Quote Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn View Post
DDOT should put up the operation of Detroit bus routes for bid. The union would be free to bid, too. There would be targets for cost and efficiency of operation. Don't meet targets, you're fired. Right now, there is esssentially no consequence for bad operation of the system at the top level down to "soft striking" employees.

PS I would require every employee- except for staggered, pre-planned vacation- to provide a doctor's note for every absence, or face termination. I lived in NYC during the 2005 transit strike when 8000 people told 8000000 they couldn't have mass transit for 3 awful days. Walking from Brooklyn to Manhattan for work in the winter was not fun. Ironically, the average MTA employee makes far more than the average wages earned in New York. And the hardest hit were hourly paid, low wage workers.

All public employees, transit and otherwise, need to be made aware that it's not their government. DDOT belongs to 700,000 Detroiters, who vote and pay taxes. It does not belong to a few malcontents who show up when they want to. In the end, poor service will lead to fewer people taking buses [[most people, except the extreme poor, will make other arrangements). I get so angry with public employees who act like government service is the Lord's work. It's not. It's driving a bus, and you're replaceable.
This meesage should also go to the union busting Mayor and members of the city council. It was Bing's plan to downsize DDOTT and increase the wait time. I know he is probably getting a pat on his head by the corprations and entities who are controlling him.