Rehoboth Beach Park and Ride to get facilities upgrade, solar panels

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. – Delaware transportation officials and U.S. Senator Tom Carper were in Rehoboth Beach Tuesday morning. They were celebrating the receipt of a $5.4 Million FTA Grant for the city’s Park and Ride facility.

The 30-year-old facility badly needs upgrades, according to transportation officials. “This weekend, we were packed down here. The park and ride was full, people were using it, avoiding traffic and parking, and saving on gas. If we can do this in a clean, sustainable way, everybody wins,” said CEO of Delaware Transportation John Sisson.

Some of those improvements include updating customer and employee facilities, launching a fleet of electric busses, and the installation of solar panels in the parking lot. “We’ll be collecting that energy, either to put back onto the bus, or into peoples’ cars. We’re going to store it, as well. So, if the power goes out, we’ll have energy. We call it a microgrid,” said Sisson. “We’ll eventually get to the point that these busses can stay out, run all day long, and provide a clean, convenient transportation option.”

Sen. Carper says not only will this effort improve transportation in the area, it can help battle climate change, too. “In order to make sure the sea level rise doesn’t continue, we need to reduce emissions from busses, trucks, and cars as well. We also need to do something about reducing emissions from power plants generating electricity, and reduce our emissions from manufacturing operations,” he said.

Plus, better, cleaner transportation could provide a boost to local businesses, according to Sisson. “If you’re a worker in Downtown Rehoboth, or any of the beach communities, you want to take advantage of this. It’s faster than driving, and it’s definitely cheaper than driving and parking,” he said.