How to Fix Dallas Transit: Lessons from David Leininger on Rail, Buses, and On-Demand Solutions
From Working Title with Zach Sams by RNCN
January 22, 2026 · 41 min
About this episode
David Leininger discusses the complexities and challenges of mass transit in the Dallas–Fort Worth region.
David Leininger, former interim president and CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), joins the Working Title show to unpack the complex realities of mass transit in the Dallas–Fort Worth region. With decades of experience, he offers a candid look at the challenges of serving a sprawling metropolitan area, the political dynamics between city and suburbs, and emerging innovations like on-demand transit solutions. This episode reveals why transit hasn’t lived up to expectations and explores what the future might hold for regional transportation.Topics - Why mass transit is both a necessity and a political challenge in Dallas–Fort Worth - The divide between Dallas and its suburbs on transit priorities and funding - How demographic and geographic factors affect transit ridership and service design - Innovations in suburban transit: on-demand ridesharing and digital solutions - The prospects and impact of potential city pullouts from DART Highlights David Leininger’s DART Credentials (00:01:10) David introduces his extensive background with DART, including a decade as CFO and serving as interim president and CEO. The Purpose of Mass Transit in Dallas (00:05:03) “The argument for mass…
People in this episode
Guest: David Leininger
Topics covered
- mass transit
- political challenges
- Dallas
- Fort Worth
- suburban transit
- on-demand ridesharing
- digital solutions
- transit ridership
- service design
Keywords
- DART
- transit solutions
- congestion mitigation
- geographic factors
- city pullouts
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Dallas, Dallas–Fort Worth, Dallas–Fort Worth’s, Plano, Argyle, Vancouver, Chicago
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