Bring a Sweater...

The hotter it gets outside, the colder the buses get! Sometimes the AC feels really good, but sometimes if your ride is a long one, you can get quite chilled. It seems contradictory to be in special  need of a sweater when the temperatures climb towards and above 90... but that's life with AC.

That's one of the hard things about summer for me. I don't use air conditioning at home, and have become skilled at keeping cool. But when I go out in the summer, it's a playoff between trying to keep cool, and then intermittently struggling to keep warm - on the bus, or in air-conditioned stores, offices and libraries. Seems nobody has the same idea about what constitutes a proper indoor air temperature. It can vary from over 80 degrees to what feels like less than 65. 

Stop at 10th and Orange Eliminated Thursday

DART is eliminating the bus stop at 10th and Orange in downtown Wilmington. Too bad, as many riders use this stop to get off an inbound bus that is running late, and run the two blocks down 10th Street to Rodney Square to try to catch a connecting bus.

This will make it harder for transferring passengers to make their connections. Unfortunately, buses on many of the DART routes are notoriously non-punctual.

I can kind of understand why they are doing this, however. There are a lot of stops along Orange St. and it causes quite a bit of congestion on this narrow little street when so many buses are stopping to pick up and let off passengers.

Which makes one wonder how they think things would be over on Shipley and 9th, running so many more buses through that location and using it as a hub. That was the proposed May 22 service change, fortunately now put off pending further study.

The News Journal today published an article about the postponement of changes to the Rodney Square bus hub. Read the full article here. They note that DelDot is setting up an "independent" third party study of the proposed changes to the hub. The study is slated to be completed next fall and used to redesign a safe and appropriate realignment.

According to the article: 

The proposed realignment would increase passenger safety, decrease traffic congestion, improve DART's on-time performance and move buses closer to DART route 8, which is a major urban connector between low-income areas of East Wilmington and the city, DelDOT Deputy Director of Public Relations Geoff Sundstrom said. 

Certain conditions also will have to be met, which include reducing the number of transfers for riders, adding police to the affected areas and reducing the number of buses on 10th Street from 383 to 176 per day.

However, the article notes that the proposed realignment would require passengers transferring from buses at one location to walk 0.2 mile (that's nearly a quarter-mile, folks). This walk, in case you don't realize it, comprises several blocks through heavy downtown traffic. Passengers will need to stop at traffic lights, and you know many riders hurrying to catch their next bus will ignore red lights, creating a hazard and also tying up traffic.

That's the first time I've seen DART citing proximity to route 8 as a plus for the realignment. However, route 8 is NOT one of the most heavily-used by passengers. The route 8 riders are vastly outnumbered by passengers who come in on the really crowded buses, such as routes 1, 4, 5, and 6, which bring riders in from outlying parts of the city and county, many of whom will be seriously inconvenienced by having to travel several busy city blocks in order to transfer. I don't see how this can fail to increase total trip times for the majority of passengers who need to transfer. This appears to represent a step backwards... not progress. 

I don't know about you, but I care a lot about increases in my trip time. A little less about on-time performance. It doesn't help to have the former in order to get the latter.

Oh, yeah. Rodney Square will be a nice, pristine showplace. None of those annoying bus people around.

Jazz Festival at Rodney Square

I've caught small portions of the annual DuPont Clifford Brown Jazz Festival this week when I have been at Rodney Square for transfers, going to and from work. It's been great. Even before the live entertainment starts, there is music playing for the enjoyment of us all... mellow jazz, mostly, and much appreciated.

The traffic has been a little heavier in the late afternoon-evening hours, making some buses run late. But I have not had any problems finding a place to wait for my bus.

This is a very easy... and free!... attraction for people in NCCo who do not drive. The crowd is pleasant, and getting here is easy if you have access to a bus route.

By the way, last night I noticed a table selling pies, over on the 10th Street sidewalk, next to the booth selling prints of jazz artists. They had sweet potato pies and bean pies. The labels said they were from Shabazz Bakery,  and ingredient lists included only natural ingredients, including eggs, butter, milk, sugar, etc. No chemicals. I bought a "personal size" bean pie, which I'd never heard of before. It's made with navy beans and brown sugar, and has a cinnamon topping. I had it for dessert last night, and it was delicious! Well worth the $3.00 price, big enough for 2 servings... but I ate it all. The crust on these types of commercially-made pies is usually terrible, like cardboard. But this was good, with a pleasant mild flavor, and the texture was even slightly flaky, almost homemade. Highly recommended!

