Over the past year, DDOT has been making strides in boosting the frequency and reliability of Detroit bus service. Unfortunately, that winning streak came to a screeching halt this past month.
At DDOT’s recent public hearing on proposed service improvements for September, DDOT Director Robert Cramer explained that those service improvements were “very unlikely” to go into effect as planned, due to an epidemic of bus breakdowns.
“We know how bad the service is right now,” Cramer acknowledged. The warmer weather, he said, had contributed to a bus availability crisis, with the department losing over 40 buses in just two weeks. HVAC issues are a particular problem
As a result, Cramer said, the September service improvements would have to be put on hold.
DDOT has a number of 2012-vintage buses that have reached the end of their useful lives. Although an order of new buses is beginning to come in, they aren’t yet road-tested to enter service.
DDOT has mostly filled its open mechanic positions, half of which were vacant two years ago. By the same token, however, half of the maintenance force is relatively inexperienced. Many of them previously hadn’t worked on diesel engines.
Both DDOT drivers and mechanics are currently in union contract negotiations with the City. TRU continues to advocate for higher wages for all DDOT workers, who are significantly underpaid compared to their peers at SMART. Better compensating employees will help DDOT attract and retain talent.
TRU urges the Mayor to take action to bring the contract negotiations to a speedy conclusion. The tens of thousands of bus riders in the city can’t afford to wait.