The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) rolled out its Mobile Outreach Center, a specially outfitted bus, to officially announce the release of—and to show–DDOT Reimagined on April 24.
The rollout—pun intended–started at the Spirit of Detroit Plaza. Executive Director of Transit for the City of Detroit C. Mikel Oglesby welcomed a small crowd of reporters, inquisitive activists and other attendees to phase two of how DDOT re-envisions “the fixed-route bus network, improve operations and create more mobility options,” especially in light of the changing city and climate.
More importantly, Oglesby said, DDOT “is making these changes with [Detroiters’] help.”
In the first phase, according to Oglesby, DDOT held multiple in-person meetings in each of the city’s districts and hosted city events, including 15 pop-up events, some of which were held at the busiest bus stops. When that phase ended in 2022, the department collated 800 responses. The input from the passengers—88 percent of whom were or are bus riders–helped create the draft of DDOT Reimagined.
Executive Director of Transit for the City of Detroit C. Mikel Oglesby welcomes the community to Phase 2 of DDOT Reimagined on April 24. (Photo credit: Andrea Plaid)
Phase Two is sharing the preliminary plan with Detroiters at pop-up events, public meetings and stakeholders and advocate roundtables.
The draft, which DDOT released later that day, states the three-prong vision of a capital plan for zero-emission busses (ZEBs), bus shelters, and other amenities; an operating plan “that meets customer expectations and provides a positive workplace”; and a service plan built from 24/7 convenience.
According to the Phase 1 findings, the biggest concerns for the passengers are unreliability, the need for increased frequency of the service and more regional connections.
To that end, according to DDOT Reimagined, the bus system will:
- Increase hiring efforts. The Michigan Chronicle stated that the Detroit City Council advocated for a wage increase of $29 per hour to Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration an hour from the current $15 an hour when it passed its 2024 budget on April 10. According to Oglesby, DDOT is in the process of hiring new drivers that the department lost to the pandemic or low wages.
- Improve greater reliability by implementing scheduling, dispatching and operations improvement.
- Relatedly, expand service hours, starting earlier in the morning and ending later in the evening.
- Adding and upgrading bus shelters.
- Creating the bus network such that 99 percent of current riders will be within a 5-minute walk of it.
- Develop hubs for improved transfer connections between DDOT and SMART.
- Enhance access to key transfer points and hubs such as Fairlane Town Center, Mack & Moross and Old Redford Meijer.
- Introduce new transit connections to both Livonia Walmarts, Lincoln Park, Belle Isle Beach and the Gordie Howe International Bridge multiuse path.
- Increase access to frequent transit by having more buses running every 20 minutes or better on throughout the week. This also means introducing 10-minute services on main streets, including a 7.5-minute service on Woodward.
- Enhancing transit corridors by rolling out a network of bus rapid transit (BRT), which includes high-frequency bus service, enhanced stops and transit priority investments to speed up buses.
The proposed network will work in tiers.
The Tier 1 routes, the “backbone” routes which include 3-Grand River Avenue, 10-Greenfield, 7-West 7 Mile, 6-Gratiot and 9-East Jefferson will run every 10 minutes. The number 4 bus, which goes down Woodward, will run about every 8 minutes. All Tier 1 routes will run 24/7.
Tier 2, which has 11 routes, will run every 15 minutes on weekdays. Some of the routes will operate 24/7 and the others will run from 4AM to 1AM seven days a week.
The Tier 3 routes, which have 16 routes, will run every 30 minutes. They will operate from 4AM to 1AM seven days a week.
One of the driving factors—pun intended—for enhancing Detroit’s bus system is that 99 percent of all jobs in Detroit are within a one-half mile of transit and, in terms of low-wage jobs, 99 percent of them are within one-half mile of transit, according to the Phase 1 findings. Furthermore, 23 percent of households don’t have access to a private vehicle.
When DDOT looked at 2018 census numbers, the department found that 233,004 people commute to jobs inside the Detroit area, 88,739 live and work in the city, and 161,519 people commute to jobs outside of Detroit. This partly led to the goal of developing bus hubs to improve connections between DDOT and SMART.
The draft of DDOT Reimagined has a 10-point plan to revamp the bus system, including adding and upgrading bus shelters, hiring more drivers, and expanding frequency and service hours. (Photo credit: Andrea Plaid)
So far, the attendees seem impressed with what Oglesby said at the press conference and with what they saw in DDOT’s Mobile Engagement Center, a specially fitted bus that contained displays of the DDOT Reimagined plan.
Longtime public transit activist and cab driver Michael Lamont Cunningham, Jr., known as Brother Cunningham, said that he was impressed with the plan.
“I like the innovation. This is such a major change that’s about to happen, such as with the routes. Going around and meeting the people where they’re at is a wonderful idea—and I give credit to Oglesby.”
When asked how to counter the perception that public transportation is only for “broke folks” and considering the very real threat of climate change, Cunningham said, “Consistency and dependability. The on-time rate are 63-64 percent and the pull-out rate, or when the buses leave the terminal, is 92-93 percent.”
“I was a bus rider for eight years. I’ve heard the stories of people who’ve lost jobs or weren’t on time for a doctor’s appointment because of the inconsistence. So, if it gets to where the service is consistent and on-time, the stigma will come off of the bus system because it will be reliable.”
Patty Fedewa spoke with the Michigan Chronicle after she toured the Mobile Engagement Center.
“I think it’s a good step forward. I’m excited about having twice as much service, and I really like the idea of the frequency. What worries me is the mayor has been reticent to fund transportation or to pay drivers enough so that we have enough service. I think planning for more is amazing and wonderful, but I worry if the mayor will take transit seriously.”
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