Detroit Department of Transportation

The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) (pronounced DEE-dot) is the primary public transportation operator serving Detroit, Michigan. In existence since 1922, DDOT is a division of the city government, headed by a director appointed by the mayor. Primarily serving Detroit and its enclaves, DDOT is supplemented by suburban service from the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART). In 2023, the system had a ridership of 11,048,700, or about 36,000 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.

History

Department of Street Railways

The DDOT began its life as the Department of Street Railways (DSR) in 1922 after the municipalization of the privately-owned Detroit United Railway (DUR), which had controlled much of Detroit's mass transit operations since its incorporation in 1901. The DSR added bus service when it created the Motorbus Division in 1925. At the height of its operation in 1941, the DSR operated 20 streetcar lines with 910 streetcars. By 1952, only four streetcar lines remained: Woodward, Gratiot, Michigan and Jefferson. Streetcar services was discontinued in April 1956 with the decommissioning of the Woodward line. The DSR formally became the DDOT in 1974 under the Detroit City Charter.

2000s-2020s

Between 2009 and 2012, the system's seven remaining limited and express bus routes (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, and 78) were discontinued.

Starting January 1, 2012, management of DDOT was contracted out to Parsons Brinckerhoff, an engineering and management firm. The firm subsequently subcontracted the management of the system to Envisurage, LLC a consultancy run by the former CEO of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority. On March 3, 2012, 24-hour service was discontinued, and other weekday and weekend routes and services were pared down, or eliminated entirely, in an attempt to produce savings for the department. In August 2013, management of DDOT was contracted out to MV Transportation under the direction of Paul Toliver until September 2014. Dan Dirks was appointed director of the department by mayor Mike Duggan on January 9, 2014, for the duration of MV Transportation's contract. MV Transportation's contract was extended for another two years on August 12, 2014.

On January 23, 2016, DDOT reintroduced 24-hour service on three principal routes along with other smaller service changes.

On September 1, 2018, the system's ten most popular routes were branded as "ConnectTen" and renumbered as routes 1-10, and received 24/7 service among other changes. The existing routes numbered 7, 9, and 10 were given higher route numbers to avoid conflict.

2020s

In November 2021, the Detroit City Council approved plans to construct a new State Fair Transit Center, housed inside the disused Dairy Cattle Building, one of the last remaining structures from the State Fairgrounds. The Council rejected a prior plan, which called for the historic building's demolition. The original State Fair Transit Center, dating back to the streetcar era, closed permanently on November 6, 2022, and was promptly demolished; a temporary transit center was constructed in the former State Fair parking lot, 500 feet to the north, entering service the next day. Construction began on the new permanent transit center in May 2023, with completion expected in summer 2024.

"Reimagined" network overhaul

In the summer of 2022, DDOT announced DDOT Reimagined, a project to redesign the agency's route network and upgrade its infrastructure for better reliability, better coverage, more efficient travel, and reduced environmental impact. The plan's first phase, conducted that summer, consisted of public outreach to gather riders' input, through in-person and virtual meetings, workshops and pop-ups at popular bus stops.

In Spring 2023, DDOT launched the second phase of Reimagined, which included a draft of the planned redesign. The draft plan called for every route in the system to run at least every 30 minutes (where many currently run hourly), with more popular routes operating at 15-minute headways. Six routes – 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, & 10 – were slated for service every ten minutes (with route 4 running every 7½), and upgrades resembling bus rapid transit. These six, plus four other routes, would run 24/7 under this plan, with all other routes in the system running from 4 a.m. to 1 a.m., seven days a week.

To achieve this plan, three of the system's least-used routes – 12, 40, & 46 – were recommended for discontinuation, while four others – 23 & 39, 29 & 42 – would be combined into two resulting routes. Other routes would be rerouted, with some seeing extensions: of note was a proposed extension of route 17 into Livonia, a neighboring community which opts out of the suburban SMART system. A new route (70) was also proposed, planned to run near the Detroit Riverfront, connecting Belle Isle with the Gordie Howe International Bridge.

DDOT states that the planned redesign would mean 99% of regular riders would live within walking distance of a DDOT route, though the planned rerouting eliminates service on a number of streets. The agency conducted another series of outreach events to gauge riders' opinion, with a mobile exhibit, inside a converted bus, making a two-month tour of the system's major hubs.

In August 2023, DDOT's director, C. Mikel Oglesby, resigned. G. Michael Staley, then DDOT's paratransit manager, was appointed by Mayor Mike Duggan to replace Oglesby in an interim capacity. Staley previously served as a regional vice president at Veolia Transport, now known as Transdev.

DDOT published the final version of the Reimagined plan in February 2024. Most of the draft plan was kept, though public input influenced a couple of major changes: route 2 was added to the routes slated for service every 10 minutes, route 12 is no longer slated for discontinuation, and the extension of route 17 into Livonia was cancelled. Throughout the spring of 2024, DDOT will conduct further public outreach to gather feedback on the plan.

Services

Fixed-route buses

DDOT's primary service is fixed-route buses, mostly serving the city of Detroit and its enclaves, Hamtramck and Highland Park. Some routes service neighboring suburban communities, including Dearborn, Harper Woods, Livonia, Redford, River Rouge, and Southfield.

Bus service generally operates between 5 a.m. and 12:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday, while Sunday service starts approximately 7 a.m. and ends between 8 and 9 p.m. Routes 3-8, 10, 16 and 17 have 24/7 service.

Current routes

All termini are in Detroit unless otherwise noted.

Paratransit

Along with fixed-route bus service, DDOT also offers MetroLift, an on-demand paratransit service. MetroLift service is operated by four private contractors: Moe Transportation, Big Star Transit, Checker Cab Company, and Delray United Action Council.

Detroit Downtown Trolley

The Detroit Downtown Trolley (originally the Detroit Citizens' Railway) was a heritage trolley built in 1976 as a U.S. Bicentennial project. The trolley ran over a one-mile L-shaped route from Grand Circus Park to near the Renaissance Center, via Washington Boulevard and Jefferson Avenue, using narrow-gauge trams acquired from municipal rail services outside the U.S. Most of the Detroit cars that saw service from 1976 to 2003 had been acquired from Lisbon, Portugal. Many Detroiters old enough to remember streetcar service from before 1956 were delighted with the nod to nostalgia that the service represented, but lack of business activity in downtown Detroit meant that ridership of the Downtown Trolley never became more than a novelty and declined to only about 3000 per year in the late 1990s; service was suspended in June 2003.

Fares

Since 2019, DDOT, SMART, and the QLine have had a unified fare payment system, Dart. Dart passes are available as digital passes through the Token Transit app, or as physical passes, which can be purchased from SMART's ticket offices in downtown Detroit and Royal Oak, the Rosa Parks Transit Center, SMART's online store, and select local businesses. 4-hour and 24-hour passes can be purchased with cash onboard buses.

Standard Fares

^To receive discounted fares, seniors (age 65+) and disabled passengers must present either DDOT Special Fares ID card or state ID with visual impairment designation.

^^Medicare cardholders pay same rates as children 6–17, seniors at least 65 & disabled.

Fleet

Current fleet

Retired fleet

See also

• Detroit People Mover
• Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation
• QLine

References

External links

• Detroit Department of Transportation Website
• Transportation Riders United