Public Hearing for Proposed DDOT Service Changes Effective January 20, 2025

9:00PM Oct 17, 2024

Speakers:

Keywords:

DDOT service changes

January 2025

public hearing

service enhancements

weekend service

peak frequency

Rosa Parks transit center

Woodward route

transit justice

public comments

service improvements

bus routes

transit advocate

customer service

DDOT reimagined

Good evening, everyone. This is Kristen from DDOT. There are still some people joining, so we are going to give it the usual extra five minutes and we will come back to Begin the public hearing right At 505. Thank you. Applause.

Recording in progress.

All right, good evening again, everybody. This is Kristen from DDOT, and I think we're ready to get going with our public hearing.

Okay, great.

Thank you all for joining us tonight for our public hearing on the proposed January service changes. Before we begin, I would like to emphasize the purpose of this meeting and briefly go over our meeting rules. This is not our regular community input meeting, so we are limiting comments and responses to those that involve the January service changes only. Everyone will have an opportunity to provide their input following the presentation. There will be a two minute limit, and please note that you will be muted once that we have announced your time is up. Please also remember that your comments tonight are for public record, and DDOT will not be able to respond immediately after each comment. If you have a non January service changes related comment, you can always send that to DDOT comments at Detroit mi.gov I'll share all the ways you can make a comment regarding service changes at the end of this presentation. As always, no personal attacks or foul language will be tolerated verbally or in the chat you

Okay, a few reminders. By participating in the Zoom meeting, you are granting permission for your name, image and likeness, as well as audio and video recording to be used by DDOT, use the raise hand feature to request to comment. If you are using the dial in only option, enter star nine as the raise hand feature to request to speak or ask a question. Submit your questions or comments to the DDOT staff in the chat if you'd like. I'll open that when we open the public comment before asking a question, making your comment Be sure to unmute your audio, state your name and organization, and when you're done with your comment, mute your audio. I'll briefly go over the agenda DDOT is proposing to improve frequency, mainly daytime weekday frequency on 11 different routes, and increase weekend service on 24 routes in january 2025 in tonight's public hearing, we will first review the service enhancements that took effect in June of 2024 provide details on the proposed January changes and ask for feedback during the public comment section. As a reminder, with this public hearing, all your public comments will be recorded, and we will not be able to make an immediate response to address concerns or questions if time allows, following the official public comment period, DDOT staff may be able to address some of your comments. We will not allow for comments or questions that are not pertaining to tonight's public hearing. I would like to now turn it over to Steve Patrick, executive manager of service development and scheduling.

Yes, good evening, everyone. So going back to June, if you have any comments about the June changes that we made last summer, yes, you can add them to your comments about the January changes, since we did not have a hearing on the June changes. So you can also comment on these. So we improved weekday peak frequency from every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes on the three Grand River, the seven and the 10 Greenfield. And we improved weekday peak frequency from every 30 minutes every 20 minutes on the eight, one and the 60 Evergreen. And next slide please.

Hey, Mr. Patrick, can you either turn up your volume or get closer to your microphone, please?

