Stephen B. Kingsberry, Executive Director of the Delaware Department of Transportation’s Delaware Transit Corporation, announced that the proposed changes to DART First State bus service have been approved. The changes will become effective May 23, 2010. New bus schedules will be available the week of May 17, 2010.
Below are the changes by county. Bold type indicates a change from or an addition to the original proposal based on public comments:
New Castle County:
* Minor time changes to most routes, where needed, to improve on-time performance or connections with other buses or trains.
* Route 5 – mid-day trip frequency will improve from 30 minutes to 20 minutes resulting in 3 additional roundtrips.
* Route 17 – last trip into Wilmington will not serve Riveredge Industrial Park/Zenith.
Kent County:
* Minor time changes, where needed, to improve on-time performance or connections with other buses.
* Route 105 – onsite service to Planters Run will be eliminated, but the stop on DE 10 will remain.
* Route 117 – will have minor changes to bus routing and times.
Sussex County:
* Minor time changes, where needed, to improve on-time performance or connections with other buses.
* Route 212 – the 10:55 a.m. trip leaving the Georgetown Hub will be changed to 11:00 a.m. for better connections with Routes 206 and 303.
Intercounty Route 301:
· Minor time changes to improve on-time performance or connections with other buses. Time was added to improve on time performance on most trips.
· The 4:35 p.m. trip from Wilmington will no longer serve Amtrak Station.
· The 5:12 p.m. trip from Wilmington will be adjusted to depart at 5:16 pm to improve the connections with SEPTA R2 trains.
· The 2 p.m. trip from Dover will no longer serve Scarborough Park & Ride due to overcrowding at Delaware State. The 2:15 p.m. bus will still serve the Park & Ride.
· The 4:40 p.m. trip will leave from Dover at 4:35 p.m. and will no longer stop at Boyd’s Corner Park & Ride.
Resort Service:
· Routes 201-208 will operate seven days a week from Thursday, May 27 through September 19, 2010. Route 305 will operate Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays from Friday, May 28 to September 6, 2010. Route 305’s first Saturday morning trip in each direction will leave 15 minutes later in order to make connections from SEPTA R2 train.
· Route 208 – the 5:33 PM trip leaving Rehoboth Park & Ride will be changed to leave at 5:15 PM arriving in Ocean City at 5:56 PM and arriving back at Rehoboth Park & Ride at 6:44 PM in order to better connect to Route 204.
DART First State is Delaware’s bus, train, and intermodal transportation provider. The Delaware Transit Corporation, a subsidiary of the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), operates DART First State. DART First State services include contracted SEPTA commuter trains, intercounty bus, fixed route bus, paratransit, seasonal resort bus, commuter assistance, Operation Lifesaver rail crossing safety and trespasser awareness programs, and the RideShare Delaware ridematching program. DART First State provides more than 11,185,000 passenger trips annually, removing up to 7,034,591 vehicle trips from area roadways. In 2008, DART was recognized nationally with awards from the Federal Transit Administration for Enhancing Ridership programs and the American Public Transportation Association for first place in the 2008 Bus Roadeo.
For public information for all fixed route services statewide, please call 1-800-652-DART. Paratransit reservations and GoLink information is available at 1-800-553-DART. More information is available on the web at www.DartFirstState.com.
