Delaware City, Delaware now has Saturday bus service for the first time in 40 years. This Saturday, the existing Route 25 is extending all of its 12 Saturday trips to Delaware City operating from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. The extension is part of the original one-year pilot service that was made possible through a grant from the DNREC Community Environmental Project Fund that invests in projects to improve communities that have been affected by environmental violations.
Without bus service to Delaware City, residents have relied on cars more than the average New Castle County resident. According to the Delaware City Transportation Plan issued by the Wilmington Area Planning Council (WILMAPCO) in 2009, 64 percent of city residents cited the lack of public transit as their top transportation related concern. The WILMAPCO plan concluded that introducing transit service to Delaware City will provide a much needed alternative to car travel, enhance social equity, improve regional transit interconnectivity, lessen traffic congestion and improve air quality.
The weekday Route 25 service operating from 5 a.m to midnight extended all of its 26 trips to Delaware City on July 18. In August, the average number of daily riders using the 3 bus stops in Delaware City was 58; In November, ridership has continued to increase with an average of 77 riders per day.
The Delaware Transit Corporation, a subsidiary of the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), operates as DART First State. DART First State is Delaware’s bus, train, and intermodal transportation provider. Services include contracted, state-funded SEPTA commuter trains, intercounty bus, fixed route bus, Paratransit, seasonal resort bus, commuter assistance, Operation Lifesaver rail crossing safety and trespasser awareness programs, and the RideShare Delaware ridematching program. DART First State provides more than 12 million passenger trips annually, including 1.1 million commuter train trips.