Dart is not going to be changing buses from Rodney Square to Shipley Street. But they will, according to their latest news release, be changing the schedules for at least some of these buses on July 17.  


"All routes originally proposed for switching to Shipley Street, but are now remaining at Rodney Square will experience minor time changes from the current schedule to reduce the number of buses at one time."


But... where is the proposed new schedule for these buses? If they are changing the schedules, shouldn't we, the public, be given the details? What does "minor" mean? Even a five-minute change can mean that I do not make my connection and have to come in on an earlier bus. I'll have to either adjust my travel schedule or my work schedule. I need to know as soon as possible! Not the day the changes go into effect.

Come on, DART. Let your ridership know what is being changed! Even small changes can have a big impact on some riders.

July 17 Dart Service Change Announced

DART just put out a Press Release regarding the long-awaited May 2011 service changes. There will be no moving of bus stops from Rodney Square to Shipley Street, but other previously-proposed changes will take place. Here's what will be implemented July 17 in New Castle County:

* All routes originally proposed for switching to Shipley Street, but are now remaining at Rodney Square will experience minor time changes from the current schedule to reduce the number of buses at one time.

* Route 16 - route path into downtown Wilmington will change, traveling up Walnut St., 8th St., French St., 10th St. to Rodney Square continuing to West St., 12th St., ending on Delaware Ave. at Adams St. The out of town path will come from Delaware Ave. serving the stop on 11th St. side of Rodney Square instead of the King St. side. Stops on Orange St. will no longer be served by this route.

* Route 24 - new trip will be added leaving Kynlyn Drive at 6:28 a.m., arriving Rodney Square at 6:52 AM.

* Route 25 - NEW SERVICE EXTENSION The 1 year pilot service, made available through the DNREC Community Environmental Project Fund, will travel along Route 9 to Clinton Street to Canal Road ending at the existing parking area located on Washington Street. On the return, service will include Washington Street to DE 9 to the Tybouts Corner Park & Ride, then resumes its currently operated service to Wilmington. Service operates from 5:30 AM to 11 PM, Monday through Friday.

* Route 55 - minor time adjustments will be made between Glasgow and Newark to improve on-time performance. 

I Hate This!

This Route 4 bus was parked this morning at Rodney Square, on King Street at the corner of 10th. Notice there is no route sign, just "Dart Garage." It laid over like this for nearly ten minutes before the driver finally opened the doors and turned in the Route 4 Lancaster Ave. sign at 9:11 a.m.

Meanwhile, other buses were arriving and  lining up behind down the block. The trees are in full leaf and there is no way to see both this bus and those half way down the block.

Now this is why I hate it when drivers do this. I needed to catch the 33, and I did not know if this bus was going to turn on a Route 33 sign, or if the Route 33 bus would be way down the block. If I stand close enough to see this bus, I can't see the signs on the arriving bus. If I walk down the block so I can see arriving buses, I can't see the sign change on this bus.

DART ought to absolutely prohibit drivers from laying over, even for a short time, without a route sign lit. It makes it very hard for passengers to find their bus. For those with poor vision (like me) or handicapped, it is particularly difficult. 

4th Street Bus Detours This Weekend

4th Street at Van Buren will be torn up this weekend while a leaking water main is repaired. Until Monday morning at 6:00 a.m., riders of buses that use 4th Street will be detoured around the repair area. This will affect those who board or exit buses in the construction area. My guess is that this will delay buses that use 4th Street, Routes 4 and 24. I'd allow extra time if you need to transfer or be somewhere on time.

DART has announced that outbound (westbound) riders who usually use the stop at 4th and Van Buren will need to board at 4th and Harrison. That's one bock west (uphill).

Inbound (towards Rodney Square) riders who usually board at the 4th street stops at Van Buren, Jackson, Adams, and Monroe will need to board at Harrison or Jefferson Streets for the interim. Jefferson is 2 blocks east of Monroe.

I'd be prepared for this detour to extend beyond Monday at 6:00 a.m., if it were me.