Bus fare hike takes effect next week
Bus fares will increase statewide from $1.50 to $1.75 a trip, starting Jan. 18 – the second of a three-phase plan to hike fares by 74 percent over three years. Next year, fixed-route bus fares will cost $2 a trip.
"Originally, we had proposed a fare increase over two years, going from $1.50 to $2.00," said Julie Theyerl, a spokeswoman for Delaware Transit Corp., which operates DART First State.
"After public feedback (it was too much, too fast), we decided to spread it out over three years."
This week is also the last that the three pilot Flex bus routes in the Georgetown, Millsboro and Seaford areas will operate on its free, introductory basis.
The Flex routes allow passengers to give advance notice and pay $1 in advance to divert to an exact address within a one-mile corridor of the fixed route.
Starting Friday, Flex base fares are $1.75 a trip; $0.70 for reduced fares; or $3.70 for a daily pass. The off-route option, which requires a reservation, is still $1 extra.
The following schedule and route changes in New Castle County also take effect Jan. 18:
• Route 5 will turn from Orange Street to Ninth Street serving the bus stop on Ninth at Market Street, two blocks from Rodney Square. Eight one-way trips will be added to afternoon bus service to increase frequencies from 30 minutes to every 20 minutes.
• Route 6 is adding 22 one-way trips to alleviate overcrowding, improve schedule reliability and increase frequencies from Prices Corner to Wilmington from 20 minutes to every 15 minutes, and from Newark to Prices Corner from 40 minutes to every 30 minutes.
• Route 7 will continue to serve Wilmington's Riverfront, the Hedgeville area, St. Elizabeth's School and Parish, and St. Francis Hospital, and provide new, direct service to Trolley Square, the Acme grocery store and Lincoln Towers. It will no longer serve Pennsylvania Avenue or Rodney Square.
• Route 16 will provide added service at the I-95 Service Plaza for employment access at 6:45 a.m. inbound from Newark to Wilmington, and at 4:33 p.m. outbound from Wilmington to Newark.
• Route 19 will be combined with Route 36 to form a new Route 18 operating between Pike Creek and Wilmington along Faulkland, Milltown and Limestone roads with connections at the Prices Corner Park & Ride. The combined routes will allow for more frequent service. Express service between Pike Creek and Wilmington will continue on Route 30.
• Routes 17, 22 and 25 will access downtown Wilmington via Walnut Street instead of Orange Street, turning on 12th Street back to King Street.
• Route 25 routing change to Delaware City via Tybouts Corner Park & Ride, no longer serving Del. 9 and Hamburg Road, but will instead use U.S. 13/Del. 1 and Del. 72, eliminating conflicts with freight train movements on Del. 9 that have affected scheduling reliability. On weekdays, the route will provide service to DART Mid-County Wrangle Hill Park & Ride and the new DMV facility on all trips serving Delaware City.
• Route 28 trips will provide local service to A.I DuPont Hospital/Nemours Clinic from Trolley Square using Augustine Bridge to 18th Street to Broom Street, discontinuing service along Augustine Cutoff from 18th Street to Rockland Road.
• Route 34 trips from Marrows Road will be replaced by Route 55, no longer turning around in White Chapel community, and allowing Route 34 to provide more direct service between Newark and Christiana, serving Comcast/Wakefield Drive, University Plaza, Old Main Street in downtown Christiana to Christiana Mall, with some trips extending into Wilmington.
• Route 36 will be combined with Route 19 to form a new Route 18 that will operate between Pike Creek and Wilmington along Faulkland, Milltown and Limestone roads with connections at Prices Corner Park & Ride. The combination of the two routes allows for more frequent service. Milltown Road west of Limestone Road, to Kirkwood Highway/Del. 2 will no longer be served.
• Route 42 will provide service to the I-95 Service Plaza for employment access at 6:55 a.m. inbound from Peoples Plaza to Wilmington, and 5 p.m. southbound from Wilmington to Peoples Plaza.
• Route 44 is a new route converting existing "Not In Service" buses to express buses between DART Mid-County, Wrangle Hill Park & Ride and the new DMV facility, to Christiana Mall.
• Route 55 will be split into two segments for increased schedule reliability: Glasgow-Newark (new Route 46) and Newark-Christiana Mall (Route 55), with some trips extending into Wilmington.
• Route 46 will run from Peoples Plaza/U.S. 40 to Del. 896 to South College Avenue to the Newark Transit Hub, where it connects to Route 55.
• Route 55 will replace Route 34 service along Marrows Road. Route path will be Christiana Mall to Old Baltimore Pike, Library Avenue to Chestnut Hill Road to Marrows Road to Wyoming Drive, back to Library Avenue. Service to the Marrows Road community will increase by expanding weekday hours to 9:30 p.m., and introducing Saturday service to this area from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Contact Melissa Nann Burke at (302) 324-2329, mburke@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @nannburke.