DDOT Bus Changes to Go into Effect 9/26/09

Thursday the city announced the changes to the bus lines. According to an article in the Detroit News, when the ridership data from the fareboxes shows less than 15 riders per hour, the route is considered to be "failing." Two routes (the Grandbelt and Holbrook) are being eliminated completely. Other routes are having weekend services cut or overall time between buses increased. See the official list of changes on the DDOT website. Changes are expected to reduce expenses by $5million.

Given how quickly these changes were decided upon and how soon they will go into effect, I am even more convinced that the earlier bluster about ending all service at 6pm Saturday and ending it totally on Sunday was in fact just a distraction to make the intended cuts more palatable to residents. What I find amazing is Bing implying that huge changes to weekend service were never really on the table and simply blown out of proportion by the drivers union. I am currently looking at the "Proposed Service Changes" document handed out at the DDOT public hearings and definitely that proposal is there--on page 12, under a bold and underlined heading which reads: "Proposed changes for Sunday's[sic] include the discontinuance of all service on all routes." Hmm.

Still frustrated about bus service cuts

The city is expected to announce what changes are to be made to the bus system on Thursday. Bing has now backed away from the idea of ceasing all service from 6pm Saturday until Monday morning. An article in Workers World claims this as victory of the masses (Mass outrage stops Detroit bus cuts). I am cynical. I wonder if the plan all along was to rile people up about impossible to survive cuts and then offer us less severe cuts that we will more easily accept.

While Bing demands that Council stop "playing politics" and support the cuts to the system, he has yet to provide them with the ridership data used to determine which routes will be reduced. Further his bolstering about the DDOT not receiving complaints when 50 drivers called out (the Saturday after 113 layoffs were supposed to take effect) was the most ridiculous political braying. If I called DDOT every time a bus was late or did not show up, they would certainly use up all my day-time cell phone minutes. I have OFTEN waited 40 minutes for a Hamilton bus to arrive in the afternoon. The only time I have called to complain about waiting for a bus was when I waited over two hours in below freezing temperatures at night for one bus that may have come early and a second bus definitely never showed up. I think I got home at 1am that time. So, yeah, I'm probably not calling if a bus is late on a Saturday when the whether is good. DDOT riders have very low expectations at this point.

The article Dread builds for Detroiters as decision looms on bus cuts lays out why the bus system is a core service of the city. It lists such statistics as an estimated 20% of Detroit households without vehicles and the city's unemployment and poverty rates. It also gives voice to some individuals who use the bus service and need it to go about their daily lives. Ironically enough, the picture used with the story is taken at the brand new Rosa Parks Transit Center.

Once more, alternatives to cutting bus service:
1. use smaller coaches on less used routes
2. increase fares
3. take advantage of stimulus money
* update the fleet to be more efficient, to create less pollution, and use less fuel
4. partner with SMART to effectively handle the region's transportation needs
5. increase rates on parking meters
6. increase cost of parking tickets

Buses still running on weekends

The weekend bus service is safe, for now (see news blip on Michigan Public Radio site). The jobs of the 113 bus drivers scheduled to be laid off as of last Friday still exist. The city has cut 205 other jobs. I do not currently know where these jobs are, but according to Michigan Messenger, they are not with Police, First, Water or DDOT.

DDOT Public Hearings

If I had to guess, I'd say about 300 filled the Rosa Parks transit Center for the public hearing on "proposed" changes to the DDOT bus schedules. U.S. Congressman John Conyers showed up early on and was given a chance to speak. His recommendation? If Bing doesn't change his position, citizens should begin a recall petition. (You know, I like Bing as mayor even less than I did when I voted against him in May. Still, for some reason "recall" sounds like something that would cost the city even more money that we don't have).



