DART bus route may change
At a meeting last week, PDRTA director Chuck MacNeil and Dyan Cohen looked over potential changes to the DART bus route and schedule. Photo by Samantha Lyles
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
The Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority (PDRTA) has scheduled two hearings to receive public comment about possible alterations to the DART bus route in Darlington, changes which may cut away unused areas and focus on stops with regular ridership.
“We’ve done survey data of on and off counts for the existing route for a four-week period this summer. The reason we’re doing this analysis is because ridership on the DART service has not grown over the past couple of years. If anything, it might actually be decreasing a bit,” says PDRTA executive director Chuck MacNeil
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MacNeil explains that in order to keep the DART service viable, PDRTA may need to be proactive and refocus efforts on areas where ridership is stronger, meaning routes will be removed from areas where usage is consistently low. Such areas include routes along West Smith Avenue and Weaver Street, which may be cut to streamline DART service and allow quicker back-and-forth trips along a linear route.
“The route as it stands is a loop around the city about once an hour. We looked at the high activity areas along the loop… and tried to focus on areas where there is a need and where there are opportunities to have the service when and where people need it. (We want) to get them from where they live to where they want to go,” says MacNeil.
MacNeil met with former Darlington City Council member and PDRTA supporter Dyan Cohen and PDRTA employees last week to discuss three possible options – the best of which would re-route DART from a loop to a linear back-and-forth course, running from the southwest corner of town to the northeast corner and back again. The old loop structure sometimes meant that riders would board at one stop and have to ride the entire route before the bus returned them to their home stop. Changing the route would eliminate that problem.
DART will still visit all major destinations along the route – including Walmart, IGA, Food Lion, Rite Aid, Bi-Lo, and Pee Dee Health Care – and complete the full trip in under an hour. Changing the route to a linear path also means the bus will pass each stop twice an hour, decreasing wait time and making it more convenient for riders to complete appointments and errands.
“People will see the bus twice as often. Hopefully, they’ll gain more confidence in the fact that they don’t have to wait as long to get on it, depending on which direction they’re going,” says MacNeil.
Public hearings on these potential changes will be held from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12, and from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, at the Darlington County Library, 204 N. Main St., Darlington.
Comments may be submitted in writing to PDRTA, 313 S. Stadium Road, Florence, SC 29506, by email to cgreenman@pdrta.org, online at www.pdrta.org, or by calling (843) 519-0994. The public comment period on this issue will close on Sept. 14.