Okay. Can you get me better now? Yes, sir. Okay, great. Okay, yeah. So, okay. So the only thing we did was we adjusted the timetables for the rap show, orientation, our growth transit center, as you recall, that opened in May, and we did not get to adjust our schedules until June. So it was the five routes here, the Fort Worth work, the eight miles, number 17, the 54 mile only, the 12 comment and the third living one, and we improve weekday peak period frequency from every 60 minutes to every 45 minutes on 11 of our hourly rounds. And the full list of June service changes are available online in the formal public hearing notice for this meeting? Okay, so now into January, before we propose you to include daytime frequency, which is now every 15 minutes to every 12 minutes on weekdays. So this would be from the morning peak through the afternoon peak and downtown ground changes are proposed to lay over on Town Square at Rosa Parks transit center. And I believe the next slide should be a map of that proposed change there. Okay, so we have the existing is on the right, so that shows us going through campus marches and then go continuing on our boardword until we get to is that Congress, yeah, and, and then the proposed routing Has this turning and Clifford, and then going over to Rosa Parks, coming down Washington, and then over on it, and then it would go straight up Woodward, serving the current stops in the northbound direction. Okay. Next slide, please. So proposed January service enhancements. So continued, of course, improve daytime peak frequency. These are 30 minute rounds. So these are, we're giving them a 20 minute peak. That's to Michigan, five dynamic brownfield and 31 and then we have these three roads that we just improved in June to 15 minute peak, so improving the midday base as well to every 15 minutes on weekdays. And that's three Grand River, Seven Mile and 10 Greenfield. So if you recall from the June changes, we gave it a 15 minute peak, so now we're giving it a 15 minute midday base, okay, and I see those hands are up, so let's get through the presentation first, and then you can ask questions to clarify the changes before We take comments. Okay, so then on which our annual which are we're proposing 45 unit daytime frequency on Sundays and then on three grand rivers, six scratches and seven mile which have 30 minutes service on Saturday. We're proposing to improve it to 20 minutes, and that would be during be during the daytime. And in addition, the eight mile improving the day goes to every 20 minutes on weekdays, the fenkle improved daytime to every 40 minutes on weekdays, and the warning on Saturdays is now 45 minutes, we would bring it to 30 and then on Sundays, when it's hour, we would, we would bring it to 45 so you might notice we have a lot of midday stuff, a lot of Saturday and Sunday stuff, and not just previous service Sanchez, have been mostly peak periods. Next slide, please. The lower 2050 50 minute daytime service, just like we did for the July back in June and the 23 Hamilton, 45 minute peak weekday service. So that's an hourly wrap. So we would give it 45 minute peaks, just like those other annually ramps that we mentioned earlier, and do we have any more slides? Okay, so Saturday and Sunday spend improvements. So we're concentrating on rents that have weekend service that starts later than seven in the morning or ends earlier than nine in the afternoon, in the evening, and we're adding just one or two trips a day to those to bring it closer to that seven to nine span. So depending where what stop you get on, it might be a little later, might be a little earlier for the last bus. Okay, so that's the list of routes there, and what do we have next? Okay, public comments. Okay, so there's a change recently on the and we didn't make the presentation the 52 show, where previously it was a one way cover on Saint Aubin and Orleans, and for the last few weeks, it's been two way service on Saint Aubin. So that would also be a permanent change, but it's already gone into effect, so now I'm going to turn it back over to Kristen for public comments.

Thank you, Steve. Just to go over the parameters for public comments tonight, you can provide your public comment verbally tonight so that it will be recorded into the public record. Please state and spell your name for the record before providing your comment. After you do that, you'll be given two minutes. If you don't want to make a comment tonight or want to make another comment, you have until November 18, and you can provide comments by sending an email to DDOT comments at Detroit mi.gov by mail. Attention, January 2025, hearing Detroit Department of Transportation, 100 Mac, Detroit, Michigan, 48201, and you can always call our Customer Service at 313933, 1300 I will put the slide up again at the end of the meeting if you need to write down the address or whatever. If you could, please just give me one minute to switch screens here.

And just real quickly. I don't know if Mr. Patrick mentioned it, but the changes are effective as of January, 20, 2025 okay.

Okay, hopefully you can all see the timer.

And I am going to call hands as I see them raised, which means, Mr. Polowski, you are first, go ahead and state your name for the record, and then I will start the timer to talk. There you go. Should be able to make your comment now.

