DDOT reveals new buses, new mobile app

Detroit — Regina DuBose couldn’t contain her glee at the sight of new buses the Detroit Department of Transportation is going to roll out in a few weeks: more seats, wider doors and lower-to-the-ground entrances.

DuBose was on hand with Mayor Mike Duggan, DDOT Director Dan Dirks and others Thursday to tout the first seven of 80 new buses that will been seen on the streets in two weeks in a move expected to improve timeliness, security and tracking buses locations.

“It’s a morale booster,” said DuBose, 57, a transit advocate who uses DDOT buses for her small business selling clothing. “When you get on a bus that looks like this, you’re going to be OK.”

Officials also unveiled a new bus app expected to help riders with smartphones plan their pick-up times and cut down on waiting.

The new buses, purchased as part of $38 million in federal and state grants, will arrive through September with the bulk coming by Memorial Day, officials said.

Duggan said he expects the new buses to have an immediate and positive impact on drivers and riders. But the on-time performance needs to get better, he said, for residents to fully trust the system.

“The No. 1 complaint I’m getting from Detroiters now is the bus service,” Duggan said. “The problem is that we’ve got a fleet that is so old and buses allowed to get in such a state of disrepair, we can’t come close to making schedule.”

Dirks said many of the buses in the fleet of 295 are too old to be reliable.

As for the bus app, Duggan said that will keep people “from standing out in the cold unnecessarily because we will tell you honestly where the bus is and when it’s coming so you can stay in your home or your workplace, at the store, until shortly before it arrives.”

Fred Westbrook, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26, the DDOT drivers union, has been outspoken on the issue of safety.

“Once we get all the buses and get the manpower together, people won’t have to wait long for buses and the ability to be assaulted verbally or physically is reduced,” Westbrook said.

DDOT serves about 90,000 riders daily and most use it as their primary method of transportation, city officials say.

Staff Writer Christine Ferretti contributed