The Lewes Transit Center is a

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

lot and

bus terminal A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is la ...

owned by the

Delaware Department of Transportation The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) is an agency of the U.S. state of Delaware. The Secretary of Transportation is Nicole Majeski. The agency was established in 1917 and has its headquarters in Dover. The department's responsibil ...

(DelDOT) that is located near the Five Points intersection southwest of the city of

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

in Sussex County,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. The transit center serves

DART First State The Delaware Transit Corporation, operating as DART First State, is the only public transportation system that operates throughout the U.S. state of Delaware. DART First State provides local and inter-county bus service throughout the state and al ...

buses, with service provided by four local bus routes, three of which operate year-round, with expanded service during the summer months, and one of which operates seasonally during the summer months, serving Sussex County and the

Delaware Beaches The Delaware Beaches are located along the Atlantic Ocean in the eastern part of Sussex County, Delaware, which is in the southern part of the state. In addition to beaches along the ocean, the area offers many amenities, including restaurants, ...

. The bus terminal also serves two inter-county bus routes that provide year-round service to

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

and summer weekend and holiday service from Wilmington. The Lewes Transit Center opened in 2017.

Location and layout

The Lewes Transit Center is located southwest of the city of

in Sussex County,

. The transit center is located along the south side of

U.S. Route 9 U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, between ...

Delaware Route 1 Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) is the longest numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Fenwick Island, Sussex County, where the road continues south into that state as Maryland R ...

(Coastal Highway) a short distance east of the Five Points intersection, with access from the southbound lanes. The park and ride is located at the northern edge of the

region, allowing for transfer to bus services before motorists reach heavier traffic along DE 1 approaching

Rehoboth Beach Rehoboth Beach ( ) is a city on the Atlantic Ocean along the Delaware Beaches in eastern Sussex County, Delaware. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the population was 1,327, reflecting a decline of 161 (11.2%) from the 1,488 counted in the 2000 cen ...

. Buses utilize

bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway ...

s along DE 1 between the Lewes Transit Center and Rehoboth Beach, bypassing traffic congestion. The Lewes Transit Center features a bus loop that buses pull into to pick up and drop off passengers. Located south of the bus stop is a

lot with 248 parking spaces along with an indoor passenger facility featuring seating, restrooms, a ticket sales office, and monitors displaying real-time bus information. Other amenities at the Lewes Transit Center include bicycle racks, benches that feature solar-powered charging stations, and an

electric vehicle charging station A charging station, also known as a charge point or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a piece of equipment that supplies electrical power for charging plug-in electric vehicles (including electric cars, electric trucks, electric ...

History

On June 11, 2012, a public workshop was held on constructing a park and ride lot and a bus maintenance facility in Lewes. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Lewes Transit Center was held on March 9, 2016, with Governor

Jack Markell Jack Alan Markell (born November 26, 1960) is an American politician who currently serves as the United States ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He previously served as the 73rd governor of Delaware from 2 ...

, DelDOT secretary Jennifer Cohan, and DART First State CEO John Sisson in attendance. The first phase of the transit center constructed a park and ride lot and bus stop. Construction of the transit center cost $16.5 million. A total of 80 percent of the funding came from the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

, which included a $5 million State of Good Repair grant, while the remaining 20 percent came from the Delaware Transportation Trust Fund. On May 6, 2017, DART First State began bus service to the Lewes Transit Center. A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony for the transit center was held on May 12, 2017, with U.S. Representative

Lisa Blunt Rochester Lisa LaTrelle Blunt Rochester (née Blunt; born February 10, 1962) also known by her initials LBR, is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman and first A ...

, DelDOT secretary Cohan, and DART First State CEO Sisson in attendance. By November 2017, construction was underway on the second phase of the Lewes Transit Center, which will build permanent structures for the facility including a canopy for passengers with digital signs displaying bus information and a

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visit ...

. The passenger canopy was completed by May 2018 while the visitor center was finished by mid-summer 2018. The third phase of the Lewes Transit Center will build a bus maintenance facility which will allow for more year-round bus service in eastern Sussex County that will start in 2018. On May 21, 2018, a groundbreaking ceremony for the bus maintenance facility was held, with DelDOT secretary Cohan, DART First State CEO Sisson, and State Tourism Director Elizabeth Keller in attendance. On May 20, 2019, an indoor passenger facility opened at the Lewes Transit Center featuring seating, restrooms, a ticket sales office, and monitors displaying real-time bus information.

Services

There are four local bus routes that connect the Lewes Transit Center to the

and Sussex County. Three of the local routes operate year-round, with expanded service from May to September as part of DART First State's Beach Bus service, while the fourth local route operates seasonally from May to September as part of the Beach Bus service. The Route 201 bus provides year-round service from the Lewes Transit Center to the

Tanger Outlets Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. ( ) is a real estate investment trust headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina that invests in shopping centers containing outlet stores in the United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2019, the comp ...

and the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach. The Route 203 bus operates seasonally from the transit center to the Tanger Outlets and

Dewey Beach Dewey Beach is an incorporated coastal town in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 341, an increase of 13.3% over the previous decade. It is part of the rapidly growing Cape ...

. The Route 204 bus provides year-round service from the Lewes Transit Center to Lewes and the

Cape May–Lewes Ferry The Cape May–Lewes Ferry is a ferry system in the United States that traverses a crossing of the Delaware Bay connecting North Cape May, New Jersey with Lewes, Delaware. The ferry constitutes a portion of U.S. Route 9 and is the final crossing ...

terminal. The Route 206 bus operates year-round, providing service from the transit center to Georgetown. There are also two inter-county bus routes that provides service to the Lewes Transit Center from other parts of Delaware. The Route 305 "Beach Connection" provides seasonal service on weekends and holidays from May to September to the transit center from Wilmington, the

Christiana Mall The Christiana Mall is a super-regional shopping mall located between the cities of Newark and Wilmington, Delaware, United States. The mall is situated at the intersection of Interstate 95 (exit 4A) and Delaware Route 1/Delaware Route 7 (DE 1 exit ...

, Middletown, and

, with service continuing to Rehoboth Beach. The Route 307 bus provides year-round service from the Lewes Transit Center to

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

and Dover.

References

External links

* {{DART First State Bus stations in Delaware Transportation buildings and structures in Sussex County, Delaware DART First State Buildings and structures in Lewes, Delaware