TRU and allies rallied to “Show Drivers and Riders Some Love!”
This past Valentine’s Day, TRU and partner organizations rallied outside City Hall to send a message to Mayor Duggan and Detroit City Council: In the City budget for next year, we need to adequately fund the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) and restore the bus service that tens of thousands of Detroiters rely on every day.
Check out the news coverage (more pictures below):
- WXYZ Channel 7: “DDOT riders experience late buses as city faces driver shortage, low pay concerns”
- Detroit Free Press: “Pay, scheduling causes big bus driver shortage for DDOT, SMART”
- Detroit News: “Metro Detroit transit systems are suffering from driver shortages. Is raising wages the answer?”
- Bridge Detroit: “Detroit considers raising bus driver pay to address service interruptions“
- Detroit News: “Takeaways from Duggan’s State of City speech”
DDOT funding from the City has been dropping.
Unlike SMART, TheRide and most other transit agencies in Michigan, DDOT – the biggest agency in the state – isn’t funded by a dedicated funding source, like a property tax millage designated specifically for transit. DDOT’s local funding comes from the City of Detroit’s General Fund. Every year, the Mayor and City Council decide how much money should go to DDOT – and, by extension, how much bus service gets on the road.
That means that DDOT competes directly for funding with other city departments, like police and fire. The City hasn’t been flush with cash in general, and it’s fair to say that in recent years, Detroit’s elected officials haven’t made transit their top priority. Back in 2005, DDOT received about $90 million per year in City general fund dollars. That number is now closer to $50 million – without adjusting for inflation. By comparison, the DPD gets more than $300 million annually.
Without substantially increasing DDOT funding, Detroit won’t even be able to restore the limited level of bus service we had before the pandemic. Currently, DDOT is running just two-thirds of pre-pandemic service, less than any other major city in the country
That’s because, as we emphasized in last month’s rally, DDOT is facing a severe shortage of bus drivers: hardly a surprise, when wages start at just $15/hour. In order to get a full complement of drivers, the City has to boost pay, and to do that, the Department needs more general fund dollars set aside for DDOT in the City budget.
Detroit 2024 budget proposal fails to meet DDOT needs
On Friday, March 3, Mayor Duggan presented his fiscal year 2024 budget proposal with a modest increase of about $12 million, for DDOT. To get anywhere near the level of service Detroiters need, though, we need a lot more than that.
Thankfully, Detroit City Council can fix that. YOU can help make it happen. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, March 22 at 2pm – that’s when City Council holds its DDOT budget hearing. And don’t forget to send a message directly to City Council, urging them to bring DDOT’s general fund allocation to at least $80 million.
Public transit is an essential service for Detroiters. It’s time for the City government to act like it, and give DDOT funding a major boost.
