How are the buses getting worse!?

[YounginDetroit]

Just for the record I do have faith in Duggan, bankruptcy and Detroit overall reinvention. With that being how are the buses getting worse! Half a goddamn hour a woodward or dexter bus. And its not even cold. I dont know the first thing about public transportation but christ. Does anybody have any idea of how or when this will get remotely better because this is just embarassing.

[Scottathew]

I remember it was such a hot issue, he was giving timelines of when more buses would be in service and they were hiring tons of mechanics.

It would interesting to get an update of what he's done and what he expects things to be at the 1-year mark.

[Danny]

All D-DOT buses are getting worse and so is SMART buses, too! But folks who work for them are trying their best to keep them running.

[nain rouge]

Detroit continues to lose population and tax revenue. They're going to save a few areas, but if you want to live in a normal city, you should just leave now. There are tons of big cities in the US - and even the Midwest - that are way better if you don't want to live in a suburb.

[stasu1213]

Detroit continues to lose population and tax revenue. They're going to save a few areas, but if you want to live in a normal city, you should just leave now. There are tons of big cities in the US - and even the Midwest - that are way better if you don't want to live in a suburb.

Gary Brown is in charge of the DDOT and was placed in that position by the Governor and Orr. He is probably screwing up the system.

[Hypestyles]

Gary Brown is in charge of the DDOT and was placed in that position by the Governor and Orr. He is probably screwing up the system.

Brown's an ex-cop. Why the heck is he involved with the public transit system?

[Scottathew]

Brown's an ex-cop. Why the heck is he involved with the public transit system?

Brown loves to feed at the public trough.

[313WX]

Brown's an ex-cop. Why the heck is he involved with the public transit system?

He's the COO of the city, making $225K per year [[a position BTW created out of thin air). So basically, everyone in the city answers to Brown noser for any duties Duggan/Orr/Snyder delegates to him.

It was his reward for doing Snyder's bidding as he tried to take over the city's operations. So it's a textbook example of cronyism at its finest, as Brown noser's hardly qualified for the job...

[canuck]

Gary Brown is in charge of the DDOT and was placed in that position by the Governor and Orr. He is probably screwing up the system.

Definitely crappy results to be expected down the road. Montreal's mayor Denis Coderre) did the same following his election. One if his star candidates [[Philippe Shnobb) left his 30 year career as a TV reporter to enter the race in the downtown borough of Ville-Marie. He lost, and was given the reins of our transit system's council. He has a high school diploma and no knowledge of public administration or transit. This is an excellent recipe for prolonging the status quo... There are very few qualified people to do this type of job and it is a travesty to leave us in the hands of highly paid unknowing individuals. There is no question in my mind that an urban planner or someone with specific knowledge base attained via higher studies is needed here. The salary tells the story too doesn't it? Prerequisites...

[313WX]

Detroit continues to lose population and tax revenue. They're going to save a few areas, but if you want to live in a normal city, you should just leave now. There are tons of big cities in the US - and even the Midwest - that are way better if you don't want to live in a suburb.

Pretty much...

[313WX]

Detroit continues to lose population and tax revenue. They're going to save a few areas, but if you want to live in a normal city, you should just leave now. There are tons of big cities in the US - and even the Midwest - that are way better if you don't want to live in a suburb.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say unless you graduate from UofM/MSU with a 4.0 in a STEM field or you're close to retirement making $25+/hr, it would be best to leave Michigan altogether. The state's best days are behind it.

[YounginDetroit]

I want to live in Detroit thats not the issue. I just dont understand the incompetance of the bus drivers. Thats why no one who actually rides the busses feel sorry for bus drivers when theyre asses get kicked. THEY DESERVE IT. When three or four busses go.north in a half an hour and no bussed are coming south for a half an hour I just dont understand.

[Dan Wesson]

When three or four busses go.north in a half an hour and no bussed are coming south for a half an hour I just dont understand.

It's called the inbound rush and the outbound rush.

