The Committee of 100 | Meeting Notes

There are few more thankless jobs in Delaware Government than Secretary of Transportation. In the public’s mind, it’s DelDOT’s fault when the roads are congested, but also, when construction causes delays. It’s DelDOT’s fault that major projects are delayed even though it’s the General Assembly which hasn’t adequately funded the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF). It’s DelDOT’s fault that there’s inadequate bus service, even though most of us want others to ride the bus and leave the roads to us.

619,877 of Delaware’s 854,977 residents own 847,692 vehicles and drive 9,700,000,000 miles per year. DelDOT is responsible for 89%, of all Delaware roadways (compared to 20% for other state DOTs). DelDOT is responsible for maintaining over 12,000 lane miles of roads, 1,300 bridges, and 900 traffic signals, as well as its Moody’s Aa3 and Standard & Poor’s AA+ bond rating.

The fact that DelDOT, last year, increased fixed-route ridership by 5.2%, rail by 16.3% and paratransit by 11.3% doesn’t matter to those demanding Sunday service. And the fact that DelDOT processed over 36 million EZ Pass transactions gets lost in the frustra-tion of trying to get to the EZ Pass lanes on I-95.

The state and effectiveness of Delaware’s transportation system is one of the most important factors in keeping Delaware’s economy healthy. Because of New Castle County’s Level of Service (LOS) requirements, congestion is more than an inconvenience; it impacts our economy. LOS can and does stop economic development in NCC.

Carolann Wicks will tell us what she can and cannot do with the limited TTF resources and share what DelDOT has accomplished behind the media flashpoints, such as the Indian River Bridge. She’ll also answer questions.