Changes are coming to some DART bus routes this spring.
The anticipated opening of the new Wilmington Transit Center in May will bring changes to some bus routes in the city. Roughly twenty DART bus routes that currently stop at the Amtrak Station in Wilmington will be re-routed to serve the new $10 million facility, which is expected to have indoor seating, bathrooms, WIFI and ticket sales— as well as parking.
“We are looking to relocate our buses from Amtrak station to our new crown jewel opening this coming May,” said DART planner John Calnan, who helped present the proposed changes to the public in Wilmington and Newark last week. “[We’re] looking to take the routes that are there now that end at Amtrak to go into our transit center, which will have better amenities for our riders than what they have at Amtrak station today.”
DART is proposing one route extension to accommodate the new transit center.
“We’re actually adding one route to the transit center that does not go to Amtrak today,” said Calnan. “Route 5 ends at 9th and Market, and we have two options we’re showing our customers— we can either take it a direct way to the transit center by not going downtown, or continuing downtown then to the transit center.”
DART is also suggesting a change to two bus routes that run out of Newark. Route 46 currently ends in Glasgow, and Route 302 runs down to Dover. DART proposes shortening Route 302 to run between Amazon in Middletown and Dover, and extending Route 46 to cover the difference.
“We would have the schedules coordinated between the two buses so that it’d be a seamless transfer between the two routes so that their service matches up well,” said Calnan. "We also will connect better with Amazon shifts, as well as providing new opportunities for Middletown residents to commute north into upper New Castle County. ”
DART sought feedback on these preliminary routing proposals prior to finalizing proposals for upcoming public workshops for the May service change.
