Dallas is one of the fastest growing metro areas in the nation. Besides attracting 80,000 to 100,000 new residents a year, the city is a major destination for visitors as well as travelers passing through. Consequently, its strategic transportation infrastructure not only moves a broad range of commuters from point A to point B every day, it’s wired for diverse usage and expansion. 

Dallas’ robust interstate network links intercity and suburban commuters to major employment centers and out-of-town travelers to Mexico, Canada, both U.S. coasts and places in-between. Despite the spaghetti circuitry of interchanges, freeways are easy to navigate. 

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) maintains High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes in addition to supplying mass transit via buses, commuter rail, and light rail. And between D-FW International Airport, Dallas Love Field, and a plethora of municipal airports, the Dallas area is a hub for air travel.

The city’s next steps in transportation solutions range from upgrading the most basic form of transit to implementing revolutionary new options. Here are four innovations that are either on the drawing board or soon to launch in Dallas.

The LimeBike Electric Fleet

Photo courtesy of SounderBruce

Dallas will become the third U.S. city — along with San Diego and Seattle — to roll out LimeBike’s electric fleet in the urban core. Electric scooters will debut in April, and electric bikes will take to the streets in May. 

Though Dallas is still a newbie in bike-share transit, its initial success has been staggering according to LimeBike statics reported by the Dallas Observer.

Based on LimeBike’s first six months in Big D, its nearly 45,000 Dallas riders collectively logged about 105,000 city miles, which is the equivalent of 4.2 trips around planet Earth. In the process, riders burned over 3 million calories and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 57,000 pounds.

The average ride on a traditional LimeBike is 1.3 miles, but pedaling the last mile or so from a transit station to an office can be a sweaty trip. Since effortless electric bikes can travel up to 70 miles per charge and electric scooters have a 40-mile capacity, riders can cover longer distances with the wind always at their backs. 

Uber Elevate

Rendering courtesy of Uber Elevate

Uber is set to publicly premiere its electric flying taxis in Dallas-Fort Worth and Dubai in 2020. 

Like helicopters, the aircraft operates on the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) protocol. Unlike helicopters, however, the fully electric aircraft offers quieter rides and zero emissions. Instead of heliports and helipads, infrastructure for Uber’s on-demand ride-sharing planes will consist of vertipods and vertistops. 

"Just as skyscrapers allowed cities to use limited land more efficiently, urban air transportation will use three-dimensional airspace to alleviate transportation congestion on the ground,” Uber described in a 2016 white paper. 

Since Uber Elevate can transport passengers through the urban skies at 150 mph, a normal two-hour drive can be dramatically reduced to around 15 minutes, which may determine whether corporate executives opt for city lives or further commutes in the future.

Aside from the role Dallas is playing in getting Uber Elevate off the ground, Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter is one of five aircraft manufacturers partnering with Uber. 

Texas Bullet Train

Rendering courtesy of Texas Central

The 200 mph Texas bullet train will significantly bridge the gap between Dallas and Houston. Despite the massive land size of Texas, about half of the state’s population live in those two metro areas according to Texas Central, developer for the $12 billion high-speed train. 

In moderate traffic, the 239-mile drive to Houston takes more than four hours. Though gate-to-gate flight time is about 55 minutes, airport hassles consume at least another hour.

When the bullet train is operational, which is projected in 2024, a Dallas-to-Houston trip will take 90 minutes, including a stop midway in the Brazos Valley. In contrast to frustrating flight scheduling, trains will leave the station every 30 minutes during peak travel times and hourly during off-peak times. 

The North Texas station will be conveniently located on 60 acres in the Cedars neighborhood, which is near the southern edge of downtown and the Interstate 30 and Interstate 35 interchange. 

Driverless Cars 

Photo by Shutterstock

While the roll-out of driverless cars and pods are years in the future, Texas has already staked a leadership claim in the autonomous vehicle (AV) revolution. Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law that allows operation and testing of “high and full automation AVs on public roadways,” provided the driverless vehicles are insured and comply with all traffic laws.

In cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), a pilot program is in place to test highway lane usage for AVs on Interstate 30 between Dallas and Fort Worth. Arlington officials approved another pilot program to test six-passenger AV shuttles in the city’s entertainment district.

Arcadis, HR&A Advisors, and Sam Schwartz Consulting conducted a study on the transportation shift in Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York, which estimated that 31 percent of the traffic in Dallas-Fort Worth will move from traditional transportation to a mix of autonomous and ride-sharing vehicles over the next generation.