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Transit advocates press Detroit council for more DDOT funding and better on-time service
Summary
During public comment, multiple Detroit residents and transit advocates urged the City Council to boost funding, improve on-time performance and raise wages to retain Detroit Department of Transportation staff.
Transit advocates and residents used the public-comment period at a Detroit City Council meeting to press elected officials for more funding and operational fixes for the Detroit Department of Transportation.
Rochelle Stewart, identifying herself as with the Detroit People’s Platform Transit Justice Team, said the system’s 70% on-time performance “is not good enough” and urged the council to secure more funding and higher wages to retain drivers and mechanics. “Wages need to increase. We need to keep the people that we have,” Stewart said.
Another caller, identified only as Cunningham, described distributing hand warmers, gloves, bus tickets and blankets to people who ride the buses and asked the council and city staff to do bus ride-alongs and coordinate with outreach efforts. “I give out hand warmers, gloves, bus tickets, blankets to the homeless,” Cunningham said, and added that “DDOT is not on time, and it needs to be.”
Stewart and other callers asked the council and the mayor’s office to respond to a coalition request that included a call for $150,000,000 in DDOT funding; Stewart said the coalition and 14 other organizations have sent materials to the council and mayor seeking additional support and asked that those materials be acknowledged. “We’re asking for a hundred and 50,000,000 for DDOT,” she said.
Speakers repeatedly linked on-time performance to worker retention, saying higher pay would reduce driver turnover and improve service reliability. Advocates also suggested more mechanics, better scheduling so drivers can get to assigned buses, and that staff and chiefs of staff participate in ride-alongs to see service problems firsthand.
The public comments did not prompt an immediate council vote or a formal direction recorded during the meeting. Council members present acknowledged the concerns and thanked speakers; staff or council offices did not announce new allocations or schedule a follow-up vote during the session.
The comments add to ongoing public pressure on transit reliability in Detroit and to requests that the city consider budget changes aimed at wages, staffing and operational adjustments to improve service for riders.
