Del. transit officials asking for public input in DART Reimagined project

DELAWARE – First State transit officials are looking to improve public transportation, and they need your help to do that.

DART Reimagined

Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC) is embarking on a year-long, statewide transit study.

“Coming out of the pandemic, we realized and identified that transit utilization is changing. Less people are going into the office, different things are happening. That, along with the sense that we need to reevaluate our service every so often,” said DTC CEO John Sisson.

Areas where resources are needed the most will be targeted by the DART Reimagined project. Sisson says transit officials wish to improve the overall network and connectivity for Delawareans. Those interested in participating, can take a survey here.

“The survey has almost two paths: you ride transit today, and how you ride. And, if you don’t ride transit, why not? It probes into some of the questions that will help us identify where we have gaps in services, where we need to improve frequencies,” said Sisson.

Committee Help

Sisson says depending on survey results, transit officials will make recommendations for improvements, and be able to understand the “holes” better.

“We’ll take that with demographic data, we’ll take the ridership data we have today, all sorts of information, and start compiling that information, and start looking at laying out some changes to the system that would benefit it,” said Sisson.

An Executive Advisory Committee is helping oversee the work. “They’ll be the top committee, helping inform any policy changes, and changes we’re looking to do, and shape that,” said Sisson.

Working under that committee, are Technical Advisory Committees. A committee exists for the City of Wilmington, New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties, respectively.

“The same solution for Sussex County is not the same solution for New Castle County. So, they’ll get more geographically specific, look at the issues and challenges of their area. Those committees are made up of transit riders, business owners, legislators, elected officials, just different stakeholders,” said Sisson. “They can give their perspective. And then, we can also use those committees to help with that outreach, help get the survey out, help get feedback from their constituents, and continue to make sure that we’re not missing a person.”

Looking Ahead

Recommendations will be made once the survey is complete and the committees near the end of their work. Sisson says the groups will likely work with the Delaware General Assembly to implement any policy changes.

“I’m expecting, probably, some low-hanging fruit recommendations that can be done in the short term. Some things are going to take medium or longer-term time to implement,” said Sisson.

Sisson says recommendations could be far-reaching; ranging from realigning bus routes, to changing types of services, to considering new park and ride locations. The survey will run until April 21st, but Sisson says data gathering will be ongoing after that. Adding, Delawareans can likely expect another survey this summer, and public hearings in the fall. Sisson says recommendations could be made by the end of 2023.