Detroit council committee advances DDOT funding steps and moves DDOT Reimagine toward formal consideration

Council members and transportation officials on Oct. 12 moved several items intended to speed implementation of Detroit Department of Transportation improvements after repeated public comment urging a large increase in city support for bus service.

The committee approved sending a Michigan Department of Transportation master agreement to the full Council to enable state and federal project authorizations, backed a resolution supporting the DDOT Reimagine plan, authorized submission of a $34,500,000 CMAQ grant application, and recommended a $2,400,000 contract for light-duty fleet vehicles be sent to formal consideration. The committee also removed one protest-related provision from a proposed ordinance setting prohibited conduct on DDOT buses and sent the revised ordinance to formal introduction and public hearing.

Those actions follow repeated public testimony from transit riders and advocates who said the city’s bus system is underfunded and unreliable. “I ask for your full support to be able to not just expand DDOT, but double DDOT,” transit advocate Robert Pawlowski said during the meeting’s public-comment period. Casey Peller, identified as policy manager at Detroit Disability Power, asked the council to “double the DDOT funding” and specifically requested an immediate increase in the general-fund contribution of $150,000,000 to begin implementation of the Reimagine plan.

Why it matters: Advocates and several callers framed improved bus service as a civil‑mobility and economic‑opportunity issue. Multiple speakers cited stalled timelines for the Reimagine plan and cuts to local bus operating funds, saying…