DART Bus Message - Call 911

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PretendTime7430@reddit

Hi! I’m a reporter with the Observer. Would you be interested in speaking with me on this? You can email me at austin.wood@dallasobserver.com

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I’ve done that twice, I was out one night a few years ago and I saw a bus with Call 911 going south on Dolphin, called and reported it. And earlier this month I was on 30 and a bus passed me with it on their screens. Called it as well.

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Appropriate-Act1411@reddit

Happened to me a few years ago. I called 911, and followed the bus until it stopped to load and unload passengers, at which point I assumed all was well.

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strog91@reddit

Yes the bus driver turns that on when there’s a violent passenger and it’s not safe to call 911 themselves.

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hullowurld@reddit

why wouldn't the button alert 911 directly? it's wild to me that in 2026 the best we can do is a button for the bus driver to beg a bystander to see and call.

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trihazardknight@reddit

Definitely can be done, but it’d require something like putting active phone lines on every bus, which the city doesn’t wanna pay for unfortunately. If only there was a way every citizen could pitch in money for stuff like this /s

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lunarchyld@reddit

They wouldnt even need active phone lines. Every phone in the country can call 911 even with no service turned on. A button and the relevant guts out of an old phone would work.

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hullowurld@reddit

They have gps trackers already. It doesn't have to be an actual phone connection to 911, any basic signal to alert them would work

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ReaderOfTheLostArt@reddit

the best we can do is a button for the bus driver to beg a bystander

I hope you read through the rest of the comments so that you realize how inane this comment is.

'Jump To Conclusion' seems to be a favorite game on Reddit.

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DART_Opr8r@reddit

We have three emergency buttons. The footswitch just displays “Call 911” on the destination signs, no alarm to dispatch. It’s basically a backup if the radio isn’t working. The two other buttons we have actually use the radio to send an alarm to our dispatch.

There’s the Covert Alarm that sends an alarm to dispatch that forces a radio silent state. For example, this may be used in a hijacking, where if dispatch were to try to call the operator it may escalate the situation.

Then there’s the Overt Alarm, it sends an alarm to dispatch and keeps comms open. It also transmits a context text message that we select from a menu. For example, passenger is having a stroke, I hit the Overt Alarm, it displays choices for situations, hit “Passenger Medical Emergency”, dispatch gets an alarm with context and is forced to call my radio before any other calls.

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hullowurld@reddit

Thanks for explaining and I'm glad you have multiple alarm updates!

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GreenHorror4252@reddit

Because the bus doesn't have a built in phone connection.

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emzim@reddit

Yes I’ve called 911 before. Rather be safe than sorry.

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Apprehensive-Taco406@reddit

These are always false alarms. I have called 911 a couple times when I see them and the 911 operators seem annoyed I called it in. So, I don't anymore.

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Suitable-Eagle-8256@reddit

And it really is not that infrequent to see if you drive around a lot

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Apprehensive-Taco406@reddit

I see one of those 911 bus alerts about once a year driving around. The bus is always just chugging along like normal. Like I said the 911 operators always sigh and just get huffy if you call it in.

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That1-one-gingerkid@reddit

call 911 and ask for dartpd. when you dial 911 in the city of Dallas it goes to the city call center and they have to transfer you to other agencies. eg Dallas fire rescue, dart pd, parkland pd, Dallas sherrifs office, Methodist PD or disd police

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ArmWarm8743@reddit

I don’t understand why anyone that sees something that says call 911 would not call 911. What would be the point of having a sign like that if it wasn’t for an emergency? Even if it was somehow accidentally activated, wouldn’t it be better to be safe than sorry?

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gooba_gooba_gooba@reddit

a reasoning (even if I don't think its solid) is police cars also have "call 911" decals to educate the public on 911 and that logic could be extended to public buses even if the sign is electronic

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bepeacock@reddit (OP)

I wouldn’t draw the conclusion that I didn’t call. however to answer your question, if there is a common malfunction with this button as pointed out by several people, then I could see that making people less concerned about calling. absolutely better safe than sorry, but someone thinking “ah it’s just a false alarm on the new buses” is feasible.

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Mexi_Cant@reddit

I work down the street from a dart bus hub. I always see them leaving in the morning with the 911 emergency sign.I always figured it was testing before they start the routes.

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DART_Opr8r@reddit

The location of the emergency message foot switch on the new Gillig buses is completely different location than the older NABI/NFI buses. The emergency message foot switch on the NABI/NFI is away from the other switches tucked towards the seat, but on the Gilligs, the emergency message switch right next to the turn signals and high beam. Accidental activation is way too easy.

Also, the new sign controller from Hanover Displays doesn’t show that the emergency message is activated, so there’s no way to tell from the inside that the message is activated. The Luminator brand controllers on the NABI/NFI show “Public Safety” on the controller display when the emergency message is displayed.

Even though it’s most likely a false alarm, please call it in to 911, our dispatch will look at the on-board cameras, reach out to the bus, and send resources as needed. We have two other emergency message buttons that transmit to dispatch, but if our radio is offline as they are a lot of the time, they will not get the message, so the external signs may be only way to tell the outside world that we need help.

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sybildb@reddit

I’ve seen this once before and called 911. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the bus number but was able to say the intersection it went through. This was years ago so unsure if it was an accident or even what happened next.

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satchel65@reddit

I saw this message on a bus this week. I figured if the bus driver really needed help, they wouldn’t be driving the bus and making stops. So I chalked it up to an error.

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GeorgiaBlueOwl@reddit

Wow. Thanks for posting this. I had no idea but will keep an eye out in the future.

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ForgottonTNT@reddit

Still call , just to be safe but as a bus driver the button is basically really close to ur feet so it’s easy to press by mistake 😂especially on the new buses it’s literally right next to the high beam button

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RunawayScrapee@reddit

lol so... was it a new-looking boxy bus with a lot of blue? The location of the emergency switch that enables this changed with the new Gilligs and a lot of bus drivers have been hitting them on accident.

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shedinja292@reddit

Was it one of the new buses? Unfortunately it’s likely that it’s a false alarm due to the new location of the button, according to one of the operators on a Reddit post. Tell the driver if you can

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bepeacock@reddit (OP)

ding ding ding winner. I called DART police just in case and he said this exact thing but that they’d contact the bus to be sure.

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