DDOT to Add 24 Hour Service, Eastern Market Bus Lines
Mayor Mike Duggan announces plan to add 1,500 trips per week with more buses and drivers.
The Detroit Department of Transportation unveiled a series of expansions to its bus service that should add 1,500 trips per week. DDOT plans on hiring 80 new drivers and 20 new busses in the upcoming months. The city says it will also add five new express routes that will cut down on wait time to the downtown and midtown business centers. “In January we added 24-hour service on three routes: Grand River, Gratiot and Woodward,” said Mayor Mike Duggan. “This month, we are adding three more and in January three more, so we’ll have 24-hour service on nine bus routes covering all areas of the city.” According to Duggan and DDOT Director Dan Dirks, its the largest expansion of the bus system in 20 years. The city is also experimenting with a new service that will give neighborhoods better access to fresh produce.
“We will be running seven routes every Saturday, one from each city council districts in Detroit down to Eastern Market and back so neighbors can get together ride down and get access to the fruit and vegetables at Eastern Market and get back home.”
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan
Duggan said funds for the expanded service, which will cost $8 million annually, came from Detroit’s bankruptcy plan of adjustment. He said connections between the city and suburbs will be even more effective if the regional transit plan millage passes in November. The DDOT expansions will be rolled out in two phases, with the first starting this month. The second is scheduled to start in January.
