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The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT, pronounced ) is the primary
public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
operator serving
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
, Michigan. In existence since 1922, DDOT is a division of the
city government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
, with headquarters in Midtown. Primarily serving Detroit and its enclaves, DDOT is supplemented by suburban service from the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART). It is the largest transit agency in Michigan, with a ridership of in 2021.


History


Department of Street Railways

The DDOT began its life as the Department of Street Railways (DSR) in 1922 after the municipalization of the privately-owned
Detroit United Railway The Detroit United Railway was a transport company which operated numerous streetcar and interurban lines in southeast Michigan. Although many of the lines were originally built by different companies, they were consolidated under the control of ...
(DUR), which had controlled much of Detroit's mass transit operations since its incorporation in 1901. The DSR added bus service when it created the Motorbus Division in 1925. At the height of its operation in 1941, the DSR operated 20
streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...
lines with 910 streetcars. By 1952, only four streetcar lines remained: Woodward, Gratiot, Michigan and Jefferson. Streetcar services was discontinued in April 1956 with the decommissioning of the Woodward line. The DSR formally became the DDOT in 1974 under the Detroit City Charter.


2000s-present

Between 2009 and 2012, the system's seven remaining limited and
express bus Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications ...
routes (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, and 78) were discontinued. Starting January 1, 2012, management of DDOT was contracted out to
Parsons Brinckerhoff WSP USA, formerly WSP, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Parsons Brinckerhoff, is a multinational engineering and design firm with approximately 14,000 employees. WSP stands for Williams Sale Partnership. The firm operates in the fields of strategic con ...
, an engineering and management firm. The firm subsequently subcontracted the management of the system to Envisurage, LLC a consultancy run by the former
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the
Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority The Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) is a New York State public-benefit corporation which provides transportation services in the eight-county area in and around Rochester, New York. Currently, RGRTA oversees the daily ...
. On March 3, 2012, 24-hour service was discontinued, and other weekday and weekend routes and services were pared down, or eliminated entirely, in an attempt to produce savings for the department. In August 2013, management of DDOT was contracted out to MV Transportation under the direction of Paul Toliver until September 2014. Dan Dirks was appointed director of the department by mayor
Mike Duggan Michael Edward Duggan (born July 15, 1958) is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician serving as the 75th mayor of Detroit, Michigan since 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, Duggan previously served as the Wayne County Prosecuto ...
on January 9, 2014, for the duration of MV Transportation's contract. MV Transportation's contract was extended for another two years on August 12, 2014. On January 23, 2016, DDOT reintroduced 24-hour service on three principal routes along with other smaller service changes. On September 1, 2018, the system's ten most popular routes were branded as "ConnectTEN" and renumbered as routes 1–10, and received 24/7 service among other changes. The existing routes numbered 7, 9, and 10 were given higher route numbers to avoid conflict. On November 6, 2022, the original State Fair Transit Center closed permanently, and was promptly demolished. A temporary transit center was constructed in a parking lot 500 feet to the north, and will be used until the new State Fair Transit Center opens in 2024.


Services


Fixed-route buses

DDOT's primary service is fixed-route buses, mostly serving the city of Detroit and its enclaves,
Hamtramck Hamtramck ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 28,433. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion that borders the fellow enclave city of Hi ...
and Highland Park. Some routes service neighboring suburban communities, including Dearborn, Harper Woods,
Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
, Redford, River Rouge, and Southfield. Bus service generally operates between 5 a.m. and 12:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday, while Sunday service starts approximately 7 a.m. and ends between 8 and 9 p.m. Routes 3–8, 10, 16 and 17 have
24/7 service In commerce and industry, 24/7 or 24-7 service (usually pronounced "twenty-four seven") is service that is available at any time and usually, every day. An alternate orthography for the numerical part includes 24×7 (usually pronounced "twenty ...
.


Routes


Paratransit

Along with fixed-route bus service, DDOT also offers MetroLift, an on-demand
paratransit Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...
service. MetroLift service is operated by three private contractors: Checker Cab, Enjoi Transportation, and Lakeside Divisions.


Detroit Downtown Trolley

The Detroit Downtown Trolley (originally the Detroit Citizens' Railway) was a
heritage trolley Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles aims to preserve historic rail vehicles. Trains It may concern trains that have been removed from service and later restored to their past condition, or have never been removed from service, like UP ...
built in 1976 as a U.S. Bicentennial project. The trolley ran over a one-mile L-shaped route from Grand Circus Park to near the Renaissance Center, via Washington Boulevard and Jefferson Avenue, using narrow-gauge trams acquired from municipal rail services outside the U.S. Most of the Detroit cars that saw service from 1976 to 2003 had been acquired from
Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
. Many Detroiters old enough to remember streetcar service from before 1956 were delighted with the nod to nostalgia that the service represented, but lack of business activity in downtown Detroit meant that ridership of the Downtown Trolley never became more than a novelty and declined to only about 3000 per year in the late 1990s; service was suspended in June 2003.


Fares

Since 2019, DDOT,
SMART Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * '' SMart'', a children's television se ...
, and the QLINE have had a unified fare payment system, Dart. Dart passes are available as digital passes through the Dart app, or as physical passes, which can be purchased from SMART's ticket offices in downtown Detroit and Royal Oak, the Rosa Parks Transit Center, SMART'
online store
and select local businesses. 4-hour and 24-hour passes can be purchased with cash onboard buses.


Standard Fares

^To receive discounted fares, seniors (age 65+) and disabled passengers must present either DDOT Special Fares ID card or state ID with visual impairment designation. ^^Medicare cardholders pay same rates as children 6–17, seniors at least 65 & disabled.


Fleet


Current Fleet


Retired Fleet


See also

*
Detroit People Mover The Detroit People Mover (DPM) is a elevated automated people mover system in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The system operates in a one-way loop on a single track encircling downtown Detroit, using Intermediate Capacity Transit System ...
* Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation * QLine


References


External links


Detroit Department of Transportation Website

Transportation Riders United
{{Michigan public transit Transportation in Detroit Intermodal transportation authorities in Michigan Bus transportation in Michigan Public transportation in Michigan Rail transportation in Michigan Government of Detroit Government agencies established in 1922 1922 establishments in Michigan