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Officials break ground for Lewes Transit Center final phase

Limited year-round Sussex County bus service will start this September
June 5, 2018

Story Location:
Five Points
Lewes, DE
United States

As state transportation officials broke ground May 21 on the final phase of the Lewes Transit Center, they also announced year-round bus transportation will be available for the first time in parts of Sussex County, including two beach bus routes.

“We are fulfilling a promise to provide year-round service,” said Delaware Department of Transportation Secretary Jennifer Cohan. “People and businesses have been asking for it.”

After beach bus service ends Sunday, Sept. 9, all Sussex County bus routes will be expanded to include Saturday service, and the two most popular beach bus routes (201 – Rehoboth and 204 – Lewes) will continue year round operating every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Cohan and Delaware Transit Corporation CEO John Sisson were joined by State Tourism Director Elizabeth Keller and other state and local officials to celebrate the start of construction on a maintenance facility at the center.

The three-bay facility, designed for alternative-fueled vehicles, including propane for DART’s paratransit fleet and eventually electric buses for the regular bus service, is slated for completion in summer 2019. “It's the maintenance facility in eastern Sussex County that makes the year-round buses possible,” Sisson said.

In May 2017, the Lewes Transit Center Park & Ride near Five Points opened with 248 parking spaces, security cameras, passenger shelters, electric car charging stations and bike racks with a bike repair station. Cohan said bus ridership has increased more than 20 percent since the center opened.

Enhancements at the center this year will include a new visitor center to be completed later this summer, providing an air-conditioned passenger waiting area, tourist information, ticket sales and public restrooms.

Under a new large canopy, shelters accommodate LCD screens to display real-time bus information, and offer cellphone charging. Soon, customers will be able to purchase DART passes on their phones with the launch of mobile fare payment, Sisson said.

New route provides upstate connections

May 21 kicked off the summer tourism season with the startup of DART’s daily beach bus service in time for Memorial Day weekend. Local buses operate from early morning to late night serving Lewes, Rehoboth Boardwalk, Tanger Outlets, Long Neck, Millsboro, Georgetown, Dewey, Bethany, Fenwick Island and Ocean City, Md.

The day also marked the inaugural run of the new Route 307, providing weekday express service between Lewes, Milford and Dover, with connections at the Dover Transit Center to Christiana Mall and Wilmington Train Station. Route 305 Beach Connection provides seasonal weekend service from Wilmington, Christiana Mall, Middletown, Dover, Lewes and Rehoboth through Labor Day.

The Delaware Transit Corporation, a DelDOT subsidiary, operates DART First State. Real-time transit information is available on the free DelDOT app, as well as at DartFirstState.com. For more information, call 1-800-652-DART.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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