Thank you, Kristen, and thank you to all the DDOT staff here tonight. My name is Robert plowsky. I'm a transit advocate all across the metro, Detroit. Reason born and raised in Southgate. I'm currently calling in from Roseville, here in Macomb County, so I would like to say thank you to the DDOT staff. As a transit advocate, we have been trying to fix DDOT and improve frequency for the last several months, since pre covid, and this is going to be not just a milestone for certain routes, but it's going to improve more frequency and more accessibility, especially on routes like Woodward. I'm very excited to see some of these service changes come into place, and I really don't have any complaints with it. I am speaking on behalf of myself as an advocate in full support of this plan taking effect January 20 of next year, looking forward to all of the great changes and seeing all of the wonderful progress outside of these changes, but more to come with that we recruited with my personal outreach, I have had recruited almost close to 300 people with the flyers provided by Alabama belt Torrance and the marketing department to get people engaged with this hearing, to make sure that their voice was heard with these service changes that will be taking effect, January, 20. Hopefully the some of those people are on there, but with that 300 people in interest, you know, recruiting people left and right to see service increase here in DDOT, it's a huge milestone. So hopefully we get more people engaged. We get more people, you know, that are willing to speak up and improve DDOT. Because unfortunately, DDOT has very limited resources to do that, and I'm very excited to see all the wonderful progress going forward in terms of these service changes. I would just ask, you know, more than just us transit advocates using our own personal outreach to recruit people like I did over the past few weeks, with the amazing numbers, making sure that we can get more outreach and having DDOT have more tables and working on that, because service changes like these are very important. That's the only critique I'd give out. But other than that, thank you so much to the staff. Thank you so much to the board and everyone that's worked hard to get these service changes to improve DDOT going forward. Thanks so much for your time, and hope everyone has a good weekend. Thank you.

Great. Thank you.

And the next hand up is Mr. Verse.

Mr. Verse, go ahead and introduce yourself, and then I'll start the timer.

Okay, I guess I can be heard now. Yep, there

is a bit of an echo.

Larry Donald works because people,

sorry, sir, I'm gonna have to there's a bit of an echo. Is there perhaps two devices going?

You try again. Please do

Mr. Yeah, that's better.

Okay, please introduce yourself and go ahead and make your comment.

Larry Donald gorge, Detroit people's platform, fancy justice team. Oh. Basically, I appreciate DDOT what it has done so far, especially the improvements. And basically, fundamentally, I like all of your changes, except maybe you might say three, absent one. I believe that the Lynwood and the Hamilton

29 and I believe it's the, what is it? Uh, 4543 or something like that to Hamilton, instead of the time that's there that it should be increased to at least 30 minutes

at all times during the day. And I wonder why there is no Well, perhaps I'm misreading it, but I do not see the Duster on there, and I believe there should be some changes and improvements made there. And thank you for this opportunity to comment.

Thank you, sir.

Ms rachella, yours is the next hand up. Could you please introduce yourself for the record, and then I'll start the timer. Good

evening, everyone. I'm Rochelle Stewart. I'm with the Detroit people's platform, transit justice team. I like all the changes. I have a couple myself, but I want to especially say thank you for that. Would improvement daytime frequency every 12 minutes on the weekdays, and the change of the rowdy, the layover at the Times Square. Jason, you know, Rosa Parks, that's great. I also had the same thing as Larry's nothing on me. Up for Dexter. Dexter really needs something. And as far as benwood and Hamilton. Again, those two also should be at least. He's saying 30 minutes. If you get them 35 minutes, they really do need those changes. I do want to say, I see you have a change for the joy road. But on weekdays, nice daily Cunningham, Marguerite durhall and his staff was out there, and the joy road doesn't run. It's like you say. You know, when you look at the the app, it says one thing, and it's not coming. And we talked to people on the bus, and it was girls on there that sometimes they stay for maybe something after school, and they don't get out until a little bit seven, and they not getting home until 1010, 30 at night. And that's, like, really unacceptable. You know, it's all kind of things dangerous and stuff out there for those children need to do a little better on that jewelry world around doing those week days, especially, even though you want to say during the peak time, sometimes peak time come a little bit after that six o'clock, because you have kids that got practice in different things, and they need to get home on a timely manner. Thank you for all the change that you have done. You know it's getting better, and hopefully with 2025 maybe we get into excellent service. But we gotta get those mechanics to be able to fix these busses, you know, and more wages, but let me get off of that, because that's not where we are tonight. I thank you for letting me make my comment. Everybody have a safe and blessed weekend and good night.

