DDOT Service Changes

[professorscott]

DDOT service changes take effect tomorrow for weekend schedules and Monday for weekday schedules, yet nobody seems to have any new actual bus schedules. I have seen the service change bulletin on DDOT's web site, but no actual schedules.

Are there any, or is DDOT planning to produce schedules some time in the future, which means nobody will know when to expect the bus to come on the routes where there are changes?

Interestingly, Google Transit already has the schedules, not in a form you can look at them but in order to correctly plan a trip. So if you have a computer you can at least figure out where and when to catch the bus. But no schedules that I've seen, printed or online.

[Russix]

Didn't they just print alot of them for services changes for Sept. 2010?

[professorscott]

Yes, this is a new round of cuts. Expect more again in June.

[Augustiner]

Didn't they just print alot of them for services changes for Sept. 2010?

DDOT has four service changes every year, whether the budget is being cut or not.

[Rocko]

DDOT has announced their most recent round of schedule and route changes, effective April 23. Not all routes are affected, and many have been left untouched.

Most affected routes show slight to moderate increases in headway [[and therefore slightly longer wait times between coaches); there are a few where headways have been reduced slightly. Many routes claim to have trip times that are 2-7 minutes faster than before [[is DDOT ordering jet-powered buses now?)

Many routes have new start and end times. I know some routes that used to have late evening service have had that removed. I would have liked to have seen increased service one some routes which see high traffic and would probably increase ridersip with a few additional runs [[Grand River, Gratiot, W. Vernor, Dexter, etc.) Oh well.

Read the full list of changes here:
Weekday service: http://www.detroitmi.gov/Portals/0/d...ay_Rotated.pdf
Saturday & Sunday: http://www.detroitmi.gov/Portals/0/d...nd_Rotated.pdf

[professorscott]

Generally when trip times are reduced that is because of one of two things, and sometimes both:

1. Fewer passengers on that particular bus, so the bus is stopping less frequently to pick up and drop off, and/or
2. Less traffic along the route, so the buses when in motion can maintain better speeds.

[Rocko]

From The Detroit News:

April 23. 2011 1:00AM
Routes change today at DDOT

Budget crunch forces department to adjust Detroit bus service

Mike Wilkinson / The Detroit News

Detroit — More than 1,000 people who use the city's bus system will experience major changes beginning this morning, including shortened hours on some routes and longer waits on others. In some cases, service will improve.



Riders on the Puritan and Conant lines, for instance, will see their routes start later in the morning and end a couple of hours earlier in the evening. The Detroit Department of Transportation is suggesting alternate routes that will require transfers.

The changes are the result of a budget crunch that has triggered another trim in service as DDOT tries to make itself moreefficient, said Lovette Williams, department director.

Increased pension and health care costs, combined with a $2 million reduction in city funding, prompted the review. Changes in service are made several times a year; the next revision is scheduled in June, Williams said.


"We have just adjusted based on where the demand is," she said.


Although Williams said the changes will affect just 1 percent of the more than 100,000 daily riders, the changes will be substantial for those customers, said Megan Owens, executive director of Transportation Riders United, a local advocacy group.

With many bus riders working jobs that extend well beyond the typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday, shortened service will be problematic. "This really can have a major impact," she said.

On some routes, the wait between buses will increase, and on some there will be major breaks in service. For instance, on the Conner line, weekday service will be discontinued between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. south of Jefferson, with service ending at Jefferson.

But on that same route, the wait time will shorten from 50 to 40 minutes during part of the day.

The changes affect both weekday and weekend service. Summaries of the changes can be found on the city's website at www.ci.detroit.mi.us.

Owens is sympathetic to DDOT's funding woes, noting it is one of the few big-city bus systems without a dedicated revenue stream like a property tax.

"There's no question that DDOT is trying to make the most out of an extraordinarily limited amount of funding," Owens said. "Unfortunately, these don't seem to be adjustments. They seem to be cuts."

mwilkinson@detnews.com

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110423/...#ixzz1KMFHJdFG