As North Texas grows, Dallas should take the lead in mobility and public transportation. That means staying committed to Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

Instead, Dallas is leading in the wrong direction. The city has talked about using DART funds to cover massive pension obligations. Similar talks continued at a Government Performance and Financial Management Committee meeting last month, when council members approved a legislative priority to “seek restructuring of DART sales tax contribution.”

The full City Council will discuss the proposal and vote on it this fall. Council members didn’t commit to much, and deliberately left the language open-ended so it can be fleshed out in later discussions.

Still, we don’t like where this conversation is going. Plano’s and Rowlett’s city councils have already passed resolutions in support of cutting sales tax funding to DART.

Dallas-Fort Worth’s population is projected to keep growing by huge margins for the next couple of decades, adding millions of jobs in the process, according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

Not only can DART continue to help drive economic development as it has for decades, it can also help move a growing workforce while reducing congestion on already crowded roads, making the region more competitive. And for those without access to cars, DART’s services are critical.

Dallas residents depend on DART far more than those from neighboring suburbs, with over 70% of riders hailing from the city, according to a May memo. How DART is treated around the horseshoe should reflect that.

Make no mistake, DART has work to do. During the pandemic, between fiscal years 2019 and 2021, DART’s ridership nearly halved, down from just over 70 million to about 36 million, according to a DART spokesperson. Since then, ridership has crept back upward, with DART providing around 50 million rides across all modes of transportation last fiscal year.

Total ridership at the end of this fiscal year is projected to be about 58 million, a DART spokesperson said. Reaching that number would represent good progress, but would still leave room for improvement.

From the 26-mile Silver Line that will stretch from Plano to DFW International Airport to added security, cleaning crews and a system modernization program that will see 95 light rail vehicles and 522 buses replaced, among other upgrades, DART has invested millions over the last few years to boost ridership and improve service. Those efforts appear to be working and deserve time to play out.

The answer to DART’s troubles should not be disinvestment but instead to work with the agency on long-term solutions. Billions have been invested in DART over the years. Treating that as a sunk cost would be incredibly shortsighted.

DART and its member cities can still help each other grow, and Dallas can set an example. In a city committed to an equality of opportunity DART can help provide, that should be a no-brainer.

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com

In what should be the final official announcement of the day for the Dallas Mavericks, they’ve officially completed the sign-and-trade to acquire Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson. And it is a doozy.

Thompson to the Mavericks completes a sign-and-trade involving six teams, 20% of the NBA, in what becomes the trade with the most teams ever involved in NBA history, including the Warriors, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Denver Nuggets, the Charlotte Hornets, and the Philadelphia 76ers. Most of the teams included in this had to make the trade this way for new cap constraints and to acquire trade exceptions.

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The Mavericks acquire Thompson and a 2025 second-round pick, which will help make up for the one sent to Detroit in the Tim Hardaway trade while sending Josh Green to the Charlotte Hornets. On top of acquiring Green, the Hornets get Reggie Jackson from the Denver Nuggets along with two second-round picks. They initially acquired three but one was re-routed to Golden State as part of this trade. Denver received cash and salary relief by trading Jackson. The Warriors re-routed that re-routed pick from Charlotte to acquire Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield. The 76ers and Timberwolves received future second-round picks.

Thompson agreed to join the Mavericks on a 3-year, $50 million deal and chose Dallas over the LA Lakers, as he believes the Mavs are closer to winning a championship. He’s not entirely wrong as the Mavs are coming off a run to the NBA Finals. He’s one of the greatest shooters in NBA history and sits sixth all-time in made three-pointers. Should he still shoot the ball at a high level, he’ll provide spacing to Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic that they haven’t had in Dallas.

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Dak Prescott enters 2024 without any security beyond this year. The Dallas Cowboys are again playing hardball in contract negotiations despite continued production from their star quarterback.

Prescott has led them to a record of 73-41 in the regular season, and while his lack of playoff success is a constant talking point, he typically has his team in contention.

With eight seasons under his belt, he also has some impressive numbers. He has 29,459 yards for his career with 202 touchdowns and 74 interceptions. That’s enough for him to be third in passing yardage behind Troy Aikman (32,942) and Tony Romo (34,183). He’s second in touchdowns behind Romo, who has 248.

Needing 46 touchdowns to catch Romo makes catching him a long shot for 2024. Prescott’s career-high in touchdowns came in 2021 when he had 37. He put up 36 this past season, so he’s likely to come close to Romo, but he needs to be on the roster in 2025 to threaten his mark realistically.

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Passing yardage is a different story. He’s currently just 3,483 yards behind Aikman. With a career average of 258.4 yards per game, he could pass that in 14 starts. If he plays to the top of his potential, he could also threaten Romo, who has a lead of 4,724 yards.

While such yardage isn’t typical, Prescott can hit that number. He proved that with his career-high for a single season in 2019 when he had 4,902 yards — one yard shy of Romo’s single-season record.

Dallas is predicted to eventually re-sign Prescott, and if they do, he will put himself at No. 1 overall in every major passing category in franchise history. As impressive as that is, he will never get the respect he deserves unless the Cowboys win it all.

That’s how this position is ultimately judged.

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