Thank you

and the next hand up is Renard. Please introduce yourself, then I'll start the timer.

All right. Can I be heard? Go right ahead. Awesome. All right. My name is renardsky, citizen, resident of Detroit. My name is spelled R, E N, A R, D, M, o n, C, Z, u n, s, k i. For the record, I wanted to speak in favor of the Woodward number four improvement on the daytime frequency to every 12 minutes on weekdays. And I really approve of the change of the downtown routing to allow for layover at the Rosa Parks transit center near Times Square. I think that's a really wonderful change, especially for senior citizens and those with disabilities, visible and invisible, who find it hard to walk from Woodward and Grand River all the way to the Rosa Parks transit center. So this move is very equitable and makes it more accessible for people to transfer around in terms of all the other service changes, I agree with them, and I think these are good changes. However, I think for the Hamilton number 23 it should be 30 minutes instead of 45 minutes. It kind of already feels like 45 minutes on weekdays anyway. And the Linwood every 50 minutes, that's pretty much once an hour. Maybe that should be moved up to 45 minutes or 30 minutes. It's encouraging to hear warm that's going to have every 30 minutes Saturday service and 45 minutes Sunday, but for Sunday, it should be 30 minutes instead. I will send a more detailed comment in writing before the comment period is ending. But I also really like to spend improvement for the Saturday and Sunday routes that you've listed, um, many of those routes in early so having it from 70 into 9pm will allow more people to get around on the weekends, given that, you know, a lot of us work seven days a week, not Monday through Friday. Other than that, these changes are encouraging. You know, we need more frequency. Definitely on the Michigan every 20 minutes and the Finkle every 40 minutes is encouraging, but we need that to be faster too. Otherwise, these are great changes that just want to be on record to say that, no, I accept these, and this is good for our community. Thank

you, great. Thank you,

Cunningham, yours is the next hand up. Please introduce yourself and make the your comments about the proposed changes.

Mr. Cunningham, are you? Oh, there you are. 313-444-9114,

my name is Brother Cunningham, 313-444-9114, brother Cunningham, that number was made so you can remember it the Woodward. I fully endorsed that because in the taxi cab

house, school.

Mr. Cunningham, I'm sorry. I'm sorry to interrupt. We're having a little difficulty. Is there perhaps a better area? We can get better reception?

I we can.

We can come back to you if necessary.

I can you hear me now? Yes, why don't you go ahead and start your comment over? Yes, go ahead, sir.

Brother Cunningham 31344491114, brother Cunningham 31344491143134491, 431344914, that number was made so you can remember it. I really endorsed the woodwork changes for maybe a couple years now or more, folks have been wobbling, falling over, walkers, canes, having to walk that distance from Woodward and Grand River. And I have a invisible disability, herniated discs, they go down my legs. I was in the hospital Sunday for that, but I do keep it moving. Some people don't know that. I do have that disability, and it's been over 14 years, so I'm sympathetic. So the Woodward changes are superb, and folks have a place to use the bathroom as well, because I don't think plum market allows you to use the bathroom there at that stop. So it's really good, especially if the trans center is not locked up all the time, like it is recently, that folks can get in there and use the bathroom at Rosa Parks trans center if they need to, the frequencies need to increase. I agree with the sentiments of Mr. Bazinski on the changes from 45 minutes to 30 minutes. What he outlined, it needs to be more frequent on Saturdays and Sunday but I do appreciate those changes. Um, I pray over Detroit Department of Transportation, my fellow activists, and I'm going to continue to pray. If folks can drink a lot of water, pray in the Holy Spirit or chant with me. Pray for me. Pray for my mom. Pray for DDOT, if you can. And imma, spend the last 13 seconds praying In the Holy Spirit. Sorry about

that. Thank you. That's your two minutes. We appreciate your comment. The next hand up is Miss Marguerite.

Nope.

Yes, Miss Marguerite, we saw your comment in the chat, but we want to focus the comments in this public hearing to the January service changes.

The that that part of it is

from the changes,

the comment about operators being rude to seniors, is that what you mean? Okay, I have to see it and ride the busses, which are in January. Okay.

