DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Detroit Department of Transportation's Reimagine blueprint calls for doubling bus services and increasing route frequency. It’s been a year since we saw that final transformation plan.
Three to four times a week, Detroiter Paul Warner gets up bright and early to take the DDOT Woodward Avenue bus.
“It’s really nice. I don’t have to walk that far. It’s maybe seven- to 10-minute walk to get to my stop,” Warner said. “I like the idea of not driving, plus public transportation is much safer than driving an automobile on the road."
Warner says the past six months, he’s noticed a difference including an added stop at the Rosa Parks Transit Center for his next connection.
“They’ve done a really good job with getting drivers up. They’re not missing as many routes now. It still happens, but it’s getting better,” Warner said. “I’m getting everywhere I need to get to on time. I see many more people riding it. My bus coming in the morning is almost always packed.”
Increased ridership and reliability are both goals of the DDOT Reimagined plan shared just over a year ago.
Robert Cramer, executive director of DDOT, says since they released that final plan, they’ve made improvements to the Woodward and Jefferson Avenue route. Data shows some routes are becoming more reliable, and 50 needed drivers graduated in January.
“Everyone is going to say it would be great to have more routes, more buses, but we need to focus on the short and midterm on making sure what we have is reliable and they can depend on it,” Cramer said.
The plan calls for adding twice as many routes, faster service times and better shelter and infrastructure at stops.
But Cramer says creating that reality is taking time and they’re approaching that goal slowly.
“In the transit world, it really takes time for routes, even when you put something new in place. It really takes six months to see how people are reacting, how people are using that,” Cramer said.
The changes are happening quarterly and happen in conjunction with public input meetings, which is why their plan has six to 10 more years until we see the full vision.
“It’s really a matter of increasing the drivers, increasing the buses incrementally step by step as we go through the future,” Cramer said.
Watch our July 2024 coverage when DDOT was receiving $30.8 million in federal funding to buy new electric buses in the video player below:
But advocates like Transportation Riders United say it’s moving too slowly.
“We can't wait for good quality service. People are sick of waiting at bus stops in the cold. We need to make sure within three years, the city is doubling DDOT’s service.
It’s why Executive Director Megan Owens and a group of about a dozen other organizations across metro Detroit are calling for the mayor and city council to double DDOT’S budget with a big increase in the upcoming year in hopes that it cuts the timeline in half.
“We'd love to see $150 million coming from the city to fund the transit system,” Owens said. “That would take a huge step in the right direction and then yet developing a plan for how to get there. Do we need to look at something like a parking tax or an entertainment fee? Are there other ways? Can we work more with the state government?”
Owens says the system is severely underfunded.
“The COVID pandemic hit public transit industry hard just like it hit so many other areas of our lives, and public transit is finally starting to really get back on its feet. But you get what you pay for. Transit's been underfunded for so long that even excellent agencies can only provide so much service with a minimal budget,” Owens said.
It’s an ongoing conversation about increased funding that’s been happening for years and promises to continue as issues about route frequency and consistency persist.
“The 150 doesn't get us to that full double. But it's, again, a step in the right direction. We know it's not going to happen overnight, but a mix of increased local investment and state investment, we can get to the point of having a really reliable system that people can count on to get them where they need to go, so they don't have to put so much money into the gas tank every every week” Owens explained about the request.
Watch our August 2023 coverage about phase two of the plan in the video player below:
TRU brought together transportation stakeholders for their first State of Transit summit. They shared the results of a survey they conducted with 1,100 riders in the fall of 2024.
The mayor’s official proposed budget comes out in March. Hearings start shortly after.
“I know they have to make some hard choices and there's a lot of important needs. But that's why we're excited to work with the mayor, to work with the city council to figure out over the next few years what will it take to double that bus service,” Owens said.
We asked Cramer about the request.
“If you don’t have everything lined up, you’re not going to see more service. So if we have a big increase in the budget, all of a sudden, there’s a lot of time that comes behind that as far as ramping up the staffing and the busing,” Cramer said.
In the meantime, Cramer wants the public to weigh in during quarterly meetings as they decide on more changes to routes.