Not one of the people who got up to speak for the nearly three hours of public comment voiced any support for the cuts. A lot of people got up to share how the cuts would affect them personally. A grandfather said that he worked midnights while his son and daughter worked and went to school during the day. In this way there was always an adult at home during the day if someone needed to go to his grandchildren's school. He shared that he had lost one job--a very good job, when routes were cut under Kwame Kilpatrick's administration. One woman told that she worked at a nursing home. On Sundays she already takes a cab to work because she has to be there at 6am and the bus starts running on that route at 8am. She said that she couldn't afford a taxi in both directions. Several people got up and spoke about employees of casinos, entertainment, and the hospitality industries downtown. More than one brought up the Cobo deal that had finally been made and wondered who would work at these venues without transportation. An Episcopal priest with two part-time jobs explained how she navigated the bus system to get to work and her community activities.

One bus driver shared how he had taken the bus to work a few years back. He related that 12 or so individuals arrived with him at Capital Park at four in the morning and how they scattered, scrambling to make their connections. The current "proposal" ends service between 2am and 5am. Another driver said that she has watched the children who take the bus get younger and younger. She expressed concerned for them, waiting longer with increased wait times and with predator awaiting them when parents' have to leave them to catch their own buses. While she made her comments, the individuals facilitating the public hearings sat with the same constant lack of expression.

Henry Gaffney, president of the bus drivers' union, told the crowd that 113 drivers will be laid off Friday. These, he reported, account for 70% of the weekend drivers. In effect, the cuts are already happening.

According an article in the Detroit News, "Councilwoman JoAnn Watson, who attended the first of eight hearings, said she may move to scuttle the changes." Oh, she may? Alberta Tinsley Talabi was present at the Tuesday evening meeting, stating that the buses were a "core service" that should not be cut. When an audience member asked about her city-provided car, she replied that she had suggested two weeks ago that City Council let the cars go. Unimpressed, the man suggested that she should have already done that twelve years ago. Council Candidate Saunteel Jenkins insisted city officials give up perks before taking things from those who are already overworked and underserved.

Several practical suggestions were offered and, I'm sure, diligently written up by the court reporter present to be filed neatly somewhere and never looked at. Several commenters noted that people who actually use the system were not consulted for feedback. A fare increase of 25 to 50 cents was suggested (at least twice), without serious objections. Losing cars for city officials was a well-received. A couple of individuals were interested in establishing a transportation authority to run the system. Naturally someone suggested partnering with SMART. One older man suggested that now was the time for innovation--he wanted to see the system increase bus service to the point that people don't want cars.

BAMN was present (with about a dozen organizers who commented and told everyone to attend the union-community meeting being held Saturday 8/29/09 at 4pm at the St. Regis Hotel's Boulevard Room; there's also a Wednesday 9/2/09 4:30pm meeting somewhere (I'll post if I find it). Detroit FIST was also there, with two members who spoke (the first of whom gave us the only Spanish heard at the meeting). Both groups advocated organizing and not expecting the elected/city officials to do it for us.

Unlike what Oneita Jackson wrote that she saw at the earlier meeting today, I found the people remarkably calm and respectful of each other (especially given that people's livelihoods are threatened). Now people did get a little "church" up in there at some points--but I have never seen anything wrong with a little call and response.

Alert: Bus System in Danger

You know, I'd just assumed that Mayor Bing would win in November. After all, even among those who voted against him in the special election in May, who really wants the city to have four mayors within 12 months? Now, I'm not so sure. Less than one month after the grand opening of the Rosa Parks Transit Center, the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) is suggesting cutting back 12 routes, ending Saturday bus service at 6pm, and eliminating Sunday bus service altogether. Check out the details in the article on the Detroit News website.

WHAT?????

The bus drivers' union estimates that 50,000 people ride the bus on Sunday and that 20,000 more would be effected by the Saturday cutback. The News article notes that the DDOT made this announcement a few days after the mayor said he planned to cut the jobs of 1,000 workers.

Maybe the mayor has not noticed, but public transportation in the city is already as bare bones as a dinosaur skeleton. It's 12:30 in the morning and I'm just getting in from the African World Festival--one of the major summer festivals downtown and you might think the city would be a little invested in making transportation available for it. Guess not. I live 12 miles from Hart Plaza, yet took me an hour to get home. And it was only that quick because I walked the last mile and a half rather than wait for a second bus which only runs once an hour (if that) at night. We can't take any more cuts in service and still have a system.

