look at our Town Center Study and comprehensive plan updates.”

The cost of light rail

With an estimated population projection of more than 350,000 people at build-out and only one main north-south arterial roadway, the city of McKinney will eventually have to invest in furthering its public transportation options, according to city officials.

However, bringing in rail such as DART comes with a costly price tag, one Loughmiller said the city cannot afford.

In order for the city to become a DART member city, funding must come from local sales tax, federal funds, investment income, financing or revenue from rider fares, DART spokesperson Mark Ball said.

Loughmiller said that although the annual revenue member cities receive from DART is about $18 million, the cost to implement rail from Plano to McKinney is projected to cost roughly $800 million.

Income created by DART would not offset the cost of the rail implementation, he said.

“The entry into DART at this point in time is cost prohibitive,” Loughmiller said. “In order to become a member of DART, a city is required to commit sales tax revenue to DART that currently is allocated to the McKinney Economic Development Corp. and McKinney Community Development Corp.”

McKinney’s sales tax rate is 8.25 percent. Of that amount, 6.25 percent is given to the state, 1 percent is given to the city and the remaining 1 percent—that member cities use to pay for DART services—is divided evenly between the MEDC and MCDC.

The MEDC helps support development, expansion and relocation of new and existing McKinney companies, and the MCDC funds support projects such as parks and other recreational activities as well as affordable housing.

Ball said if DART’s rail service was extended into McKinney and Allen, it would increase ridership substantially, causing additional overcrowding on the Red Line route, which runs from Plano to Dallas, and could lead to an overhaul of the current rail system.

He said DART is already pursuing expanding Red Line station platforms to operate three-car trains to alleviate overcrowding in the future.

In addition, DART is planning a second downtown Dallas alignment to improved operations on the Red Line corridor.

If DART extended rail to McKinney and Allen, Ball said the member-city taxes paid would contribute to the expansion. [polldaddy poll=8959804]

Bus service

The Texoma Area Paratransit System provides McKinney’s current public transportation. The service has operated in Collin County since 2013 and has expanded to include seven fixed bus routes and 77 stops, TAPS spokesperson Dan Acree said.

Loughmiller said at this time TAPS is a better option for McKinney because of funding limitations.

TAPS operates Get-a-Ride, an on-demand, curb-to-curb, public transportation service for the city of McKinney and rural areas of Collin County. TAPS also serves as the sole regularly scheduled, fixed-route city bus service within the city of McKinney and offers Commuter Connect, a service that connects McKinney residents with DART rail lines in Plano.

“Get-a-Ride is popular because it is convenient and relatively flexible when compared to regularly scheduled fixed-route service,” Acree said. “At $2 per ride for the general public for a one-way trip in town, the fare is very affordable compared to commercial transportation. The service is even cheaper at $1 per ride for seniors [age 60 and older] and the disabled.”

Acree said TAPS still has its challenges, including not enough vehicles, a bogged-down system and on-time performance difficulties.

However, TAPS and the city of McKinney have plans to upgrade some bus shelters and add others in the next few months, he said.

Regina L. Burns contributed to this article.