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How is DART making its buses cleaner? You might be sitting on the answer

The $5 million project is an initiative to make riding a cleaner and safer experience, DART said in a statement.

In an effort to make public transportation a cleaner experience for riders, DART installed vinyl seats on its buses — replacing its cloth cushions that have been the standard for several years.

The new vinyl seat backs and cushions were primarily installed because they are easier for operators to clean and sanitize, said spokesman Gordon Shattles.

“A lot of times we’ll have someone who may be drinking a coffee on the train, and they spilled their cup of coffee,” Shattles said. “The last thing we want is for someone to sit in that.”

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Spills from coffee and other beverages are easier to address with a vinyl material rather than cloth, he added.

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By early May, DART had swapped out nearly 18,000 cushions across 475 of its buses, which cost the agency around $5 million, Shattles said. He added DART had been eyeing this project since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID really sped up the process for us and gives the ability to ensure that we have as clean a ride as possible for our riders,” he said.

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The agency also chose vinyl over other materials, such as hard plastic, for the comfort it provides. Shattles described the material as a “faux leather,” offering cushion for passengers.

Additionally, vinyl has a material life of more than 10 years, making it a sustainable option for the agency.

The new vinyl-covered seats come as DART focuses on creating a cleaner and safer environment across its transit options. In November 2022, the transit agency launched the DART Clean Team initiative, which is a group of workers dedicated to removing debris and trash on its light rail vehicles. This supplements DART’s cleaning protocols, which include power washing trains and buses every night before service starts up, Shattles said.

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In addition to new bus seats, the agency plans to swap out cloth cushions for vinyl cushions on DART’s light rail fleet sometime before September. The cloth cushions will be swapped out across 163 of DART’s trains starting in July, for a total of nearly 17,000 seats.

“The focus is to ensure that our passengers know that DART is here for them,” Shattles said, “but we’re gonna make their transit experience a very pleasurable one as well.”

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