Well, the comments in the chat will be part of the public record, and we are just taking comments for this meeting.

Yeah. Okay, great.

Thank you very much. And if you have any more please, please add them in the chat.

Okay,

great. Thank you. Thank you.

Diane G, yours is the next hand up. Go ahead and introduce yourself, and then I'll start the timer for your public hearing. Comments.

Diane G, coming.

Okay, I'm sorry I took a minute to get my phone going.

Can you hear me now? Yes, please go ahead and introduce yourself.

Yes. My name is Diane Gordon. I'm one of the ones who are that is very grateful for the changes with the Woodward bus. As to oppose me having to ride the war bus, myself being a bus rider coming all the way downtown, and then having to walk over four blocks just to connect get to a connecting bus when I am a senior, it was very frustrating for me, so I thank DDOT for least making that one of the main changes for us, and one of the other things that I wish they would change also is making sure that the busses, when people have the amp on their phone and the bus is supposed to arrive at a certain time, I hope that improves as well, but I still thank everybody on your board, as well as my board people platform and the work that we all get out here and do all organizations that retain to improving DDOT services for the people of the city of Detroit, because it's needed. I thank you, and I hope things continue to improve with DDOT and the writers and the bus drivers attitudes as well as the people's attitudes. I hope we all just learn to work together, and you have a blessed day.

Thank you very much for your comment.

Thank you,

Lucas, yours is the next hand up. Go ahead and introduce yourself, and then I'll start the timer.

Hi there, Kristen, can I be heard?

Yes, go ahead.

All right. Lucas lesecki, which is spelled l, u, K, A, S, L, A, S E, as in Edward C, as in Charles k i and I'm representing transportation writers United tonight, I would like to first say these are much needed improvements. More frequency, better service is always a welcome change. I think it's honestly a little strange that you need to go through the process for something that is pretty obviously going to benefit everyone involved. I can't think of anyone who would be negatively impacted by these new changes. But with that said, I would ask that sort of question. I would ask this request period, but one that I'd rather have you ask your fellow planners is, is it more useful to keep making really what are already generally really good routes better, rather than taking some of the more limited routes and bringing them up to a proportionally higher standard of service, like, for example, the Woodward change, I think is very good. I know a lot of people have been asking for it to go to the training center for a long time, so I fully support that change. But I have to wonder if taking a 15 minute route and cutting each headway by three minutes is a better use of resources than, say, taking the Livernois route from an hour to every 30 minutes, because I can't speak to the scheduling math that Mr. Patronick and his people do, but it seems like that change on Woodward only take a couple of extra busses, something that could theoretically be used to make Livernois or another hourly route run more frequently. That's all I've got to say. I do appreciate these changes. I just hope that as you move closer to realizing DDOT reimagined, think about whether there are some different changes that could be made that can have a greater impact. Thanks for your time tonight.

Thank you.

The next hand up is a phone number ending in eight to five.

Phone number ending in eight to five.

Hello, yep, we

can hear you. Go ahead and introduce yourself for the record, and then I'll start the timer.

My name is Tracy Hester. I'm with the People's transit, and I was calling one comment on the Woodward is great. I'm glad y'all changed the world route and and the Dexter bus needs to be a little faster, because waiting every 3040, 50 minutes on that bus is ridiculous. But I'm glad, I'm glad your Woolworth bus is doing great, and in the live with us, it should be a little faster. That meant that live with us could be a little faster. And and a date, Chicago, Davidson, yeah, good deal. That Chicago Davidson should be a little longer than it is. But I just wanted to let you know that I wish I would do a little more on the Texas route, just like that, just like you're doing. Will work? Could y'all please stand the decks around little pastors? So 20 minutes need to be so 30 minutes you need to be 20. And thank y'all. Have a blessed day.

Thank you for your comment.

The next hand up is a. It says Samsung SM I'll ask to unmute Samsung SMA,

yes, hi, there we go.

