Local Government

Oklahoma should learn from Dallas before betting on rail

September 10, 2026

Curtis Shelton

Oklahoma State’s football program decided to get with the times last offseason, making a massive NIL investment to turn around a team that finished 1-11 in 2025 and had dropped 20 straight games against FBS opponents. Following last week's loss to Tulsa, that losing streak reached 21 games—making the estimated $3.75 million NIL deal for quarterback Drew Mestemaker look like a serious overpay. The silver lining for the Cowboys, however, is that adjustments can still be made to salvage the season.

A similar attempt at "getting with the times" is underway at regional transit authority ONE Transit, which is pushing a $1.8 billion commuter rail system connecting Edmond, Oklahoma City, and Norman. Unfortunately for local taxpayers, if this rail project goes off track, no simple adjustment can recover the massive sunk costs.

One needs only to look at Dallas—Mestemaker’s former home—to see how such projects play out. Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s (DART) Silver Line, a 26-mile commuter rail connecting North Texas suburbs, relies on the same structural concept as the proposed Edmond-OKC-Norman line. Despite DART having established light-rail infrastructure dating back to 1996, the Silver Line’s opening was delayed from 2022 to October 2025. Originally budgeted at $1.1 billion—backed by $908 million in federal Department of Transportation grants—project cost overruns eventually pushed the final price tag to $1.9 billion.

The delays also triggered a fierce legal battle. DART withheld $111 million in sales tax revenue that was slated to be remitted back to member cities, claiming the funds were needed to cover cost overruns caused by local permitting delays. The two sides eventually settled at $90 million, forcing the City of Dallas to forfeit $21 million in municipal sales tax revenue.

If the lessons of the DART Silver Line prove anything, it is that transit megaprojects rarely stay on schedule or on budget—and when cost overruns hit, it is local communities and municipal budgets that are left footing the bill.