Driving vs. rail in Dallas? No, really.

[Guest DevonSFescort]

In the spirit of proactive, far-sighted planning, I'm making some decisions about my Dallas trip now even thought it won't begin until...um...the day after tomorrow.

 

The background: I'm beginning and ending my long-awaited (if only by my parents) Texas tour in Dallas. I've been assuming I'd just rent a car at DFW airport when I arrived, use it in and between Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Houston, and then drop it off at DFW again on my way back to SF. You can't be without a car pretty much anywhere in Texas, right?

 

But now...looking on my hotel's website and seeing that they're 23 miles from DFW, and I'm arriving during rush hour...ewwww. Suddenly a new plan is forming, and I'd like to hear from anybody sufficiently familiar with Dallas whether it makes sense.

 

Now, I'm thinking, I might just take the Trinity Railway Express from DFW to downtown, where my hotel is, and wait to rent the car until I'm leaving town to go see if the Alamo is where I remember. Then when I return to Dallas for another couple days I can decide whether to return the car or whether it would come in handy until it's time to fly out. All of my inquiries, happily, have been for in calls, so I don't feel like I'm cutting myself off from that many opportunities, and the places I want to go are mostly "cultcha" type things, as Rick would say, most of which it looks like DART serves. I can even take the train to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth if I have time. I'm sure I'm making it impossible or a pain in the ass to get to any gay night life (please correct me if I'm wrong), but frankly, if it saves me a couple days' parking and car rental plus the joys of Dallas traffic (actually I don't know how bad Dallas traffic is, but if it's anything like Houston's, it's bad), sheesh, I might as well stay in. Half the time I think I'm going to go out in another city I end up crashing instead anyway.

 

So that's the way I'm leaning...any comments pro or con?

[tipster]

Devon -

 

I've never used DART and have no plans to ever use it so my advise is a little biased.

 

The rail/bus system in Dallas is not the same as it is in San Francisco, not even close in my opinion. Soooooo, having said that I would highly suggest you rent a car for your stay in Dallas.

 

Assuming you're arriving in the PM, you will be going against the traffic coming from the airport to downtown so that should not be a major problem. Further, if you plan on taking advantage of the gay night life, the rail system doesn't serve that area so you would have to use the bus or a cab and I'm not to sure how the cab service would be trying to leave that area late at night. Of course you probably won't have a hard time finding someone willing to give you a ride anywhere you want to go from the Oaklawn area or any area for that matter.:-)

 

Generally, traffic in Dallas is not all that bad except for the rush hours. Notice I said generally.

 

If you take the train from the airport it will put you out on the western side of downtown, then you will have to take a bus or cab to your hotel. I don't know where you're staying but trying to figure out which bus to catch is a project you should have started a week or so ago.:-)

 

Anyway hope you have a good stay in big D.

[Guest DevonSFescort]

>I don't know where you're staying but

>trying to figure out which bus to catch is a project you

>should have started a week or so ago.:-)

 

LOL...thanks for the tips, tipster. One hopeful sign is the TRE website does mention an attraction that my hotel is right next to -- so hopefully that means it's either close by or relatively easy to get too (knock wood). But you're right about the train service -- I took a look at the schedule and while the train gets you downtown in half an hour, which seems pretty good to me, it runs so infrequently, even during rush hour, that I'd probably lose whatever time advantage I'd be gaining by taking the train. The main advantage would be in the money it would save, which in an untested (for me) market does come into consideration... Ultimately I guess I just have to decide how big an issue limited mobility is in a city I'm only going to be in for two very short stays at a time, most of which (we hope) will be spent in my hotel room anyway... :9

[ted]

Compared to LA, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, or Houston, Dallas traffic is much more manageable, not to say that it isn't heavy at times, but other than rush hour it hasn't really been a problem for me unless there's construction. I'm not an expert on Dallas, but it seems more reasonable to navigate than Houston's spaghetti bowl of freeways.

[Bilbo]

But for some reason, I get lost more easily on Dallas streets than I do in Houston.

[scudman]

Although using DART's light rail could be ok in some instances, I think overall you'll be frustrated with it. The trains run less frequently than Boston, NYC or San Fran, and the extent of neighborhoods reached by the rail lines in definitely limited. I think you're better off hanging on to your car, although you will be able to use the train some if you want to get to the local museums. You'll be very close to the excellent Nasher Sculpture Garden, which just opened as well as the Sixth Floor Museum, which really gives a fascinating insight of the Kennedys--not just the assassination.

 

As a happy Dallas resident, I'd love to be able to say that we've got an awesome rail transit system that can suit your needs, but it's definitely not there yet. The group it works for best right now is suburban commuters coming downtown and going right back home again. Beyond that, and a couple of interesting shopping destinations like Mockingbird Station that have popped up around the new rail stations, it's got a lot of growing to do.

 

Have a great time in Big D! I'm anxious to see you on your second pass through town after Christmas. :9

 

Steve