I am one of the thousands that have had to completely change my schedule and use of SMART buses. I understand that change is necessary, but walking away from Detroit customers [[other than M-F 6 to 9am, and 3 to 6pm) has really hurt ridership on SMART.
This whole thing of SMART bus dumping their load [[passengers) at the State Fairgrounds is A MESS! The number of people standing out there can be from a few to well over 40. The DDOT #53 bus is FULL as soon as it departs; forget the rest of the people along Woodward waiting to get on as the bus as it heads to Jefferson Ave.
The biggest decline seems to be in the evening. The 450/460 depart the Fairgrounds with practically no passengers. I spoke to a few driver/friends on the 460 route and they were telling me that they quite often go their entire run with no passengers. They agree that not servicing Detroit has really dropped their ridership numbers. I asked them how long they figure SMART can keep these buses on this schedule with only a few passengers, the drivers stated that they believe there will be more cuts after the cold weather...March or April.
Once again, it seems our mass transportation is being pushed further and further down the drain. I know for my schedule, bus service for both DOT and SMART has been cut to the point of being semi-useless. January 2012 will be the first time in 4 years I have not bought a monthly Regional Pass [[$70). It's not worth it.
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