News & Events

August 25, 2016 -- Issue: Senior Lien Sales Tax Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2016B; Rating: Aa2; Rating Type: Underlying LT; Sale Amount: $221,000,000; Expected Sale Date: 09/14/2016; Rating Description: Special Tax: Sales;

Summary Rating Rationale

Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Aa2 rating to Dallas Area Rapid Transit's, TX (DART) $221 million Senior Lien Sales Tax Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2016B. The bonds are expected to sell on September 14.The Aa2 rating reflects sound legal provisions including the bonds' senior gross lien on a 1% sales tax collected in Dallas (Aa2 stable) and 12 other surrounding municipalities; trustee intercept of those revenues; a two times additional bonds test; the strength of the DART service area economy and our expectation that it will perform well going forward; and debt service coverage that is satisfactory but has declined in recent years reflecting DART's acceleration of its bonding program.

DART has been named the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) 2019 Innovation Award winner.

The Innovation Award is given to a public transit agency demonstrating innovative concepts in the provision of public transportation services. Entries this year had to show how their transit system demonstrated excellence within the three-year period of 2016-2018.

DART's winning entry was their GoPass app, the first public transit ticket-purchasing app in the nation that involved multiple agencies and different types of transportation by combining efforts between DART in Dallas County, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (now Trinity Metro) in Tarrant County and the DCTA in Denton County.