DART is tweaking the timing and routes of more buses in the core of Wilmington, a year after the state controversially removed most of the transit from what was the city's central bus hub at Rodney Square.

The Wilmington route changes highlight this year's swath of annual adjustments to bus routes in Delaware. DART has said the changes, most of which were proposed during a contentious public meeting in September, will improve the efficiency of the system.

The new schedules begin on Dec. 9. They include the following changes:

The routes 7 and 28 will be combined into a new route 28 that will stretch from the WIlmington DMV to A.I. DuPont Children's Hospital. The new route will shift riders to 4th Street, away from the downtown core – a change that was criticized by transit advocates. DART has said the new service will provide additional "direct access" between U.S. 13, 4th Street, St. Francis Hospital, Trolley Square and the Children’s Hospital.

A revised route 48, which will operate during weekday rush hours, will give riders a replacement to the old 28 service in Wilmington, DART says.

The express route 38, which connects the Wilmington train station and Arden with a stop at Rodney Square, will be discontinued because of low ridership, DART said. Riders should use routes 11, 13 or 31 as alternates, DART said.

Routes 33 and 40 will use Washington Street to get to I-95, rather than Delaware Avenue.

The schedules for routes 4, 20, 31, 42, 45, 52 and 62 throughout New Castle County will be adjusted.

Routing around Christiana Mall will be adjusted for the routes 5 and 15. The 33 will no longer service the bus stop at Target.

The schedules of routes 107, 120, 210, 212 and 215 in Kent and Sussex counties will be minorly adjusted.

Sussex County riders on the 201 and 204 will have 6 a.m. trips, one earlier than the current schedule.

Last summer, DART also introduced a so-called "wet spaghetti" proposal, which would have shifted suburban buses off of neighborhood streets and onto faster thoroughfares. The idea was not adopted.

Activists against dismantling of the Rodney Square bus hub rallied

Does DART have race, gender issues? Perceptions differ among employees, study finds

The changes that were adopted likely will cause more consternation among some riders in Delaware's largest city.

Many frustrated riders at the September public meeting argued that recent transit changes have been fueled by gentrification, racism and the influence of businesses on government.

The meeting was held at the downtown Wilmington library, adjacent to Rodney Square and next to corporate buildings that house Chemours, Bank of America, Wilmington Trust, and Young, Conway, Stargatt and Taylor.

At the meeting, Dion Wilson, a member of the Coalition to Restore the Rodney Square Bus Hub, said last year's disassembly of the Rodney Square hub was the latest manifestation of what he and other members of his group were calling "discrimination by neglect."

"If you don't think that gentrification is going on in the city of Wilmington, look around you," he said.

Another man, noting racial overtones at the meeting, said decision makers who have come into the city are trying to displace people who are "a little dark."

It was a forceful rebuke of Delaware officials who for years have tried to lure wealthy people and new companies into Wilmington.

Early this year, the News Journal obtained emails that revealed how businesses had been lobbying Gov. John Carney for a "final decision" to remove buses from Rodney Square before the idea had been proposed to the public.

Carney said he made the decision because he believed transit allowed crime to occur at the square.

Wilmington must "strike that balance between the needs of bus riders and the needs of a vibrant central business district,” he said in March. “The idea of a transfer station there seemed incompatible with our desire to have a strong central business district."

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.