During the weekends, people use the bus to get to work, to church, to family, to shopping. How are they--how are we supposed to do that without the bus? That whole Cash for Clunkers only worked for those of us who a) had a clunker and b) had the cash/credit for the rest of the pricetag. Taxis are too expensive. Does he expect us to walk? When we're traveling over 10 miles? When we need to be there at 8am or get off in the middle of the night? More bus cuts are not an option.

If Tom Barrow really wants Bing's job, he might try riding the bus and talking to folks and then sending his campaign team out to register folks waiting at bus stops and on buses. I can imagine that if this goes any further we just might get more than the approximately 15% voter turnout we enjoyed in May and August.

A DDOT Rider Alert flyer states that public hearings will be held next week at the following locations:

Monday, August 24
10am 12 noon and again 6-8pm
Wayne County Community College
5901 Conner

Tuesday, August 25
10am 12 noon and again 6-8pm
Rosa Parks Transit Center
360 Michigan Ave.

Wednesday, August 25
10am 12 noon and again 6-8pm
Southwest District Neighborhood City Hall
7400 W. Vernor

Thursday, August 26
10am 12 noon and again 6-8pm
Northwest Activities Center
18100 Meyers

In addition, I believe Mayor Bing could benefit from hearing why this is a bad idea from his constituents. You can let him know at:

City of Detroit
Executive Office
Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
2 Woodward Ave., Ste. 1126
Detroit, MI 48226

(313) 224-3400

Biking Ideas for Detroit

There's an op-ed column in the NY Times, Bike Among the Ruins, that describes an incident in which the writer crashed his bicycle and flew across Woodward. He states that anywhere else he would have been quickly hit by an oncoming car, but "this being the Motor City, the street was deserted, completely motor-free." From there he suggests that Detroit can be reborn into a bicyclists' utopia with the bicyclists powering the city's revival.

Um.

Definitely it is an interesting essay. Definitely I dream dreams of Detroit becoming Bicycle Heaven. And yet I wonder exactly how late at night the writer was out riding because no matter how late I have been out, I have yet to see Woodward free of vehicle traffic. And there is something disturbing about his attempt to give the impression that Detroit is deserted and that the streets are open and just waiting for cyclists. Realistically--I bike in this city and I like biking here, but cars (and, really, there are a lot of cars in Southeastern Michigan) do not respect bicycles and seem to think we should be on the sidewalks. I do not bike on Woodward. I do not have nerves of steel so I try to stay on the smaller streets.

A bixi rental station in Montreal

This weekend I learned about bixi, a bike rental program provided by the Canadian city of Montreal. People pay a fee to access the system and there is no additional charge for rides that are 30 minutes or less. Stations are located every few blocks and a bike can be returned to any station. The plan is to have 300 rental stations and 3000 bikes. Right now there are considerably less than that and the bikes seem to be only in the city center.

I love this idea. But would it work in Detroit? I'm not sure. As I said Detroiters do not have a culture of easily sharing the road with bikes. Montreal is really a bike city--supposedly there are 500km of bike paths in the city. This is a city that had a bike parking station so that people could leave their bikes safely while they went to enjoy the jazz festival. It's a different kind of place. Additionally, the bixi depends on people using their credit cards at the self-service stations. There is a substatial cross-section of Detroit that would not be served by a system that operated in that way. Finally, it is the city that runs Montreal's system. The City of Detroit, which struggles to provide basic city services, could not afford to do that.

The self-service rental machine at a bixi station

Another bicycle model is that of the apparently now defunct Decatur Yellow Bikes. They took bike donations and repaired them, painted them yellow, and let folks "adopt" a bike for $25.

Hmmm...so many ideas...

Bus Update

I spoke with the supervisor this morning. She confirmed that there was no policy prohibiting passengers from using headphones. Additionally she was really interested to learn that the driver had been on his cell phone. It turns out that DDOT has a policy that drivers should not use headphones or cell phones. I was able to give her all the necessary information (bus number, route number, direction traveling, and time) so she will be following up with this. I was transferred to an agent who collected my personal information and apologized on behalf of DDOT and thanked me for calling because if no one calls, they will not know. I also have a complaint number to use to follow up on this issue.

