What the New DART Silver Line Means for Local Filipino Businesses

The DART Silver Line will be a boost for Filipino businesses and community connections. 

By André Averion, Newsletter Editor

Published August 2nd, 2024. Updated August 14th, 2024.

The 26-mile DART Silver Line light rail route and Cotton Belt walking trail, expected to arrive by late 2025 or early 2026, will enhance accessibility and visibility for at least nine Filipino businesses and areas of community interest.

The latest project from the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) agency will cross into several cities including Plano, Richardson, Addison, Carrollton, Coppell, and Grapevine. Out of the 10 stations to be established, four of them will be within 10 minutes of nine Filipino-affiliated businesses. The DART Silver Line will expand customer access and visibility for Filipino businesses, enhance employee commuting options, and spur economic development in local areas. Filipino businesses can benefit by targeting marketing efforts to DART commuters and stations, while engaging or hosting local community events near the DART stations to attract new customers.

The Cityline/Bush and 12th Street stations on the DART Silver Line will provide convenient access to Filipino-owned businesses like Absolute Reliant Solutions LLC, Fil-Ameri Tax Service LLC and Rejuvena LLC, additionally connecting bus route 236 to Tea Town, Mauro's Grill and Cafe and Scoop N' Buns. Cityline/Bush, near the Cityline shopping and dining center, is projected to have 1,240 daily riders by 2040, while 12th Street will facilitate easy access to downtown Plano, Plano City Hall, and the Plano municipal court. It will also connect to the Red and Orange line, which both lead directly into Dallas.

“The station itself is over 80% complete,” Olivia Wright, assistant project manager with Archer Western, said. “Although we have the track complete and the trains will begin testing, we’ll still have crews out there doing other work off the train tracks itself.”

Alternatively, businesses along bus route 236 are less than 10 minutes from the UT Dallas station, which is projected to have 1,205 daily riders by 2040. The station will be situated immediately adjacent to planned housing, retail, and restaurant developments by the University. The station will also provide access to community interest sites like the Eugene McDermott Library, which houses over 2,000 Filipino related works, the UTD Filipino Student Association and the upcoming Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, which is slated to open and house the Crow Collection of Asian Art in fall 2024. 

Carrollton Downtown Station, which is projected to have 1,855 daily riders by 2040, will connect nearby to Bayani Martial Arts. Additionally it’ll be nearby the Carrollton City Hall, Farmers Branch City Hall and KoreaTown, the latter of which has asian grocery stores that carry a handful of Filipino products. The station will also connect the Green Line, which leads to Dallas.

According to a community meeting on July 23, the DART Silver Line will have 8 vehicles, each with 230 seats and a capacity of 485 passengers, monitored by CCTV maintained by DART Police. It will operate on weekdays from 5am to midnight, with a 60-minute frequency and 30-minute frequency during peak times, subject to change.

Testing for the route will begin in Plano and Richardson on the week of July 28, marking the first light rail field testing with the new vehicles. Sidewalk installation and flatwork crews will still be active at these sites. It is currently expected that the Silver Line route will begin revenue services by late 2025 to early 2026.

“Phase one of [Silver Line] is, for the most part, complete. We're still working through a few things here and there,” Mario Zavala, DART Project Communications Manager, said. “There will be a public hearing more than likely sometime at the beginning of the [2025] year that you'd be able to come speak to the board, offer your concerns, and then the board will make an approval before we move forward.”