If you have not ridden DART since gas was cheap, the fare machine can feel like a pop quiz. The single-ride ticket is gone, there is a pass that lasts three hours, another that lasts all day, and a regional option that got cheaper this spring while almost nothing else in North Texas did. Meanwhile, half the riders around you seem to be paying less than you are, and they are doing it legally.
Here is the current DART fare picture in one place: what a ride costs in 2026, how the app quietly keeps you from overpaying, and who qualifies for the half-price cards that too few eligible riders bother to get.
The everyday local fares
For travel on DART buses, light rail and GoLink within the agency’s 13 member cities, there are two workhorse fares. A 3-Hour Pass costs $3 and covers unlimited rides and transfers for three hours; it replaced the old single ride, AM, PM and midday passes when DART simplified its fare menu in March 2025. A Local Day Pass runs $6 and covers everything until the end of the service day. Riders who go back and forth all month can buy a Local Monthly Pass for $126.
The math is friendly: a there-and-back errand inside three hours costs $3, anything more ambitious costs at most $6 for the day, and you never need to calculate transfers. Full details live on DART’s fares page.
Regional rides got cheaper in March
If your trip crosses into Trinity Metro territory toward Fort Worth or onto DCTA’s A-train in Denton County, you need a regional fare, and this is where 2026 brought actual good news. Effective March 1, DART cut the Regional Day Pass from $12 to $9. One pass covers DART, Trinity Metro and DCTA services all day, including the Trinity Railway Express between downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth. A Regional 31-Day Pass costs $192, with the reduced-fare version at $96.
Fare capping: the app does the math for you
Riders who pay with a GoPass Tap card or the GoPass app get a quiet benefit called fare capping. Tap your way through the day and you are never charged more than the price of a day pass in a single day, or more than a monthly pass in a calendar month. In practice that means you can stop deciding in advance whether today is a two-ride day or a five-ride day. Pay as you go, and the system stops charging you once you hit the cap. Cash riders at ticket vending machines do not get this benefit, which is the strongest argument for putting the app on your phone.
Who rides for half price
DART’s reduced fare is 50 percent off, which turns the 3-Hour Pass into $1.50 and the day pass into $3. The list of who qualifies is longer than most people realize. Per DART’s reduced fares page, it covers seniors 65 and older, military veterans, people with disabilities, children ages 5 to 14, high school students, and full-time college and trade school students in the service area. DART’s March fare release also lists Medicare cardholders among those eligible for reduced fare passes. Children under 5 ride free with a fare-paying adult, up to two kids per adult.
The catch, such as it is: you need a DART-issued Reduced Fare GoPass Tap card, which requires a one-time application with proof of eligibility. You can apply online through the links on the reduced fares page or in person at DARTmart at Akard Station. Seniors should allow up to 15 business days for the card to arrive by mail.
Separately, the Discount GoPass Tap program gives the same 50 percent discount to riders who receive benefits from qualifying assistance programs such as SNAP or Medicaid. It became a permanent program in 2025, and enrollment is online at DART.org/TapForHalf.
One pass that went away
The Senior Retail Annual Pass was discontinued under the new fare structure this year; DART points former annual-pass holders to the Reduced Fare 31-Day Pass instead. If a senior in your family was riding on the old annual pass, they will need the reduced-fare card and monthly passes going forward.
The short version
Load the GoPass app or pick up a Tap card, apply for the reduced fare card if anyone in your household is over 65, a veteran, a student or on Medicare, and let fare capping handle the rest. Questions go to DART Customer Service at 214-979-1111, open seven days a week. For a system that moves riders across 700 square miles, the pricing now fits on an index card, and that is a genuine improvement.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
Leave a Reply