DDOT slow down

[stasu1213]

I had noticed the delay in timely bus service including the Gratiot line. Did the city renege on it's having the Gratiot, Grand River, Dexter, run every 15 minutes from 6am to 6pm weekdays? Gratiot's waiting time had increased since the beginning of summer.

[Danny]

At certain times, SMART buses don't do midday routes in and out from Detroit from 9:00am to 3:00pm and evening services from 6:00pm to 6:00am Those who ride D-DOT buses crosstown and transfer to SMART will expect over crowding and long delays.

[Eber Brock Ward]

I waited about a half hour for the Grand River bus a few weeks ago, for what it's worth.

[313WX]

At certain times, SMART buses don't do midday routes in and out from Detroit from 9:00am to 3:00pm and evening services from 6:00pm to 6:00am Those who ride D-DOT buses crosstown and transfer to SMART will expect over crowding and long delays.

Fair point.

Also, on a somewhat related note in terms of service delivery, for the past two weeks, garbage pickup has been late again.

[Detroitnerd]

Fair point.

Also, on a somewhat related note in terms of service delivery, for the past two weeks, garbage pickup has been late again.

It usually lags a day due to holidays, but there must have been some larger issues to delay it for more than, say, one week.

[Hermod]

It usually lags a day due to holidays, but there must have been some larger issues to delay it for more than, say, one week.

Our city has outsourced garbage collection and recycling to Waste Management. They pickup twice a week on the same day whether it is a holiday. They have even picked up when trash day fell on Christmas.

Maybe Orr should outsource trash collection to Waste Management.

[trotwood]

I had noticed the delay in timely bus service including the Gratiot line. Did the city renege on it's having the Gratiot, Grand River, Dexter, run every 15 minutes from 6am to 6pm weekdays? Gratiot's waiting time had increased since the beginning of summer.

I don't what's going on but the wait time for city busses is horribly long. I had appointments in the city on the fifth of this month&two prior to that. Both times I decided to take the bus. The wait time at the Fairgrounds[[transfer from SMART to DDOT)both times was 45+ minutes going Southbound.
My appointment on 6/21 was over at 1:00ish that afternoon. I got to a bus stop at 1:15. There were 8 others waiting. One woman told me she'd been waiting for an hour&a half and not a single bus had come by. Around 2:00ish a bus came along&passed us all without stopping. That bus was followed by three others,all of which passed us all up. Finally,a few minutes after 3:00 a fourth bus came along..........and kept going. I gave up hope of catching a DDOT that day back to the Fairgrounds&just waited for SMART to come along.
Two weeks later was an almost instant replay of the prior experience. The only difference the last time was 5 busses rather than 4 passed us by.
I understand we're in crisis mode but imo this is unacceptable service! Something must be,should be,done about this.
SMART marginally runs in&out of the city&DDOT is at an almost complete stand still.
This is deplorable!!

[313WX]

It usually lags a day due to holidays, but there must have been some larger issues to delay it for more than, say, one week.

But that lag is usually on the week OF the holiday.

To have this lag for two normal weeks in a row isn't typical.

Last week when this happened, administrative city vehicles were in the area as well along with several dump trucks that went up and down the street to rapidly pick up the trash [[versus the typical one on each side) two days after the normal trash pick up day.

[313WX]

Our city has outsourced garbage collection and recycling to Waste Management. They pickup twice a week on the same day whether it is a holiday. They have even picked up when trash day fell on Christmas.

Maybe Orr should outsource trash collection to Waste Management.

That's the plan.

http://www.freep.com/article/2013061...oves-privatize

[poobert]

That's the plan.

http://www.freep.com/article/2013061...oves-privatize

Totally aside, but trash pickup, which was essentially the last dependable service, has totally fallen off this summer. The trash is now often picked up a day late. Bulk pickup takes days. Gross stuff.

[antongast]

I had noticed the delay in timely bus service including the Gratiot line. Did the city renege on it's having the Gratiot, Grand River, Dexter, run every 15 minutes from 6am to 6pm weekdays? Gratiot's waiting time had increased since the beginning of summer.

As far as I can tell, the "415 Plan" was never anything more than a bullshit marketing gimmick designed to distract from the huge service cuts being pushed through at the same time [[and it worked swimmingly, with our hapless, guileless news media reporting on the "increased service" on those routes even though no such thing occurred). The service doesn't seem any more or less reliable than it ever was, and those four lines are about as reliable as the rest of the system.

If you ride DDOT and you're in the mood for a good laugh, check out this breathless profile of the guy who brought us that plan.

[chicagoforlife]

Do you guys have bus tracker in Detroit? Here in Chicago we have that and what it does is shows you exactly where the buses are. On the bus stop signs there is also a number you can text to and you'll get a text back telling you how long the next bus will be. They also use this on the L.

[TexasT]

Do you guys have bus tracker in Detroit? Here in Chicago we have that and what it does is shows you exactly where the buses are. On the bus stop signs there is also a number you can text to and you'll get a text back telling you how long the next bus will be. They also use this on the L.

Yes, there are apps for that.

[313WX]

Do you guys have bus tracker in Detroit? Here in Chicago we have that and what it does is shows you exactly where the buses are. On the bus stop signs there is also a number you can text to and you'll get a text back telling you how long the next bus will be. They also use this on the L.

We just got it within the last year or two.

But of course, in order for it to be useful, you must actually have a bus system that's reliable and runs on time.

[antongast]

We just got it within the last year or two.

But of course, in order for it to be useful, you must actually have a bus system that's reliable and runs on time.

Actually, the entire point of real-time tracking is that the buses don't always run on time. If they always ran on time, an old-fashioned paper bus schedule would do the job perfectly well.

[313WX]

Actually, the entire point of real-time tracking is that the buses don't always run on time. If they always ran on time, an old-fashioned paper bus schedule would do the job perfectly well.

The difference is in Detroit, the buses are ALWAYS unreasonably late for no good reason.

[chicagoforlife]

Actually, the entire point of real-time tracking is that the buses don't always run on time. If they always ran on time, an old-fashioned paper bus schedule would do the job perfectly well.

That's correct, if the buses ran on time then the old paper bus schedule would be all you'd need. I'm looking at it now and can see the Southbound #8 bus at 43rd and Halsted right now, the next northbound #8 bus is at 61st Place and Halsted.

They are proposing a BRT along Ashland Avenue here as well, the #9 bus is the busiest in the CTA.