Hello. Go ahead and introduce yourself, and then I'll start the timer for your comment.

Okay. My name is Halima Harris, can you hear me?

We can go ahead. Okay,

I'm just trying to make sure, okay. My name is Solita Harris, and I do live in Detroit, and I do take DDOT. It was fairly, fairly often I've experienced a lot of bad service on DDOT, a lot of drivers who drive too fast are not conscientious of of passengers coming on the bus, some of them are rude. Had an experience on the 16th I know the bus number. I can give you the bus number as well. There was a bus driver in training. She couldn't make a normal turn, a normal Utah. She the the bus was literally standing in the middle of traffic for about, imma say, 20 seconds. Everybody on that bus could have got hit. I mean, could have been had some type of harm done to them. I'm someone who just recently got diagnosed with several different mental illnesses and disabilities that I plan to beat, but it just is basically like I'm going through trauma on the D O T, but I also wanted to know what is the best, sorry, the DDOT. I wanted to know the best way of making a complaint, if we you know, just so that I could be a little more proactive.

I want to give you a gentle reminder that this is this particular meeting is for the service changes for January, and I will share at the end of the meeting if you have additional comments for service changes, or if you just have non service changes comments as well. Not a problem.

I don't want it to be, you know, yeah, I'm dealing with PTSD, like, I'm dealing with serious, you know, serious. It was a time when bus drivers was a little more conscientious. I used to ride the bus when I was a child, and I remember that these bus drivers are a little bit out of control, and I want to know if they're getting tested for drugs, or is anyone paying attention to their drug their drug level in their system, because they're just some of them are little out of control on that level. So that's, that's my real comment. I'm 46 years old. I, you know, I'm not a child. I can tell the difference from the bus driver quality from when I was a child and when I was when I needed it, in my 30s, and I'm now, you know, still needed in my 40s. So, okay,

great. And I'm sorry to stop you, but we are enforcing a two minute time limit for comments tonight. Thank you, though for we appreciate all the comments, and I'm going to throw it back to Mr. Patrick. Everybody who has, who had raised their hands, has made a comment. If you find something that you need to clarify, or anything we need to come back to give you that opportunity

that is pertinent to the service changes.

Yes to the service changes. Thank you.

Okay, I guess it was all clear, hopefully and and then we have some good comments. Thank you, everyone. Okay,

I am going to put the my screen just kind of went, I apologize my screen is being weird. I'm going to put the info for how to make a comment back up on the screen. Hopefully you can see that you can email to DDOT comments at Detroit mi gov, and then again the mailing address, January 2025, hearing Detroit Department of Transportation. 100 Mac, Detroit Avenue. Four, eight. Excuse me, Detroit, Michigan. 48201, and this is the customer service number for this, and just general customer service. 313933, 1300 Mr. Staley, I see you may have a comment.

Yeah, real quickly. I just wanted to thank everybody for their participation tonight. The public comments are critical as we continue to implement service changes that are consistent with those envisioned in DDOT, reimagined and without getting too far out in front of the marketing and outreach department, it is our intention during the last community input meeting for 2024 that will take place in November, that We are going to test drive a hybrid model. So it is our intention to to have to have it held at Rosa Parks and do a combination of live participation and virtual participation. So as those details get finalized, we will make sure that we get those in widespread distribution, since this is somebody, since this is something that a number of the transit advocates have been asking for for a while, and again, we want to test drive it and see if it's viable, not only for November, but going forward. Thank you. Miss lekowski, thank you, Mr. Paternick. You and

I'm going to leave the contact info up for a few minutes in case anybody wants to take it down.

Customer service is numbers being blocked by a pop up on my screen. I don't know if everyone else is having that issue, but that's the number you can call for any kind of comment if you're getting bad service, if you want to complain about a bus driver, all of that can go to the customer service line, which is 313933, 1300

and I also put that in the chat, and you can also find that at on the website Detroit, in my.gov/ddot we will be happy to hear from you. And like I said, I'm gonna leave this up For a few minutes, and Everybody have a wonderful

You. Recording stopped And