That is good customer service.

Speaking of buses: there is an organization called Transportation Riders United (TRU). I don't have any experience with them, but their focus is public transportation in the metropolitan area. They are organizing action kickoff meetings throughout the region (see below). I won't be able to attend the meeting next Tuesday, but I do plan to look into who they are and what they are doing and seeing if that might be something I should get involved in.

Not my day for customer service

So yesterday just really was not my day for customer service. In addition to my fun at the bike shop, I got to have fun on the bus.

I had to wait 20 minutes for a bus, but it was a good 20 minutes. I had beautiful weather, a radio on my cell phone, and a pleasant enough stranger waiting at the stop with me. My easy contentment was squashed by the bus driver.

Before I could even greet him, he demanded that I remove my headphones. He claimed that the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) has a new rule that forbids headphones. I asked him for literature on the rule. He did not have any. I asked the reason for the rule. He said (repeatedly) that five people on a bus listening to loud music can distract a driver. I asked how my listening to my radio quietly would be a problem. He insisted that it disturbed him. He further stated that the problem came from people not keeping their volume to a reasonable level. When I asked why those people weren't the ones affected then, he dodged the question and told me that he didn't make the rules.

Not having my radio to keep me entertained, I got to soak up the full sounds of the bus. Like the really loud ringtones of some passengers. There were the three LOUD cell phone conversation that lasted nearly the whole time I was on the bus. My favorite sound was the sing-along that involved a line something like "I'm an 80s baby and my parents say I'm crazy." During all this, I and the woman who got on with me kept looking at each other "And our headphones would disturb him? For real?"

Then, of course, the kicker: that driver, who claimed headphones would distract him, got on his cell phone and talked for 15 minutes. Riiiight. Not only was he annoying me, he was endangering my life (the effect of cell phone use on a driver is similar to the effect of alcohol).

Me being me, I called in (FYI DDOT is at 313-933-1300). The customer service agent I spoke with knew of no new rule. She read me the only rule she had regarding headphones. It stated that headphones must be used to listen to electronic devices on the bus. Mmmhmm.

Unfortunately, the supervisor was not available so I will be calling back in the morning.

Really, I'm wondering if I should have forced the issue. If I had refused to take the headphones off and then refused to be put off the bus, what would have happened? Hmm...I ask because I'm not so sure I would be willing to take the bus if I couldn't listen to my radio. While I was sitting on that bus, the more I thought about it, the more I was sure that I should not have to make that choice. And once again that brought me to that fact that the bus service we get in metro-Detroit is ridiculous and we really need to do something about that.

I never expected to own...a car company

It's been 13 years since I owned a car. While I sometimes miss the convenience of a car, overall I like contributing less to the emissions of greenhouse gas; I enjoy being able to read or knit during my commute; I feel enriched by that slice of life you get when you ride the bus. The other day one of the 204 people running for Detroit City Council was on the bus trying to talk to voters. Not something you get to experience driving to work alone.

It's been 13 years since I owned a car, so owning a car company comes as a shock. I admit to not being excited about this at first. I wasn't angry like I was when the bailout package passed Congress. Being from Detroit gives me a certain weak spot for the auto industry. Still I didn't see the point of owning an entity and then "streamlining" it to make it "competitive," i.e. cut yet more jobs. Aside from nostalgia, I also don't see the point of having jobs with the automakers when those jobs are no longer secure, high paying, coupled to excellent benefits, nor leading to a guaranteed retirement package. So I was not happy to learn that we now own 60% of General Motors.

That, of course, was because I am not quite visionary. When President Obama stated that we would be just another investor, I grumbled and got stuck right there. Michael Moore did not get stuck, in his post Goodbye, GM, he laid out a beautiful vision for what ownership of GM can mean. And it has absolutely nothing to do with being a silent investor with deep pockets, but no input. He suggested we retool those closed auto plants and use all those laid off skilled workers to build bullet trains to connect our nations cities. I so love this idea. There's symmetry here: fast, efficient, convenient public transportation being built on the ashes of the automative giant's discarded resources.