DART First State Service Changes

Wilmington -- Stephen B. Kingsberry, Executive Director of Delaware Transit Corporation, announced that changes to DART First State fixed route bus service will become effective July 17, 2011. New bus schedules are posted online at www.DartFirstState.com and will be available on buses this week.

Below are the changes by county. *** type indicates a change from or an addition to the original proposal based on public comments:

***New Castle County:
All routes originally proposed for switching to Shipley Street are now remaining at Rodney Square and will have minor time changes to reduce the number of buses at Rodney Square at one time.***

Route 16 - route path into downtown Wilmington will change, traveling up Walnut St., 8th St., French St., 10th St. to Rodney Square continuing to West St., 12th St., ending on Delaware Ave. at Adams St. The out of town path will come from Delaware Ave. serving the stop on 11th St. side of Rodney Square instead of the King St. side. Stops on Orange St. will no longer be served by this route.

Route 24 - new trip will be added leaving Kynlyn Drive at 6:28 a.m., arriving Rodney Square at 6:52 a.m.

***Route 25 - NEW SERVICE EXTENSION - The 1 year pilot service, made available through the DNREC Community Environmental Project Fund, will travel along DE 9 to Clinton Street to Canal Road ending at the existing parking area located on Washington Street. On the return, service will include Washington Street to DE 9 to the Tybouts Corner Park & Ride, then resumes its currently operated service to Wilmington. Service operates from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Friday.***

Route 55 - minor time adjustments will be made between Glasgow and Newark to improve on-time performance.

***Kent County: Booklets have a printed effective date of May 22, but do not become effective until July 17.***

Route 104 - All trips will leave Dover Transit Center on the hour instead of 15 minutes past the hour to improve on-time performance and provide better connections.

Route 106 - service to Dover Air Force Base will be discontinued due to Base Homeland Security measures. Stops will be added outside of the main gate and at the base housing gate.

Route 117 - All trips will operate 15 minutes earlier to maintain connections with Route 104.

Route 120 - the 6:10 p.m. trip from Smyrna to Dover will now allow passengers to board at the Dover Mall, Delaware State University and Dover Transit Center.

***Sussex County: Booklets have a printed effective date of May 22, but do not become effective until July 17.***
Minor time changes, where needed, to improve on-time performance or connections with other buses.

***Intercounty Service:
Route 301 - The first northbound morning trip will leave the DelDOT Administration Building in Dover 10 minutes earlier to ensure better connections with Amtrak and SEPTA train service; most other northbound morning trips will leave 5 minutes earlier from Scarborough Road; the southbound trip leaving Wilmington at 3:10 p.m. will leave 5 minutes later, allowing for better train connections.***