News

DART adds 2 stops on DAFB

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Zachary Cacicia
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Team Dover leadership and Delaware Transportation officials signed a memorandum of understanding during a ribbon cutting ceremony Jan. 5, 2017 that will allow DART First State, Delaware’s only public transportation service, to expand hours of operation and add two additional bus stops in base housing on Dover AFB.

“Wow, we finally did it,” said Capt. Brian Scallion, 436th Force Support Squadron Sustainment Services Flight commander. “This has been such a remarkable collaborative effort over the past year. I want to thank all of you who have helped us get here, hard work has paid off.”

The existing Bus 106 already had a single stop just outside of the base’s main gate near the visitor center. The two new stops in base housing will provide additional services to riders, especially Airmen in the dorms, lodging guests and employees, and base housing families. In addition to the new stops, operation times for Bus 106 have been changed to better accommodate Airmen and their families with extended weekday and Saturday hours.

“This all started as a conversation amongst Airmen,” said Col. Ethan Griffin, 436th Airlift Wing commander. “Great ideas, many times, come from our Airmen having a conversation around the watercooler. From there, this outstanding community moved forward and partnered to come up with the idea of this route.”

The new stops are located at Eagle’s Rest Inn and on Sumner Street, near the shoppette. The Eagle’s Rest Inn stop is located directly outside of the inn’s main entrance. Furthermore, a pedestrian shelter has been installed for the stop on Sumner Street.

“This is such a great day for the community and the base, and our relationship as a whole,” said Griffin. “This expanded transportation not only provides better access to the local area for our Airmen, joint-services members and civilians who work on base, but it shows how the community continues to partner and respond to the needs of Dover Air Force Base.”

The bus route itself has also been altered to better suit the needs of the base populous. It will now take riders from Dover AFB to North Dover, via the DuPont Highway, and will encompass retail, restaurant and educational establishments to include: Target Shopping Center, Kohl’s Shopping Area, Dover Downs, Dover Mall, Wilmington University, Del Tech Community College and Delaware State University.

“We’ve been focusing, at DELDOT, on making smarter transportation decisions,” said Delaware Secretary of Transportation Jennifer Cohan. “So we are working with community groups and employers to make targeted transportation, and this is an excellent example of those efforts.”

These new bus stops are a direct result of the ongoing First State Community Partnership Program initiative, which fosters relationships that benefit both the base and the local community by enhancing quality of life, saving energy and resources.

“It takes a team, it takes collaboration, it takes a community to come together to say this is what we want, this is what we need and this is what we got here today,” said John Sisson, Delaware Transit Corporation CEO. “We can’t do this on our own. Thank you everyone at the Air Force base, the city of Dover, the county, who came together and our congressional offices who made this happen.”

The new Bus 106 route: www.dartfirststate.com/information/routes/pdfs/winter/rt106.pdf?date=1484056099230.

Additional DART schedules and routes can be found at www.dartfirststate.com/information/routes/index.shtml.

“It’s a really great day, and a new service for the men and women who use this facility,” said Cohan. “And it is a gem of a facility, this is Delaware’s heart and soul, right here in Dover, and it’s really nice that we take the time to recognize what a gem Dover Air Force Base is.”