[DetroitPlanner]

I want to live in Detroit thats not the issue. I just dont understand the incompetance of the bus drivers. Thats why no one who actually rides the busses feel sorry for bus drivers when theyre asses get kicked. THEY DESERVE IT. When three or four busses go.north in a half an hour and no bussed are coming south for a half an hour I just dont understand.

That has nothing to do with the route that the bus driver is assigned. They are doing their jobs. It is not their fault that the transportation system is underfunded. Want to kick someone's @$$? Kick the voter's and those who they elect who refuse to fix the issue.

[Johnnny5]

I want to live in Detroit thats not the issue. I just dont understand the incompetance of the bus drivers. Thats why no one who actually rides the busses feel sorry for bus drivers when theyre asses get kicked. THEY DESERVE IT. When three or four busses go.north in a half an hour and no bussed are coming south for a half an hour I just dont understand.

So the number of buses and routes are somehow the drivers fault? Let me guess, you blame the waitress when your steak arrives overcooked?

All the bus drivers do is drive the route and bus that they are assigned to. They have little to no control over routes, the number of stops or the number of buses.

[stasu1213]

DDots director unfortunately answer to Brown

[stasu1213]

Get on contact with Brown and tell him to take hands off the bus bus system

[313WX]

Get on contact with Brown and tell him to take hands off the bus bus system

I'd rather stab a pen in my wrist before having to go through Brown noser for anything, if a choice was given...

[Lowell]

Let's not forget the bus drivers like all City of Detroit employees have not had a stellar wage history in recent years. Morale cannot be high in what is a very, very stressful job.

But on the brighter side I did hear on WDET this AM that they are hiring a new class of drivers.

[Gannon]

But on the brighter side I did hear on WDET this AM that they are hiring a new class of drivers.

Sounds pretty classist to me. heh

Let's hope they step up the quality, not just the quantity.


But all buses in town are fucked, not just D-DOT and SEMTA. Anyone ever watch those "First Student" buses as they drive the children around the city to school and back?! I've never seen one drive the speed limit, and am now keeping track of those who blatantly break laws, after the one that ran a stop sign across Vernor Highway a few days ago. There is one fellow who was driving all Mad Max on the way back to their Mack Avenue yard, after dropping his charges off at that school at Vernor and Van Dyke...sixty miles per hour in a 30 zone, tailgating me before that...argh!

[DetroitPlanner]

Let's not forget the bus drivers like all City of Detroit employees have not had a stellar wage history in recent years. Morale cannot be high in what is a very, very stressful job.

But on the brighter side I did hear on WDET this AM that they are hiring a new class of drivers.

http://agency.governmentjobs.com/detroit/default.cfm

$11 - $16 an hour.

[nain rouge]

Public transportation in Detroit is like half-deflated balloon. You can squeeze it to make one side look fully inflated, but then you've just squeezed all the air out of the other side. You can get rid of Brown, sure. But the new guy/girl will just squeeze a different part of the balloon and call it progress. The game is to see how often you can do that before people catch on.

That's why it almost makes sense to be corrupt in Detroit. Eventually, people WILL catch on and blame you for the state of the balloon. Might as well get what you can while you can, because you aren't gonna last in Detroit.

[Hermod]

Lack of qualified mechanics, lack of spare parts, too much bureaucracy. We need a RTA which begins from zero and hires only the best qualified with rigid testing standards for drivers, mechanics, and parts clerks BEFORE hire.

[nain rouge]

If you want a chance at good services, you have to move to the chosen neighborhoods: Downtown, Midtown, Corktown, Indian Village/West Village, Rivertown, Woodbridge, Sherwood Forest/Palmer Woods, and MAYBE the Grand River corridor from Rosedale Park to Old Redford. Dave Bing pretty much told the rest of the city to pound sand throughout his entire term in office, but no one took it seriously. Duggan knows the truth, but realized the value of lip service - squeeze the balloon and talk about getting the population back to 1,000,000. Problem "solved".

[nain rouge]

Oh yeah, and there are glimmers of hope in Hubbard Farms/Mexicantown, but with the way the historic/old part of Mexicantown has been allowed to decay, I'm not so sure about it.