Approved Service Changes to DART’s Service to Become Effective May 19th
Changes to DART’s Statewide Bus Service have been approved to become effective Sunday, May 19th, according to Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC). The changes apply to several routes in Sussex County including Route 201 (Red Line), Route 203 (Orange Line), and Route 204 (Year-Round). Intercounty routes that will see changes include Route 301 – Increased Saturday service from five to six round trips and improving service span from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday service to Boyd’s Corner Park & Ride will be discontinued. The new route schedules will be available online at DartFirstState.com by early May; printed pocket schedules will be available by mid-May. Additional details have been posted at the talkofdelmarva.com.
Summary by County:
Sussex County
The following Routes will have schedule adjustments to improve on-time performance and connections: 201 (Year-Round), 212 and 215.
Route 201 (Red Line) – The following schedule adjustments will be made on Route 201 (Red Line): Evening service frequencies on weeknights from 8-10 PM will operate every 20 minutes instead of every 15 minutes. Early morning service frequencies on weekends from 6 AM-9 AM will operate every 20 minutes instead of every 15 minutes. Evening service frequencies on weekends from 10 PM-12 AM will operate every 20 minutes instead of every 15 minutes, and from 12 AM-2:30 AM will operate every 30 minutes instead of every 20 minutes.
Route 203 (Orange Line) – Route will be discontinued due to low ridership with changes to Routes 204 and 208 providing alternative service. Service to Big Oaks Campground will be discontinued.
Route 204 (Yellow Line) – During the Beach Bus season, Route 204 will be extended to the Rehoboth Park & Ride from the Lewes Transit Center, serving the outlets. Service frequencies will be reduced to operate every 50 minutes from every 30 minutes, and service will be discontinued after 10 PM due to low ridership.
Route 204 (Year-Round) – Service will be reduced to operate every 60 minutes from every 30 minutes due to low ridership. Additionally, service will continue to begin and end at the Lewes Transit Center.
Route 208 (Blue Line) – The route will be extended to the Lewes Transit Center from the Rehoboth Park & Ride, serving the outlets. Service frequencies will be improved to every 75 minutes from 115 minutes.
Route 305 (Magenta Line) – The route will end at the Lewes Transit Center instead of the Rehoboth Park & Ride. Riders traveling to Dewey Beach, or points south to Ocean City, MD can connect with the revised Route 208 at the Lewes Transit Center. The schedule will offer connections between Routes 305 and 208.
Kent County
The following Routes will have schedule adjustments to improve on-time performance and connections: 102, 107, 112 and 210.
Route 112 – The routing to/from Del Tech will be revised to operate on Scarborough Road instead of Dennys Road.
Intercounty
Schedule adjustments on Route 303 to improve on-time performance and connections.
Route 301 – Increased Saturday service from five to six round trips and improving service span from 6 AM to 9:30 PM. Saturday service to Boyd’s Corner Park & Ride will be discontinued.
New Castle County
The following Routes will have schedule adjustments to improve on-time performance and connections: 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, 25, 28, 40, 44, 46, 51, 52, 53, 54, 61, 62 and 64.
Route 5 – The routing between Casino at Delaware Park and Christiana Mall will be altered to serve Christiana Hospital in both directions. The alignment between Christiana Hospital and Christina Mall will stay with the present routing along DE 4 and DE 7 due to customer comments and feedback from DART Operators from affected riders.
Route 9 – Sunday service will be introduced, operating eight round trips between 6:47 AM and 8:10 PM.
Route 10 – The route from Newark will enter Wilmington via I-95 and Martin Luther King Blvd instead of I-495 and Walnut Street. The routing to Newark will remain the same.
Route 15 – New service will be provided to the Hope Center only on Christiana Mall-bound trips, from 7 to 10 AM and from 4 to 7 PM, operating daily.
Route 37 – The route will be discontinued on weekdays only due to low ridership. Saturday service will be continued by operating two round trips between Wilmington and Amazon in Middletown.
Route 44 – Service will be discontinued in St. Georges due to low ridership, instead travelling on Wrangle Hill Road between Delaware City and Wrangle Hill Park & Ride. Saturday service will be discontinued.
Route 62 – The route will not be discontinued as originally proposed. Instead, the weekday schedule will operate two AM trips from Fairplay Station to White Clay Center, and two PM trips from White Clay Center to Fairplay Station. Bus trip times will be coordinated with SEPTA train service. Feedback from J.P. Morgan indicated their staff will be returning to the Stanton facility in greater numbers and DART schedules will be matched with employee shift times. During the Fairplay Station closure, Route 62 will be detoured to operate between Newark Station and JP Morgan Stanton Campus with two AM trips and two PM trips connecting to SEPTA train service.
Route 64 – Three evening Sunday trips will be discontinued due to low ridership.
The new route schedules will be available online at DartFirstState.com by early May; printed pocket schedules will be available by mid-May.
